www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Since no one else has mentioned it, I might as well.
There's a new Casino in Escazu. Its called the Jazz and is
located on the bottom floor of the White House way up in
the hills above Ecazu. Hours are 5:00PM to 5:00AM.
Will check it out later in the week and report on it.
LVSteve

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Just an old horney, fat gambler.

It's good to have a degenerate gambler among us.

Just kidding LVS, I'm looking to see more of the city and surrounding areas next trip, so I may be down for a quick visit.

thanks.

Yo, fellow casino rats;

First off, let me correct something about my original post. The way the ad in the tico times was written, it looked like the name was Jazz Casino.
The name is actually Casino West Wing. Jazz Casino's of Costa Rica owns it along with 4 others, mostly at the western beach towns including Jaco, Flamingo and Punteranus. This casino, West Wing is thier first in the San Jose Metro area.

They get the West Wing name bacuse the casino itself is located on the frist level of the White House Hotel and Spa. The White House is also home to the Capitol Grill, a very nice but expensive resturant with a spectacular view.

The West Wing Casino is very elegent. It has 8 tables for Blackjack, Rummy, tute and piagow. It has a brand new craps table and a very expensive roulett table. Machines are limited - only about a dozen but they told me more are coming in a couple of weeks.

One of the nicest things is the unobstructed view of the entire Cenral Valley. At night, its breathtaking. They also have a patio where players can relax by taking a break with thier favorite beverage while enjoying the aforementioned view.

All the furniture/tables are new and done in fine Costa Rican wood. They have a beautiful granite top bar that also affords a great view. They have hi-top tables in the bar area where you can enjoy a sandwich meal.

The staff is very friendly and is comprised of dealers and bosses we all know from casinos like Paradisio and Colonial.

The manager is an American named Gary. He is very outgoing and does everything possible to make you feel at home.

The only downside is the location. It took me 15 min. from my condo in Sabana Oeste so I would imagine it would take about 30 min. by taxi from the gultch. The safety issue you have in the gultch is not an issue. Its a very upscale neighborhood.

Its not for everybody. It's quiet and reserved. Most of the customers, incuding myself were dressed in collard shirts and slacks.

Oh, yes, one last thing. The men's room had ICE in the urinals.

LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

LVSteve,
I've played in the Jazz Casino (in Flamingo) many times. It's located on the 2nd floor of the Flamingo Beach Hotel ( www.resortflamingobeach.com ), just above the front desk. It's a nice casino, and 'somewhat' upscale. But the one thing that always amazed me, is that they do not have any "eye in the sky" anywhere. Is the new casino the same way ? I've always thought to myself, that if a professional cheater decided to play there, he could take them to the cleaners!

There's also another casino in Flamingo, located inside Amberes Discoteque. It's a small casino, but it's the same thing over there. They have no "Eye in the Sky". Just my observations.........

MG

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

MG;
Now that you mention it, I don't believe I saw any cameras. I am going back Friday night and will confirm.
I also forgot to mention that they have a card room and are planning to hold Texas Hold 'Em and Blackjack tournements. If I hear of any, I will advise you all.
LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

Thanks Steve for the heads up.

I'm wondering if the Jazz casinos are affiliated/run by the same company that runs the online sports book
? I have a good tico friend who works for the book. Also, I'm wondering what relationship exists (if any) between these casinos and the San Jose Jazz baseball team?

I enjoy gambling and may visit this new venue during my August trip. Thanks again for the notice. Oh, and congratulations on getting your Ph.D. Your family here is proud of you!

_________________
Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

LVSteve...good report, but you forgot to mention if they had any Cherry Masters

_________________
"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

El Ciego;
Yes, it the Jazz sportsbook is part of them.

GT:
No cherry masters. Damm.

One other thing I didn't mention was that all bets and chips are in DOLLARS. No colones here. You can buy in with colones but you are given chips in dollars. Just like the fiesta at the airport.

LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

YO LV:
No colones.......shit, that excludes me. Hate to see that more "Espanol casinos" are going the universal dollar way. There are a number of ways to bet using colones that the dollar does not allow. Since I am no longer a big player I enjoy the pleasurable entertainment of gambling in cents and not cien. Just my 2 cents worth. Another reason I miss the old days in CR. Eventually it will become much like the Caribbean and Bahama casinos.......No tourists with small pockets welcomed.

From Steve's description of the elegance of this new den of iniquity, it would seem the higher stakes are necessary to offset the higher construction and overhead costs. Neither granite bar tops, modern furniture nor ice in the urinals come cheap these days.

LVSteve, not to hijack this informative thread, but someday I'd love to read your take on slot machine strategy, if there can be such a thing. I am a big fan of simple to understand and play I.G.T. - type reel machines. Multiline/multi-bet/multiple denomination electronic video machines tend to confuse and intimidate me...but 5X Pay and Double Diamond I can understand!

_________________
Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

El Ciego;

Well...........

This could be a long reply.
I play machines quite a bit. Stems from my living in Las Vegas before moving here.
Some guidelines I follow:
Video Poker: In Las Vegas, sadly not here in Costa Rica, you can see what a machine has paid a previous player. If it just paid out a couple of hundred dollars, I will play it. My reasoning is this; this machine could be hot and might pay out again. I can't tell you the number of times I've hit, say 4 of a kind, continued playing, then hit another.
I also look for machines that pay a higher payout on flushes and full houses. If you have a choice between double bonus and double double, take the double double. The payouts are higher. Look for machines near the entrance or a busy aisle - they get more play. I'm not an expert on Video Poker but I did hit 27 Royals while living in Las Vegas for 6 years.
Suprisingly, a lot of the hits occured off the strip at Video Poker bars or gas stations. Off strip casino's that cater to locals also have a greater payoff percentage.

The cherry master. Very entertaining time killer. The key here is to play a machine that's been loaded up by a previous player. After you play a couple of thousand colones, you can tell if its giving you something when you don't stop spin, weather or not you have a good machine. If not, move on to the next machine. I have spent up to 6 or 7 hours on the same machine. Sometimes, you really have to load it up but eventually, it will pay. It requires a lot of patience.

Other electronic machines. In costa rica, you can find some new generation machines that involve lining up symbols like fire plugs, bells, cherrys, stars, fireworks or bandits. you can play up to 15 lines. ALWAYS play the max on these machines. Max lines and max bets. The ticos just pour in 1000 colones at a time and have no idea what they are doing. The max payouts can be impressive. Especially when you get some kind of bonus play that leads you to a second game. Yesterday, I put 40,000 colones in a machine in the Paradisio and pulled out 75,000. Like cherry masters, it requires a lot of patience and a lot of time and money but when these machines are loaded up, they do pay.

Hope the above helps.

LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

I think this also should be in the Smack section under Books never to be published..

How I retired to Costa Rica playing the Cherry Master:
By LV STEVE

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"Success isn't having $$ it is knowing how to Spend It"

LVSteve...are there still a couple of Cherry Masters at the casino in the
Morazan? Didn't the DR have a couple a while back? The Colonial used to have about 10 of them located in the center/middle rows of machines. Are they still there? My favorita/novia from about three years ago used to love to play the Cherry Masters. She'd play them for a couple of hours at a time.

_________________
"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

GT;
Yes, the Marazan still has about 7 of them.
The Colonial took 'em out. Horseshoe bought about 6 of them from Colonial.
Del Rey took them out too. But they only had couple.
Only other place for them is the Raddison.
LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

what's the minimum bet at the blackjack tables? I like to play a long time and can't put that much toward my bankroll