BEWARE: Deceptive Casino Practices. Especially Venetto
Two of my nights in Panama I stopped into the Venetto and played some Blackjack. On the first night I lost $80 and left. On the 2nd night, I hit a blackjack on the 3rd hand and the dealer only paid me $5 back on my $5 bet. Normally blackjack will pay 2-1 or 1. 5 to 1. I complained and the dealer explained that this was "Venetto 21" and not Blackjack. WTF? I looked around and quickly noticed that they had 1 actual blackjack table and 5 Venetto 21 (V21) tables disguised as blackjack tables.
As a one-time semi-pro blackjack player, I know that paying out 1-1 on blackjack greatly increases the house's odd, from a 52% - 48% edge to approximately 57% - 43% edge. That is a huge advantage. The fact that they are disguising V21 tables to look like blackjack tables is downright crooked.
I learned that Venetto is a Spanish word meaing "bend over and spread your checks wide".
After realizing the fake blackjack table scam, I advised the other players about to sit at my table "Don't play, this is a fake blackjack table. They are deceiving people here" and got up to leave. I took my $70 to the cashier to cash out. Upon cashing out, I learned that I had to pay at 5. 5% government tax. Panana's government passed "Law 23" in 2015 which requires a gambling tax to be collected by all casinos.
This means, if you cash in for $500 at a blackjack table, play 2 hands, win 1 and lose 1, and then cash out your $500 at the cashier cage, you will walk away with $472.50.
I was outraged. For me it was only about a $5 loss, but I was completely upset that they only informed me when I went to cash out (at which point I didn't have any choice). If they had a big sign at the entrance saying "Panama's government collects 5. 5% upon all cash outs" then I would say that I knew the risks going in there.
I yelled at the cashier, told them in Spanish it was "This is completely unfair. You must tell me before I start gambling, not after I'm done. You are robbing me!" She said it is the government law. I said "then you are robbing everyone! She actually sheepishly nodded in acknowledgement of what I said.
I will never spend a fucking dime in a Panama casino!
Final thoughts on visiting Panama
ONLINE CONTACTS.
Before my Panama trip, I made a fair effort to make some contacts online with Tagged and Seeking Arrangements. I even tried Tinder in country. I got several responses from women with attractive pictures and told them I would be visiting in 1 week. They seemed excited and eager to meet me. Upon arrival, I said I'm here and worked to arrangement dates. For all my effort, I met no one. I got a lot of "I can't today" or just no reply to my whatsapp message (or a reply 4 hours later). At * at # I wanted to scream loudly in the ears of these women for being so damn wish-washy and wasting my time. I was really thinking I could make a good connection for a GFE and have repeated sessions with 1 of them.
FINAL NIGHT AT HABANOS.
The night I left, I had to leave for the airport at midnight for a 2 am flight. I walked to Habanos around 9:30 pm relatively satisfied from a late afternoon session and mostly planned just to look. However I was open to pull someone out "if I got inspired". With the pressure off, I found myself a lot more chatty and conversational than the other nights. I had no attachment to taking someone out or being liked by someone or worrying about chica politics since I only had a few more hours in Panama. I talked to a few very attractive women who I learned were from Venezuela. Two had beautiful, straight long-brown hair. Both wanted $150 and didn't seem willing to budge. As the clock was winding down to 45 minutes left, I got mesmerized by that beautiful long brown hair. I asked 1 of the Venezuelanas if she would go to my room "only to kiss and cuddle with your clothes on". I offered $50 for 15 minutes. She said no, "I could never leave for that". I said, you wanted $150 per hour, I'm willing to pay you a rate of $200 an hour and you don't even have to remove your clothes. I've seen you waiting here for 2 hours without leaving with anyone. " She declined. Stupid *****. I told her she should go back to school for mathematics. I don't get it. I think if I would have told her I wanted to watch TV with her for 15 minutes she still would have declined because the only thing she computed was "I'm leaving here for only $50".
FINAL THOUGHTS ON PANAMA.
I have traveled to Saint Marten, the Dominican Republic, 4 cities in Colombia and Buenos Aires in the past 8-9 years. I would prefer all those locations to Panama. I really like the experience of being in a foreign country, I like being near a beach (Cartagena, Puerto Plata, Sosua, St. Marten), I like getting immersed in the local culture and flavor of the country. I like some degree of exploring a lesser developed country. Panama City is a large city not too different from big cities in the United States. It has some beautiful high-rise office buildings downtown. You can use the US dollar and eat all American-style food at American chain restaurants (Hooters, TGIF, Buffalo Wild Wings, Pizza Hut, Subway, McDonald's, KFC). For many those could be advantages to visiting Panama and make it more attractive. (nothing wrong with that). I think I like and expect my excursions outside the US to be a little less uncivilized or at least un-American to some degree.
Thanks to everyone who is sharing information on these boards. Happy traveling.
