My friend Eddie was the one who got me thinking about it. We were working for the owners of half a dozen Miami Beach hotels who were trying to bring casino gambling to Miami Beach. Our bosses included Steven Muss, owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel. Eddie was a singer and I handled publicity for our election campaign.
'Do you know where the most beautiful women in the world are?" Eddie said. I asked him to tell me.
'The Dominican Republic and Costa Rica,' Eddie said.
My vacation was coming up and I had won a poker tournament in Biloxi, MS., so I decided to find out if Eddie was telling the truth. I booked a cruise from Miami to the Dominican Republic, and a flight from the Dominican Republic to Costa Rica. It's amazing what decisions you can make when you are sitting on money.
The cruise was lovely. There was a casino on board and plenty of single women tourists to have drinks and flirt with. The weather was pleasant and when we anchored, a small boat took us ashore. The women were beautiful even though few of them spoke English. I spent a day touring the shops and restaurants, and then decided Costa Rica was more to my liking.
The owner of Casino Europa in San Jose knew about my tournament win and had agreed to reimburse me for the cost of my flight. He also furnished me with a suite at his hotel at no charge. Things were definitely looking up.
A horse book operated next door to the casino. The man who operated it was a middle-aged Italian named Sam who claimed he had once worked for Meyer Lansky.
'No kidding?," I said, impressed.
'Yeah. That was before Castro kicked us out of Cuba,' Sam said, yawning. 'What do you wanna bet on?'
I had a system for the horses that was working well for me. Since I had money, I was betting pretty high -- a couple hundred to win, another $300 or $400 to place. Almost from the start, I began winning.
I hit four races in a row and Sam kept paying me off. He complained, 'If you keep this up, I'm gonna run out of hundred dollar bills.'
Feeling no pain from the rum drinks I was consuming, I said, 'Sam, today I am a bookie destroyer.' He smiled and the other players laughed.
My suite at the Casino Europa was beautiful. At night I went to an exotic dance lounge where beautiful dancers did lap dances. When I left at midnight, one of the dancers agreed to go with me and show me the city. We hit several packed bars and ended up in the poker room where some top players, several of them from Las Vegas, had gathered to play cash games and tournaments.
The girl's name was Nikki and she was a native of Dominica. She became my good luck charm and watched me play for a couple of hours. She left just as the sun was rising above the turquoise bay.
'Are you going to come and watch me dance tonight?', she said. I promised I would not miss it for the world.
As she left the casino to take a cab home, Sam stopped by my table.
'Having fun?', he said.
'Absolutely. Tell me about Meyer Lansky," I said.
If you plan to visit Costa Rica, try to negotiate a deal with the casino. They were very amenable to me and they may treat you the same way.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
