See the top rated post in this thread. Click here

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 13 of 48

Thread: Cheating in Diria Casino, Tamarindo Costa Rica

  1. #1


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No

    Cheating in Diria Casino, Tamarindo Costa Rica

    They deal seconds from either a gaffed (prismed) shoe, or marked cards; im pretty sure its gaffed shoes.

    This is Diria Casino in Tamarindo, Costa Rica in February of this year. Its a lovely little beach town, full of tourists and now 24k of my money.

    I have photos of the staff and owner and a short video that only really shows the casino, i couldn't just record easily as they were conscious of my activities. I presume due to my huge loss there. It really is a small casino, only open 5 to 10pm each day due to Covid restrictions, 2 tables only, both 6d shoe BJ, no surrender, BJ only takes one bet and other good rules like DA2 DAS, NO RSA. Pen varies from 1.2 to 1.7. There are only two dealers, the older bald guy in the photo and video, and a younger darker guy, and they work everyday. 10 USD min to 300D max, two hands are allowed. Can also use Costa Rican colones and play for similar stakes.

    The main reasons i suspect (know) they were cheating was the insane loss to betting ratio because we were given virtually unlimited 25 dollar match plays, which i socially engineered the dealers to keep with us until we won at least three out of our 4 hands by only tipping when the match play were being used. There is no regulatory body in Costa Rica, it just doesnt exist, so a small out of the way casino simply doesnt need to fear an audit of the shoes, ever, they can do whatever they want. The way they handle the cards after i learned from online and Youtube videos also is unmistakable. The dealers held the shoe in just a certain angle so the prismed card can be seen, and the cards must be partially lifted, the first time to see the Pip, and the second time to deal the second card. The older guy is much better at it, I caught the card hanging half way up the shoe from the younger guy several times, as well as the younger guy kind of was paranoid and often i would look up to him staring at me. I didnt know why at the time, but it makes sense now that he was checking my awareness level. They also must really hold and kind of caress the card each time to be able to choose which card to use. Its all pretty obvious once the curtain has been revealed, so to speak. I was lured in by the fact that they open the cards face up each day, whereas most of the casinos in the capital and main city, San Jose, do not.
    All told my now wife and i lost 24k in 14 hrs of play in 4 days. I figured out the cheating on the 4th day, and came back to film, watch, and try to take a video on the fifth day. The huge loss is what tipped me off: we weren't playing big after the second day sinced I figured out the match plays were the real way to make money, as well as I could see the older guys hole card in the mirror about half the time. He only would peek on faces and aces, but still it's an insane advantage including the match plays. So after dumping 14k the first two days with 3 to 4k in match play EV each day, i decided to stop counting with the young guy and just focus on the holecarding and counting with the older guy, who was more stingy awarding the match plays. 25 dollar max for the match plays and i kept track of how many of them on my phone : 13 dollar EV for each and each day was between 250 and 350 we got in total each day. The trick was only to tip when we won three hands of more out of our four . The young guy especially, he soon figured this out and would just let our match plays ride and also give them out like candy. Coupled with a max bet of 4 x 100 with the match play EV, and the the fact i could see the dealers hole card! I cant even calculate how many standard deviations the 24k loss would be.
    I also watched other people just get destroyed of course, literally only on the last day one lucky guy walked away with some money.
    So the first day we arrived i just scouted: i learned about the match play, i discovered the place to sit in the mirror to see the older guys holecard, but i somehow lost 2k in 2hrs with a max best of 2 x50, and 500 EV in match play.
    Undaunted, i proudly exclaimed to my fiancee that i loved this place, and proceeded to lose over 20k in the next three days. I just couldnt bring enough money to the casino, i had to go back to the condo several times to reload. On day 4 during another brutal session, a lightbulb in my head went off, my awareness arrived, and i felt a little sick, tbh.
    I knew about gaffed shoes and the angle it must be, i somehow just forgot or got complacent, or i guess i just have been playing for over ten years and have never experienced a rigged shoe before. I believe i may have been dealt seconds in handheld double deck a couple of times by a rogue dealer, but that an easily avoidable situation to just walk away from.
    So after that, we just went home and I studied more, as well as having laser eyes on the dealer and shoe while betting the minimum for another half hour or so. Still managed to lose over 500 in that time though.
    I came back and recorded on day 5, and I'm out of the country now, so I'm giving the heads up to this forum and probably other forums as well.
    I'll try to post the video and photos, and if anyone knows how, please give me a heads up. Any questions, just ask, as its quite a strange situation.

