Costa Rica: Iron Maiden a Hit With Sportsbook Employees

Iron Maiden proved to be a huge hit with what was a near sell out crowd in Costa Rica this past week.  This heavy metal band has a massive world following.  In Costa Rica, which is home to more online gambling businesses than any other nation in the world, Iron Maiden has one of its loyalist followings.  In fact, all of Central America seems to love this group.  Buses drove down from El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras and some people were camped out at the soccer stadium for nearly a week.

Bruce Dickerson, the lead singer, is an accomplished commercial airline pilot who mostly flies charters throughout Europe.  He also flies the band around in their 757.  Hundreds of Ticos line up at the airport to greet them.  (See video here)

And the scene was no different at the Hotel Intercontinental where Gambling911.com enjoyed drinks with the band while flocks of fans stood around the bar. 

Two lucky Costa Rican sportsbook employees were treated with free VIP tickets to the concert (see video here) as well -Mario (photographed), who works at Sportsbook.com, and his brother, Julio, who works for BodogLife.com.  Mario even removed his shirt during the concert to reveal his new chiseled body and a tattoo across his chest that read:  "I Love Rebecca...and All Ticas...666-6666 Phone Number of Mario The Beast". That's a big chest to be sure!

Uber concert promoter, Eddie A., was responsible for bringing the mega metal group to Costa Rica for a second time this year.  He's also managing a band out of Mexico that our own Jenny Woo will be interviewing soon.

"They are fantastic!" declared one of our concert groupies, attending from Sportsbetting.com, referring to Eddie A.'s managed band.  The group played recently in San Jose, Costa Rica's capital city.

Next up for Eddie A.

"We are working on getting the Jonas Brothers down here," he said, though nothing has been confirmed as of yet.  "They (The Costa Ricans) really love the Jonas Brothers and this is a very religious country so the group will be embraced with open arms."

The Jonas Brothers wear purity rings, much like the one our own Jenny Woo wears, which symbolizes their virginity. 

....Costa Rica Strengthens Ties With China: China is willing to continuously push forward its friendly relations with Costa Rica, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said here Thursday.

Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

The two countries reached broad consensuses on a number of key issues when Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Costa Rica last year, said Wang, adding Hu's visit pointed out the way for further development of bilateral friendly ties.

China and Costa Rica have carried out fruitful cooperation in politics, economy, education, culture and finance since they forged diplomatic ties in 2007. Bilateral cooperation brought tangible benefits to the two peoples, said Wang.

The Chinese side also expressed appreciation to Costa Rica for its understanding and support over issues relating to Taiwan and Tibet.

Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor