Poker Babe in Costa Rica

If you love to play poker, and are looking for places to travel this winter instead of bundling up by the fireplace, why don't you contact your travel agent and book that flight to Costa Rica? There are a dozen Casinos in San José, and two hotels have poker rooms where you can find a game just about every day.

The second Costa Rica Classic Poker Tournament held at the Holiday Inn Aurola Casino in San José this weekend, was the place to be Friday night, due in part to the

presence of movie star Jennifer Tilly, who recently portrayed silent film star Clara Bow in "Return to Babylon ". Attending the Costa Rica Classic with her friend, Phil 'Unabomber' Laak, Jennifer was among celebrities last June who demonstrated their poker skills in a Celebrity Poker TV event, taped at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, in Las Vegas .

This year's Costa Rica Classic was organized by Poker Tour International (PTI) Tournament Director Bob Scott who worked closely with Aurola's General Manager, Manny Rodriguez, to coordinate pre-event satellite tournaments, reception parties, and the main event. The tourney was scheduled by PTI as part of a bimonthly, televised series of tournaments in Latin America and the Caribbean .

Among some of the popular professional players that competed with amateur players were: Ted Lawson, winner of 2004 WSOP Omaha $500,000; Phil 'Unabomber' Laak, 6th place winner of the WPT Bicycle Casino; Lee Watkinson, now rated #1 in the world by Bluff Magazine; Costa Rica's own Humberto Brenes, known as the 'Godfather of Costa Rica Poker'; Vinny Napolitano, winner of PTI's Inaugural Grand Bahamas Royal Oasis Tournament; and Patty Gallagher, 3rd place winner of both the 2002 and 2004 WSOP Las Vegas Tournaments; among others.

The event ran December 1st through 5th with 110 players who signed in with a pot of over $200,000US ($2,000US buy-in, and a one time $500US re-buy). The first place winner, Grant Laing, received the largest prize pool ever given in Costa Rica. Other top winners in order were: Chris Thomas from Georgia (USA); Patty Gallagher of California (USA); John Stolzmann of Wisconsin (USA), Joseph Masoudnia of San Jose (Costa Rica), and David Hixson of Florida (USA). Nine other prizes were given, totaling 15 in all. The top three winners were also given seats to the next PTI tournament to be held in the Dominican Republic . Upcoming tournaments in the Poker Tour International are also scheduled for Puerto Rico and St. Kitts.