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#1
10-17-2007, 10:55 PM
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NM Poker Trip, low poker content
Our family took a quick trip through New Mexico last week to see the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and the Cowboy Symposium in Ruidoso. Here are my impressions of the events, and a quick look at the two poker rooms I saw.
This was my first visit to the Balloon Fiesta. I’m not normally an early riser, but it was worth getting up at 5 AM for the event. Our young daughter was speechless, and having kids along will surely make the event even more special. The trick at the festival is to show up half dead, enjoy the event, and then try to get a good nap in afterwards. We pulled in to the parking lot around 5:45, and there was very little traffic. I heard from people who came later that there was a massive traffic jam for the late comers. We were able to grab a leisurely breakfast and watch the Dawn Patrol take off, so I’d recommend an early arrival. Thursday was special shapes day, so the sky was full of interesting balloons. We had just purchased a new 1 GB card for our camera, and I think we shot just short of 400 pictures in two hours. The best part of the event is that you can walk through the staging area as they are setting up the balloons. There are so many that they are touching as they fill up and take off. It is an experience that defies explanation, but it was a great time for all. After a long nap and catching dinner with the family, it was time to head to the Sandia poker room. I picked up my friend Carl, headed down Tramway, and hit the beautiful resort. I’ve never been on an off weekend, but everything I saw about the casino was to love. They had a non-smoking room with decent ventilation, keeping out most of the smoke from the rest of the casino. They had nice tables and chairs, and I think that they had a $3 rake. There was $1 for the jackpot, but the players could opt out. All of the $10-$20 tables that I played at had opted out of the jackpot, so this is the cheapest poker I’ve played in a long time. The dealers were friendly, and they had shuffling machines on every table. I’m not sure if tips were pooled, but I didn’t see any notably bad dealers. I saw a trip report before I left that mentioned great no-limit play in NM. I only play limit, so I can’t report on the games. However, there must have been 10 NL games going Thursday night, and they had 2/5(?) and 5/10 going with thousands on the table. All of the Hold’em and Omaha tables had a 1/2 kill. They had one great 4-8 Omaha game, several 4-8 Hold’em games, two 10-20 Hold’em games, and one 20-40. As we arrived, the Thursday tournament was finishing; I didn’t catch the blind structures, but I heard they weren’t great. The 10-20 games were incredible. I sat down at a new must-move table, and I was very disappointed to get called to the main game. I was mistaken; the main game was just as great as the must-move. I’ve played a lot of 10-20 at Mirage over the years, so my perspective on a normal game may be off. These may have been the best games at that limit I’ve ever seen. There were often 5-7 for a flop, and raises were mostly ignored. Some of the loose players were slightly aggressive, but the limits were big enough that you could get some players to fold on later streets. If you like loose/passive games, this is the place to be. I may lose my posting privileges to admit that I left an awesome game, just because I was tired. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, so I wandered away with a modest $288 profit after 4 hours of play. Given the line-up I should have made more, but I had a great time. Does anyone know if these are the normal NM games, or did the tourist crowd make the tables? Friday we left Albuquerque and made the short drive to Ruidoso and the Cowboy Symposium. On the way we passed some very interesting lava flows near the highway, and we saw vast expanses of high desert. I wouldn’t recommend driving anywhere near Ruidoso with a car you didn’t trust. We had seen the Food Network special on the Chuck Wagon Cook-off, but we were unable to get tickets; if you want in, buy really early. We were unlucky on the weather at the Symposium, and high winds on the racetrack made the dust beyond miserable. We saw the Horse Whisperer, and he put on a show that was good enough to brave the weather. The chuck wagons were quite interesting, but it was hard to brave the elements for long. The inside events at the Symposium were what you’d expect. They had some very good live bands in the big tent, and there was more than enough Western shopping for anyone interested. Add in lots of cowboy attired people, and you’ll have the picture. The Symposium is at the racetrack, and there is a casino. However, only the casinos on the reservations have poker. Thanks to the recommendations on this forum, I found my way to the Inn of the Mountain Gods Saturday evening. The casino is a beautiful new building on a lake. The poker room is non-smoking and set off from the main casino; however, I noticed the smoke even sitting in the far corner of the room. The ceilings in the casino were reasonably high, but a walk on the floor made me feel like I had smoked a couple of my own. As is always the case, I ran in to a couple of friends from Denver waiting for seats at the tables. When I arrived around 7, there was one 4-8 limit game going. They started a sixth 1-2 NL game before opening another limit game. They never got an Omaha game going that I saw, and there was no list. The staff was friendly, and one of the managers opened our table to cut down on the wait for another dealer. The dealers shared tips (which I hate), but they seemed reasonably good for a small casino. The casino had shuffling machines at all tables, so we got a reasonable number of hands in. I tried to start a 10-20 list, but I was the only name that ever hit the list. I think the rake was $4 with no jackpot drop. If you had a players card the casino paid for high hands, quads or better. They payouts were $25 for quads up to $500 for a spade royal flush. The NL Hold’em was certainly better than the limit. One of these days, I’m going to have to learn how to play for game selection purposes. The 5/10 blinds game behind us must have had $30k on the table, featured a live straddle most of the night, and was loose beyond belief. Either everyone at the table was a super-expert who could read well enough to make up for poor position/starting cards, or the game was a gold mine. The limit game was half full of casino first timers, people who literally had to have the betting amounts explained on every hand. I have issues at a loose table of playing my A game, but even with mediocre play I made a little over $100 in 5 hours. This time I refused to go home until the game broke. I’m a big fan of short-handed play at these limits. As the game started to break down around midnight I was able to get in about an hour of play down to about 5 handed. I don’t really have any hands, but I do have a general question about short handed play at an awful table. If you are playing people who are complete calling stations, what is the optimal way to adjust short handed? They will play any hand that they play for one or two bets. They won’t fold if they have any pair or draw. They rarely raise, but if they do it is equally likely bluff or value. They don’t value-bet for any sane reason, and they would often allow you to check to showdown. I know these people learned to play by watching ESPN, so all of these “strategies” are learned from watching the final table of the WSOP. I think my normal short handed game makes money here, but I think it is far from optimal. I wasn’t able to play any more poker for the rest of the trip. We made the 9.5 hour drive back to Denver without incident. I had a great time and made a little money on at the tables. If you’re traveling through New Mexico, I’d recommend a quick trip to the local casino. Thanks for putting up with a long report. Doug 
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