Poker Tournaments in Costa Rica: 2006

Poker players will find a variety of poker tournaments in Costa Rica, with buy-ins from $10 and up. Most of the weekly tournament action in 2006 has been at the Hotel Radisson Europa in San Jose, though the Fiesta has begun to offer some competition in this area. And the downtown Colonial and Horseshoe have also introduced tournaments.

Several major poker tournaments are also held every year, either in San Jose or Jaco Beach. At least one of these in 2005 was a WPTA-sanctioned event

No Entry Fee for Many Costa Rican Tournaments

One key difference between poker tournament in Costa Rica and those elsewhere is that players do not pay an entry fee in the smaller buy-in tournaments. The house takes a commission off the top, which means, unfortunately, that the players who finish in the money are actually paying the entry fees of all the losers.

The Radisson, for example, takes 6% of the pool for the house and 4% for the dealers. This means that only the winners pay for playing, and there is no need to tip the dealers. (The Fiesta, we hear, grabs a whopping 30% of the buy-in and rebuys, and many locals have begun to stay away as a result).

Also keep in mind that non-WPTA games may not always follow standard Vegas poker rules

Who's in the Game?

The line-up usually consists of 80% Costa Ricans and 20% North American ex-pats. About half are just having fun, while several of the locals take tournaments quite seriously and pose formidable foes at the poker table.

Weekends often witness an influx of tourists, especially from December through April, which is high season in Costa Rica.