The inaugural Costa Rica Poker Festival is off to a flying start with players from all over the world arriving every hour, at the luxurious Sheraton San Jose.

The first event titled Pura Vida Bounty, registered 122 Entries with 33 Re-Entries for a total prize pool of $35,746 USD and the bounty prize pool at $18,300 USD.  At level 11 there where 45 players remaining, including 4 ladies. We are eagerly awaiting who will be crowned the winner of the 1st event, at the 1st Costa Rica Poker Festival.

If tournament poker is not your thing there are approximately 10 tables downstairs in the Casino with various cash games running.  The local players are thrilled with the action the tournament series has brought into town and are looking forward to the expected weekend rush.  There are lots of ladies in town for the LIPS Ladies Event scheduled for Saturday afternoon including Lupe Soto and Chris Read, who is the official host of the event.

We caught up with Ivonne Montealegre the Owner and Director of the Costa Rica Poker Festival and the Malta Poker Festival who had the following remarks:

How is Day 1?

Day 1, has exceeded my expectations. The community here has been playing poker for a long time.  When I was a young girl 20 years ago, it was a strong community back then.  It was hard for me to find a time to launch it.  Covid happened and know with Kickers Club and Paul Sergie it’s been a really good partnership.  It’s really professional poker as you can see.

Are you happy with the turnout for your first event?

Yes I am happy with the turnout.  It is incredible that after 20 years of doing this I was so nervous.  I thought the ballroom was going to be empty,  I was panicking,  I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about it, anxiously looking at the walls. My worst nightmare is that no one shows up, but they did.  I put on a show and they showed up.  We had 122 entries for the bounty tournament, the satellite for the main event has had great numbers with over 200 entries, so the numbers are starting to improve.

What are the highlights for Day 2?

Well tomorrow and Thursday are the ‘Off Felt Activities’.  I am hoping the players take a little break from poker and go to the beautiful locations we have set up for them.  There is a volcano tour, beach tour, zip line tour, ATV tour and it’s going to be a lot of fun.  In the afternoon we have the 1st flight of the Main Event and in the evening the Tico Cup.

What would you like to say to the players that are still thinking about coming in to play?

Yes there is still plenty of time, we still have 5 days of events and on Saturday the LIPS Ladies Event which will be so much fun.  It is hosted by the amazing Chris Read and Lupe Soto who is the LIPS founder.  She is here from Las Vegas with her friends.  I am really excited for the next few days.

We will continue to follow the action here from Costa Rica and catch up with Ivonne tomorrow evening to see who was the 1st winner at the Inaugural Costa Rica Poker Festival.

The schedule can be found here: Costa Rica Poker Festival Events

The Costa Rica Poker Festival info here:  Costa Rica Poker Festival

Ladies International Poker Series:  LIPS

Sheraton Hotel:  San Jose, Costa Rica