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Not a lot of info on this on here from what I can tell, so for those who are interested here's some gambling info I've gathered . . .
I recently got back from a trip where I gambled a bunch...
DEL REY
Obviously, my fav place because of the scenery. There is rummy, canasta (like roulette, but with ping pong balls in a bin that gets shaken up), and another poker-type game I didn't pay much attention to. I think rummy was 6 decks, they cut to about 1 deck. Games are dealt from a shoe. All the normal rummy rules.
The dealers here are very good and VERY fast. My favorite part about it must be the one big American pit boss. He always looks angry and hung over but he's a nice guy. He's also a hawk. On the 3 occasions where the dealer tried to overpay me, he stopped her.
Also something cool here is that you can order from the full menu at the table. I've never eaten arroz con pollo at a blackjack table before. (And I only spilled it once.)
They have a 2 drink policy here...so you get 2 free drinks if you sit down and play. After that, you pay for the drinks. The drink girl is nice and quick.
Don't worry about girls bothering you while you play -- they keep their distance, presumably because they have to. Aside from maybe hanging around near the pit area and the occasional glance, they pretty much just pretend you're not there. (Which may be good or bad...)
When I was here, there was NO blackjack, only rummy. You can look up the difference between the two, but suffice it to say that the basic strategy is NOT the same as in blackjack. The most notable difference is that a normal blackjack gets paid even money, which compensates for the rummy bonuses. Another big difference is that rummy tables typically have the dealer stand on soft 17.
I played here until around 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday and they shut things down and kicked me out. So it's not 24 hours. But it was busy most of the time when I was there.
COLONIAL
Colonial is just down the street from the Del Rey, and I usually start my night there. This place DOES have blackjack -- both from a shoe and from an automatic shuffler. This is a larger casino with more games (including rummy, canasta, craps, and tute), as well as a lot of slots. One downside of BJ here is that they don't allow doubling after splitting. (The pit boss tried to convince me that this was normal for every BJ game everywhere, which it is obviously not.) This significantly increases the house edge (and makes the game less fun).
BTW, at both places you can buy in for USD or colones. I was almost always playing a lot ($20-$100 a hand) more than everyone else at the table. I think the min is 2k colones, and most people play 2k-10k colones.
Also, at every rummy and BJ table I have been at in Costa Rica they offer surrender, which I like.
Also BTW, most players here are absolutely horrible at these games.
HORSESHOE
The Horsehoe casino (catty corner to the HDR) does not have table games, so I did not play there.
OTHERS
I've been to Fiesta by the airport, some other dinky casino near the Gulch, etc., but I don't remember enough about them now to say anything.
I've also been to Croc's in Jaco, which is a modern, nice casino, but it pays 6:5 on blackjack which is no bueno. But you're basically a captive audience in Jaco if you want to gamble. I did not like gambling at the Cocal (where they only have rummy, no blackjack if I remember correctly). Croc's has baccarat, craps, and a couple of other games that you won't find in most casinos. They also have very quick and very good drink service, but their table games only operate in the late afternoon/evening. It gets hopping certain nights though. This is certainly the most modern/American style casino in Costa Rica (that I know of).
SPORTS BETS IN SJO
I've heard that you can make sports bets at the Del Rey, but I haven't ever done that. I usually try to find someone at Z2 to place a bet with. This time I did that, and when I couldn't find anyone one day I went over to SL. Rudy (nice guy) is taking bets there now. Very quick to pay you when you win, and I highly recommend betting through this book. I trust these guys 100%.
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