    PS, although the 24k loss stings, i guess its a learning experience, im a stronger player now, and it could have been worse.

    I guess.

    Good luck and good cards, JVIMG_3303.jpgIMG_3309.jpg

  2. #2
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    Midwest
    Posts
    14


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Geared to the tourist crowd as the locals would know. Another way Central and South American casinos have been known to cheat is simply a different feeling to the top of face cards and aces. Dealer notes that when dealing from the shoe and has the ability to skip that card. No guarantee that the next card won’t be a face or ace, but that alone increases house edge significantly.

  3. #3


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    I'll take this opportunity to warn everyone against playing Roulette in Lima, Peru. Casinos: Atlantic City and La Hacienda in particular ought to be avoided.

  4. #4
    Senior Member dalmatian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Deep South
    Posts
    290


    0 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    How many casinos are in costa rica? Are there any dealing honest games?

  5. #5


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by tal32bur View Post
    I'll take this opportunity to warn everyone against playing Roulette in Lima, Peru. Casinos: Atlantic City and La Hacienda in particular ought to be avoided.
    Complete BS.

  6. #6


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    There's quite a few, but a lot are closed cuz of corona.
    Im sure most of them are dealing honest games, but they open early, so as early as 6am. Ive never been there to watch the decks get fanned face up, so i cant vouch for the integrity of the game.
    And there is no regulatory body, so thats rife for corruption as well.

  7. #7


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Colon View Post
    Geared to the tourist crowd as the locals would know. Another way Central and South American casinos have been known to cheat is simply a different feeling to the top of face cards and aces. Dealer notes that when dealing from the shoe and has the ability to skip that card. No guarantee that the next card won’t be a face or ace, but that alone increases house edge significantly.
    Exactly, and well put.
    Also, I could see the bottom card so many times when the dealer was peeking on his face card, and he had so many twenties. I routinely would hit my 17's and sometimes even my 18's.

  8. #8


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Colon View Post
    Geared to the tourist crowd as the locals would know. Another way Central and South American casinos have been known to cheat is simply a different feeling to the top of face cards and aces. Dealer notes that when dealing from the shoe and has the ability to skip that card. No guarantee that the next card won’t be a face or ace, but that alone increases house edge significantly.
    You are making it sound as if cheating was something common in south america, when IT IS NOT.

  9. #9


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Doesn't HC info give you a higher edge than dealing seconds gives to the house?

  10. #10
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    Midwest
    Posts
    14


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by bjarg View Post
    You are making it sound as if cheating was something common in south america, when IT IS NOT.
    To clarify exactly what one means sometimes takes a lot of words. You do make a point, and to be more precise, my comments were in respect to OP and to one other situation I am aware of, and going back a number of years.

  11. #11


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Marvin View Post
    Doesn't HC info give you a higher edge than dealing seconds gives to the house?
    In a perfect situation, maybe it does, thats up tp the math guys.
    But the dealers would only peek on faces and aces, and i was only getting the read maybe sixty percent of the time, and it was tough to read the pips from the small cards with one hundred accuracy.
    Plus the dealer had two chances to give himself the cards he wanted: on the first face hes twice as likely to get a face, and the second pass to give himself the card he needs, plus he has double the chances to get a good card when it's his turn to hit. In short, it was destruction in short order for the entire time i was there.

  12. #12


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by bjarg View Post
    You are making it sound as if cheating was something common in south america, when IT IS NOT.
    I always love reading your posts, im kind of new to this forum.

    Do you trust San Jose large casinos? And have you ever experienced a situation where you walked away from gambling due to cheating concerns?

  13. #13
    Senior Member Gramazeka's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Ukraine
    Posts
    1,438


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by JackVegas View Post
    I always love reading your posts, im kind of new to this forum.

    Do you trust San Jose large casinos? And have you ever experienced a situation where you walked away from gambling due to cheating concerns?
    Are you 4 years on this forum and let the casino cheat you like that? Strange ...
    "Don't Cast Your Pearls Before Swine" (Jesus)

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Costa Rica
    By FalseCount in forum General Blackjack Forum
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 10-24-2016, 06:34 AM
  2. westtex: Costa Rica
    By westtex in forum International Scene
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 10-06-2006, 02:46 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

About Blackjack: The Forum

BJTF is an advantage player site based on the principles of comity. That is, civil and considerate behavior for the mutual benefit of all involved. The goal of advantage play is the legal extraction of funds from gaming establishments by gaining a mathematic advantage and developing the skills required to use that advantage. To maximize our success, it is important to understand that we are all on the same side. Personal conflicts simply get in the way of our goals.