再现巴拿马赌场赌博现场

　　在2月13-19号之间，我访问了巴拿马市。我的目标之一是报告赌博的现场状况。这个博客是我的报告。

　　在巴拿马赌城，有18个赌场，其中有八个桌上游戏，其余的都是提供的小只插槽。在那里，我访问了一半的赌场，桌上游戏也是之一。我将娓娓道来，然后描述我参观了的每一个赌场。

　　较大的赌场大约在同一面积投入桌牌游戏，为他们做插槽。绝大多数的都是插槽视频卷轴。有极少数老年人玩的三盘插槽，视频扑克和视频基诺游戏。什么是视频扑克？我发现这种游戏提供非常低的金额表。

　　虽然大多数的赌场都集中在市中心的Cangrejo部分，但是他们没有群集在一起，就像在拉斯维加斯，里诺和大西洋城那样。在一般情况下，在拉斯维加斯较大的酒店都会有自己的赌场，这里则更像是一个酒店，而不是赌场。然而，这三家酒店也都有体面的大赌场，大小相似，与拉斯维加斯市中心物业相当。

　　我在美国的巴拿马市的赌场中看到，那里的客户服务没有什么特别。负责饮料服务的通常是一个女服务员，曾经一段时间啤酒和软饮料都会放在托盘里。最好的也要大约每隔半小时才行。如果幸运的话，鸡尾酒女服务员可能会满足你的的特殊要求。不像在拉斯维加斯，在巴拿马市的赌场喝酒是禁止的。

　　就像在美国一样，赌场提供玩家奖励卡。然而，根据标牌，似乎老虎机吸引住了玩家的全部注意力。我到了7个赌场，只有一次我问到一个玩家，和我相比，大多数玩家投注更多。如果许多赌场没有一个正式的方法comping表游戏的玩家，它不会让我感到吃惊。在威尼托大赌场，我坐下来玩了我唯一的一个卡。而在皇冠赌场，我试图把它给上司，当我坐下来玩牌的时候，他恰恰忽略了它。

　　关于巴拿马市的赌场，真正预期的小费是不会很少的，这样做是有好处的。我几乎从来没有看到过需要任何提示来给庄家或鸡尾酒女招待小费。有一次，当我试图让庄家在21点上下赌注时，她不明白为什么，我是在同一地点放两个赌注。当我说较小的赌注“propina”（TIP），她只是把它放置盒中。

　　在赌场上的一般态度是很随意的。我想说的是心情好比赢钱更有乐趣。与所有赌场和所有游戏相比，这里的投注金额往往要低。例如，大多数的21点游戏是$ 3 - $ 500或$ 5 - $ 500。约75％的投注是10美元或更少。

　　在巴拿马允许赌博和饮酒年龄是18岁。在室内公共场所，包括赌场，是禁止吸烟的。

　　在拉斯维加斯，赌场是不拘泥于一时的规则的。虽然在两地都有规定说，“只给玩家提供凳子”这条规则在巴拿马似乎很少执行。他们似乎并不介意人们长时间坐在那里却没有打表。这种事情实在是太常见了，你会看到有人也一个多小时默默地坐着看。我也并不认为玩家要因此而有任何的内疚，当他们离开赌桌则到餐厅用餐。就餐点来说，这里是不寻常的，经常看到有人在机器或表旁边吃。这里是一个游戏的总结。

　　译文

　　Between February 13-19, I visited Panama City. One of my objectives was to report on the gambling scene there. This blog entry is my report.

　　According to Casino City, there are 18 casinos in Panama City, eight of which have table games while the rest are small and offer only slots. While there, I managed to visit half the casinos, and all but one of the ones featuring table games. I'll start with some generalities and then describe each casino I visited.

　　The larger casinos devote about the same square footage to table games as they do slots. The vast majority of the slots are video reels. There are very few older, three-reel slots, video poker or video keno games. What little video poker I found offered very poor pay tables.

　　While most of the casinos were centralized in the Cangrejo section in the center of the city, they were not clustered together like in Las Vegas, Reno or Atlantic City. In general, the larger hotels host their own casino, which is more like an amenity of the hotel, rather than the purpose of it, as in Vegas. However, three hotels do have respectably large casinos, similar in size to the average downtown Las Vegas property.

　　Customer service is not as good in the Panama City casinos as what I am used to in the United States. Drink service is usually a waitress who comes by with a tray of beer and soft drinks once in a while. At best, about once every half an hour. If you're lucky, a cocktail waitress might take special requests. Unlike in Vegas, drinking is done sparingly in Panama City casinos.

　　The casinos do offer player reward cards, much like in the US. However, based on signage, it seems that slot players get all the attention. Of the seven casinos I played in, only once was I asked to present a player card, and I was betting more than most players. It would not surprise me if many casinos did not have a formal method of comping table game players. The Veneto casino was the only one that accepted my card when I sat down. At the Crown casino, I tried to give it to the supervisor when I sat down to play, but he just ignored it.

　　A nice thing about Panama City casinos is tipping was truly not expected and seldom done. I almost never saw anybody tip the dealers or cocktail waitresses. Once, when I tried to make a bet for the dealer in blackjack, she didn't know why I was making two bets in the same spot. When I said the smaller bet was a "propina" （tip） she just took it and put it in the box.

　　The general attitude in the casinos is very casual. I would say the mood is more about having fun than winning money. Limits in all casinos and for all games tend to be low. For example, most blackjack games are $3-$500 or $5-$500. About 75% of bets are $10 or less.

　　The gambling and drinking age in Panama is 18. Smoking is prohibited in indoor public places, including casinos. To that, I say Bravo to Panama!

　　The casinos are not sticklers on the rules, as they are in Vegas. While signs in both places may say, "chairs are for players only," that rule seems to be seldom enforced in Panama. They don't seem to mind when people sit at the tables for long periods of time without playing. It's pretty frequent that you'll see somebody just sitting and watching silently for over an hour. I also don't think players would have any compunction to leave their chips on the table and go have a meal in a restaurant. Speaking of meals, it is not unusual to see people eating at the machines or tables. Here is a summary of the games available.