Last month, poker players around from the world celebrated the holidays. From the Ukraine to the United States to Uruguay, the poker community took some well-deserved time off from the tables to be with family and friends. Down in Costa Rica, an entirely different get-together took place, as players who relocated through Poker Refugees gathered with one another to ring in the holidays. View pictures from the Poker Refugees holiday party.If you’re not familiar with Poker Refugees, the service relocates online poker players to poker-friendly countries like Costa Rica, Panama, and Canada. And Refugees aren’t just coming from the United States, either. We’ve had people from Europe, Asia, and elsewhere also inquire about relocating, meaning that Poker Refugees is a global phenomenon. Learn more.
Let’s get back to the party. A Lebanese restaurant in Rohrmoser, Costa Rica called Sash was the setting for the gathering, which took place just before Christmas. Costa Rica has a variety of top-tier restaurants featuring nearly every cuisine you can name, and many of them are affordable to boot. This author has been to Sash several times and can wholeheartedly attest that it is quite tasty.
In the top photo in this forum thread (pictured), you’ll see PocketFives co-founder Adam Small and his wife, Lilliana Small, digging in. Adam and Lilliana are on the left in the orange shirt and white shirt, respectively. Also seated are Peter Lewis, who plays under the screen name Profesigh on PokerStars, and Adam PotCommitted Ross, who has been a member of the online poker community since September of last year. Joining them is PocketFives Training instructor Zack Thrash370 Koerper.Adam rehashed the memorable evening in the same thread, posting, “I was really happy to get to meet so many of the American poker playing crowd that has now moved down to Costa Rica to continue playing. Enjoyed hearing everyone's stories about how they've adapted to their new lives, their experiences outside of poker in their new homes, and of course how things are going on the grind.” Many of these players have been reinstated on PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room.
In the second picture in the Poker Refugees party thread (pictured), going from left to right, you’ll see Alex McElroy, Alex’s significant other, Garrett fakemode Levrini, recent PocketFives Podcast guest Kane Nascar_1949 Kalas, and Andrew Kappes, who goes by the screen name Stackedu. We can see plenty of the beer brand Imperial at this table, which this author would equate to a U.S. brew like Bud Light.Poker Refugees chief Kristin Wilson is seated on the left in the third photo on the page (pictured below). Wilson, a former professional surfer, has been interviewed about her role in Refugees in several high-end news outlets including Bloomberg Businessweek, Yahoo’s Postgame, and the U.K.’s Independent. Wilson is seated alongside two of Poker Refugees’ business partners: Mary (the group’s coastal manager, seated in the middle) and Kevin (who transports players and is seated on the right).
Wilson told PocketFives about her experience organizing a get-together for the Poker Refugees crew: “It was the first time a lot of the guys met each other, so it was cool to have new people together. After dinner, the local crew went to a club called Rapsodia that is really popular in San Jose. There was even some attempted salsa dancing.” The evening ended at 4:00am and there was a little belly dancing to boot, which undoubtedly livened up the evening for several players in attendance.The next day, Koerper posted on PocketFives, “Food was pretty amazing, was a Lebanese restaurant. That night led to the worst hangover ever to play the Sunday $10 Million on. I could hardly play more than one table.”
We strongly encourage anyone who wants to play online in a poker-friendly country to check out Poker Refugees. The service will help you sift through required government relocation forms, get you set up with a reliable internet connection, and assist you in establishing a local bank account, among other tasks.
Visit Poker Refugees for more details and be sure to check out the highlights from the holiday party in our forums.
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