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