trip to Panama city/ or Hotel california ?

[Rinad]

  hi, my wife and I flew to Panama City for 7 days.

as we arrived from the airport and checked in, we did noticed the hotel went from a **** to a ** stars.

well after seeing the room, no wonder. the wife was tired and decided to stay in the room to rest.
of course, me I wanted to check out the casino downstairs. took some cash with me just in case...

the casino floor was very dark, just a few lights, a stage for dancing, some back rooms for gentleman to "relax"

well here is a roulette table,mmm. minimum 0.50cents, max 25 $ for inside numbers, 100$ for outside ones.
3 blackjack tables open. okay. I will seat down at the roulette and play my one number system .

few other players were playing, a older lady seem really nice and gave me many smiles. she was trowing chips on the layout.
about 3 hours later i was down about 900 units, nothing hit. well been there many times before.
then a hour later a very heavy raggeton music start bursting into the casino. okay,great, I love music.
another hour went by, still no hit on my one number.mm... so slow.
every 7 spins I noticed the ball was throwing off the wheel because of the dealers really "doing it".
no exageration. every 7,8 spins at least. never saw that one before. and then..
around 50 gorgeous girls, nicely dressed, were on the casino floor. hitting the tourists of course.
thinking of "hotel california", I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or it could be hell...
a story I will tell my wife about when I go up, not sure she will like it..
findly hit my number at the 25  $ bet, nice paid  off. still down about 300 units, well time to take a brake...be back...to be continued...

[juice]

You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave…… Careful buddy!

[Reyth]

We are all just prisoners here, of our own device!

[Rinad]

  the ol.d lady at the table needed "bus money", me lost my money she said.
I gave her a 20$, please can you get me coke please, no waitresses here.
sure she said. she came back. keep the change I told her.
she was so happy. she never took the bus of course and ask the dealer for more chips.
still the ball falling off the wheel every 8 spins or so.
after a while when they were around 60 gorgeous girls on the casino floor, wearing short skirts and dressed up to the tooth, I realise the nice old lady knew everyone on the floor and was very much "feared and respected" by everyone. (maybe she is a leader, running the show).
music so lound I was getting muscle cramps in my kneck.
I thought "I could use a neck massage right now", but if I was to ask any one of those ladies to do that, :I would never see the end of it". the thought quickly left my head.
after a while I won more more money, pressing up my bet, winning 3 cycles of 38 spins in a row.
up 400 units. that is it for me.
got up. then I knew I had to walk across the isle to my elevator. I was hearing a lot of pssss.... evrywhere. eh baby, come here.
I show her my ring. "me married, wife upstairs I said".
no problem baby, you married get discount....
"thank you , got to go... finaly got to the elevator, was trying not to make eye contact, which was hard..but made it. now , what happens later on 1 day before I had to leave... to be continued...

[Rinad]

  during the next 5 days I played around 30 hours. visited the Panama Canal, the national forest, some other casinos. had a nice time. I discovered on the casino floor where we stayed out ,they had a roulette machine with 38 ping pong ball in cage. after you would place your bet on a layout, the cage would then shake,and drop a ball randomly. each ball had a number on it. so you could really see the game was totally honest.
minimum bet 0.05 cents.  maximum..20.00 $
that is great I thought. I begin playing and won quickly 100 units. when I pushed the "cash out button", a ticket came out. I took a brake, came back, but the machine would not take my ticket...mm wonder why..
when I went to the cashier I found out they were keeping 5% of my winning automatically. taxes ! they said.
okay. I realized why the machine did not take my ticket back. they want you paid those taxes as often as possible.
I thought"well I will save all my tickets for a later time then, and played as much as I could every time".
I di really well on those machines with the balls, never saw so many winning cycles in a row.
in a period of 2 days I won every sessions I played. would turn 40 units into 100 units in a hour. won 900$ in those machines.
maximum bet was 10$.. dont get much better then this.
in the morning, I had 1200 $in 100$ chips and 5 tickets from the machine. time to cash those I thought.

[Reyth]

Grats on being faithful to your marriage Rinad and not selling it for "a discount"! 

[Rinad]

  thanks for saying that my friend. even if she paid me I would have to said no. that is why I stay sober 99% OF THE TIME. so I dont fall for a Delyla. SAMSON NEEDS HIS PONYTAIL INTACT.
 R.

[Rinad]

 so very close to wrap up the trip I told Wify," I am going downstairs to cash out". see you later for breakfast.

so the casino floor was empty exept for two blackjack tables and the cashier was open, thank God.
I pulled my tickets, 5 of them from the roulette machine, (600$, not all profit). I gave them to her. she look at them closely, then call someone, "hold on sir, be just a minute".
after 15 minutes she pays me, taking the taxes out of them. thanks I said.
then I takes 12 /100$ chips out of my pocket and gave them to her.
she is speaking spanish to her friend, then look at me' "be a moment senor"
she calls someone , wait. hang up, talk to her supervisor. call again. ask me; where did you get chips sir?
I said right here. 2 nights ago. just here.
"what is your name please". so I just gave her my driving licence.
she make more calls, it took a hour of waiting. then she said; I am sorry, I am not authorize to paid you, sorry"

what? I said. are you kidding?  this is my money!!!  she turns around to her friend and I felt they knew it was wrong for them not to paid me. 
I said ;ask the pit bosses that work nights, they know me, I even gave them my name. check!!!
okay she said. she made more calls. then she said; come back this afternoon, okay ? so sorry.

I figure I would have to come back and secretely cash my chips, one by one.
after this episode I was feeling very paranoid. I told my wife" we just need to watch our back, and get out of this place in the morning as soon as possible. never saw a place like this where they dont authorize you to cash your chips.
we spent the rest of the day slowly heading to the cashier and finaly got it done. but I was watching over my shoulder the whole time. the idea of somebody trying to "mug me" came to mind. this place was filled with "weirdos", and the management had to be in on it.
so there you have it. would we waited til the next morning before heading to the airport to cash our chips we would of lost, or having to go through a bigger hell. so RELAX THEY WOULD OF TOLD ME. YOU CAN CHECK OUT ANY TIME YOU LIKE, BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE WITH YOUR CHIPS!     
good thing I did it the day before.
thanks for reading my friends,
Rinad

[Reyth]

In the master's chambers, they gathered for the feast.  They stabbed it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast!

Grats on getting your money!

[stringbeanpc]

Thanks for the update on the Panama situation, last time I was there was 2013 where I remember seeing a player cash out $2k with no problems at Crown Casino El Panama (right next to the veneto).

I think the 5% tax was introduced in 2016.

From your description it sounds like you were at the Veneto casino, difficult to concentrate on your game with all the "ladies" trying to get your attention.

[Rinad]

    yes I was StringBean, so you know. needs a new management for sure. the other casinos were okay.

I felt like I had to look over my shoulder the whole time.
a trip to remember.
best,
Rinad