Ok, so after being back in Bocas only a couple of weeks, I already started finding myself to be a bit itchy. Bocas had a shrunken on me a bit since I’d been gone, and I found myself rapidly wanting some new stimulation. I also found myself itching to play a bit more poker and perhaps parlay my recent successes. I decided to head out to Panama City to hang out there a bit more. GC Mitzy and I had a great time there during our road trip in July. And I decided that it would be worthwhile to head out there again. After booking a rather last minute flight and hotel, I was off.
This time, though, I had a new contact in the city. I met Ceci and her lovely daughter Michelle in Bocas before I headed to the states. Ceci was gracious enough to give me her contact info and offered to meet up with me and show me around next time I was in the city. I gave her a rather last minute call the day I was leaving, not expecting much. She said my timing was perfect, and she would meet me after checking into my hotel. Great!
So after flying in, and a little hotel snafu, Ceci met up with me. We were both hungry, and of course she knew a great sushi place. After munching out on sashimi and rolls, she got the idea to show me a part of the city called Causeway Amador. It’s a really cool waterfront stretch of land that’s loaded with restaurants, parks, and nightspots. We went to a place known for its music, and had some drinks there. It was a nice time, and she was a most gracious hostess. We agreed that we’d meet up again before I left.
After being brought back to the hotel, I went to a nearby casino that Mitzy and I cased out for the poker room. The poker room was busy, and there was quite a wait, so I decided to hold off playing until the next day, thinking that the poker room would be open during the day. While walking through the casino, I saw a girl named Sami who was working at the door of one of the lounges Ceci and I was going to check out, but decided against because the cover was a bit high. She remembered seeing me and was quite friendly. After chatting a bit, she invited me to go with her to a place called Sahara on Calle de Uruguay.
Being it was almost 3 AM, I was a bit apprehensive, but then decided what the hell, I can sleep in the morning. So off we go to Calle de Uruguay. We got to Sahara and the place was still rocking. There was a live band that sounded great, and the place was PACKED. I was a bit surprised by this, but found it refreshing. We hung out with Sami’s brother, played a round of pool, and she proceeded to introduce me to all her friends. It was nice meeting up with locals. A short time later, Sami said she got a call and she had to leave, and asked me if I’d be ok. I said no problem, knowing that catching a cab back to the hotel would be easy and cheap. After saying goodbye, I continued hanging out and chatting up with the rest of the people she introduced me to and more. It was fun, the music was great, and for all I know it stayed rocking well until after 7 AM. I left about 5:30 after showing some signs of wear.
Next day, I got a wakeup call from Ceci. She said she was going to have her hands full through the day, so wouldn’t be able to meet me until possibly later in the day. I said no problem, considering I was planning on playing poker that day anyway. So after catching a rather late breakfast, I proceeded to find my poker heaven.
No luck, all the poker rooms were closed until at least 6pm. So I spent the rest of the day wandering around Via Espana, checking out the casinos and then back to the hotel where I watched some HBO. I ventured back out in the evening, and ended back up at Via Veneto where the poker was supposed to be the best in town. It was definitely a higher end level of players, but I wasn’t too intimidated. I did notice, however that many of them didn’t put all their chips on the table until well after the game started. In most poker rooms, this would not be allowed, but here, for some reason it was. So lots of guys went from having $100-200 in chips to $800-1000 in chips. Hardly fair, more like they were out to buy out the other players. This is a term where in cash games you outbet the other players so overwhelmingly there’s no way they can stay in the hand unless going “all-in”.
Anyway, I ended up hanging in the games and doing just that, having to go “all-in” a few times to stay in the deal. I won a couple of times, but unfortunately I also lost and it cost me. The poker room manager didn’t seem to say much about what I pointed out to him regarding the other players and their rather shady strategy. He just shrugged and said that they come in there all the time, so there’s not much he can do about it.
After a disappointing run, I decided to call it a night for poker. A little poorer, but also a lot smarter. I ventured around the casino a bit, there was a great salsa band playing on the main stage, and lots of friendly locals. After a few drinks, I decided to venture out back to Calle de Uruguay where I was the night before. I’m glad I did, because I had even more fun that 2nd night. I stayed there well until after 5 AM, met some great people, and decided to head back to the hotel and try to get some sleep. Didn’t succeed to well on that either. 
The next day, I got another wake-up call from Ceci, and she offered to pick me up and take me to lunch with her kids, and even take me to the airport for my flight back to Bocas. She picked me up a short time later. I met her kids Giancarlo and Alex. Alex is 6 and a bit shy. Giancarlo is 12 going on 30. A real funny and smart kid with a sarcastic side you don’t see in most adults. Ceci took us back to the Causeway, to a great Parilla restaurant (that’s a latin-type grill restaurant) that’s right on the waterfront. After a huge lunch, Ceci was nice enough to take me by a mall to pick up some much needed cat litter for Andiamo. She got me to the airport with time to spare, and made me promise her I’d call her next time I was in town. Which I of course agreed to, I’d be stupid not to!
So, after a short flight I was back in Bocas, refreshed from a VERY eventful and entertaining weekend in a city I’ve really come to like.