www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Here's a post I recently placed on the ISG. It's not about Costa Rica but rather Panama but the precautions should be the same. I've never had any issues at the casinos in Costa Rica (other than the Fiesta Alejuela, but that's another story & you can find that post in the archives) but will be extra cautious in the future. Bills were actually caught at the Banco National in Rohrmoser and they, of course, kept them. I do have a nice xerox souvenir though.

From the ISG posting:

Veneto Casino
Cautionary note to the gamblers out there:

I recently visited PTY [again] and spent quite a bit of time playing blackjack at the casinos [again]. Luck was pretty good and I wound up winning just over $900 at the Veneto. Had a great time. However, upon returning home & putting some of the money in the bank, two of the $100 bills were counterfeit. Bottom line: I'm 100% positive that's where I got them. Period. Absolutely no doubt. The counterfeits were buried in the middle of the stack; they spread them out then when you pick them up you naturally stack them again. They did look very good but I never really touched them since they were buried in the stack.

FYI only; first time I've ever been scammed by a casino like that. Lost all respect for the Veneto.

/dddick

I'm not sure how they do it at the Veneto or any other casino in Panama (I've played in several) but here in Costa Rica the casinos have a stamp they use whenever they check any $100 bills they take in. Now any casino tales in one that has been checked,they know where it came from. A few years ago we had a rash of phony $100 with the serial number starting with CB B2. They were really a work of art.

Sorry to hear you were screwed