It has not been my intention for my articles to appear in such a strange sequence as of late, but with my travels and the way that things of interest occur to me, I throw order and caution to the wind and tell you what is on my mind. I plan on getting back to some coverage of the World Poker Players Conference next time, sharing with you some more of the great tips that were presented by the speakers who addressed the audience. However, at this moment I am at Casinos Europa in San Jose, Costa Rica, participating in the Linda Johnson Celebrity Challenge. I really want to tell you about this event while on location, so please allow me to stray.

Recently we were discussing ethics, proper codes of conduct, and the general good feeling you get when the people around you do the right thing. Here at Casinos Europa, you can bank on the clientele generally doing the right thing, and it's a real pleasure to see. The locals are very friendly and remember you from your last trip with warm hugs and friendly chitchat, and it is their intention to act right and make playing poker a fun experience for all. This was particularly evident to me one night while I was playing Omaha eight-or-better.

We were playing $15-$30 and the action was very good. There were lots of large pots and many folks were ramming and jamming it up. A hand came down in which a local player went all in, so a side pot was created. I was not involved in the hand, but as is my nature, I watched the action. The player to my right, Mark (a very good friend of mine), was still betting on the river with the remaining player who had chips. After the action was complete, the hands were turned over and the winners determined. When I heard that the main pot was to be split between Mark and the all-in player in the hand, my ears perked up. There were four low cards on board, which can make the low difficult to read, and it appeared that everyone's hand had been counterfeited. Although Mark and the other player held the same high, Mark's low was better and he should have received three-fourths of the pot, not merely the half that he'd been awarded. The dealer mucked the stub, scrambled the cards, and began shuffling for the next hand. Someone then asked Mark, "Didn't you have a live 4?" "Yes," he said, "but he had a 6-4 over there." A local said there was a 6 on the board, and pretty soon the entire table was trying to recreate the hand. Mind you, the cards were now being dealt for the next hand, and technically, the statute of limitations had run out.

Anyway, the players (including the man who had been incorrectly pushed half the pot) finally realized and acknowledged that an error had occurred. The man immediately offered half of the chips in front of him to Mark, leaving him with very little money. Remember, he had been the one who was all in, and winning half of the main pot vs. one-fourth of it made a difference as to whether or not he had enough money to continue playing. He didn't even have to think about it; he knew what the proper thing to do was, and he did it. What a pleasure this was to witness. Now, I am not saying there are not many of you who would have done the same thing, but I do know and have been witness to many instances of a player not only keeping the chips he didn't deserve, but going on to chastise a dealer for not doing his job properly or the uninvolved player for speaking up.

Doing the right thing is always the best action – always, every time, day in and day out. When you are in your favorite cardroom playing with the locals, when you are playing with strangers, when you are playing with nice people, or when you are playing with people who are not so nice, it always is correct to do the right thing. It should be everyone's responsibility in the game to see that the right person gets the correct share of the pot. You can never be wrong when playing poker by the golden rule. Class dismissed.

Many thanks go to Nick Gullo, director general at Casinos Europa, for hosting this great event that drew players from all over Latin America, as well as more than 50 players from the United States. His Las Vegas-based wife, Janine, assisted each of us with travel planning and coordinated airport pickups and accommodations, and the entire staff made daily arrangements for us for sightseeing adventures and activities in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. As the locals say, "Pura vida!"

I will answer all questions personally, so please continue to contact me via E-mail at the address listed on Page 4.