I know we're all feeling the WSOP fever, but I'm thinking about playing the Heartland Poker Tour at Route 66 Casino Hotel in Albuquerque, NM in July.

The main event is a $1,500+150 re-entry with two flights on Friday, July 27th at 5pm and Saturday, July 28th at 3pm.

I am pretty sure this is a new venue for the HPT, so it's very difficult to estimate what the turn-out will be. But does anyone have any wild guesses? Just trying to make sure it's worth my time.

If you have not played poker in New Mexico, prepare to be disappointed in almost every way. Turnouts will be low, not that many people have $1500 to spend on a tournament. While there's a decent amount of poker going on, most of it stays low stakes.

If you are not used to NM, you will find service to be unprofessional in a lazy/bored sort of way that borders on rude.

I'm not saying don't do it, just set your expectations low for all aspects of the trip.

Thanks for the info. Somehow that still hasn't deterred me from committing to playing the tournament.

My choices were this one, Pot of Gold in Reno, and some rando tournament in Denver. Found a cheap flight to Albuquerque and I have good feelings for HPT, so I'll be there. Nobody else is going?

If you're coming from Colorado I might be talked into rolling.

I'm glad it didn't deter you from going, that was definitely not my intention. I just want you to have realistic expectations and not be disappointed. As a rec player living in NM, I'm all about promoting poker here, so thanks for coming!

Also, I live here because I fell into a decent job and I have family nearby, not because I like it here...so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I've lived on the east coast and on the west coast and I'd take either over this place, but NM has a way of keeping people stuck here. The weather is either too dry, too hot or too cold, customer service is non-existent, drivers are drunk/rude/dangerous, and people are less educated than any other place I've lived. But, I guess I'm a local now, since I'm just as lazy as the rest of them and I've been too lazy to get out of here.

Good Luck!

I'll be flying in from LAX.

lol, classic post, Banned4Life. Will definitely set my expectations low, but any new town is a + for me. Will you be playing this event? Let's grab a beer!

think it will get over 150 people?

I think it should, not knowing too much about the NM scene. HPT always runs tons of qualifiers leading up to their event. But of course, you never know.

Looking to chop a room for the weekend if anyone's interested. Hit me up on PM.

Most likely not playing it, I may be out of town for work. I live up north in Santa Fe, so I never make it to Hard Rock, which is on the south end of ABQ. If i make the 1 hour drive to ABQ to play, I just go to Sandia, on the north end. Its about another 20 minutes to Hard Rock.

One good thing I can say about NM is we have some good beer options. Marble Brewery's IPA or Red Ale are excellent. Just off 25 is Chama River Brewing, which also has a decent selection.

No guesses on attendance...not sure what HPT 1.5K's usually get, but I have to think it will be less than usual.

I was just at Buffalo Thunder (about 20 minutes north of Santa Fe) and a dealer mentioned he had played at Hard Rock the day before. I asked if there was a lot of buzz about the upcoming HPT and said there was not.

That may mean absolutely nothing, but had he said there was a lot of buzz, that would be encouraging.

This event is at Route 66 Casino, not Hardrock.

I'm thinking of going, I'm in between going here or up to Reno that weekend haven't made up my mind yet though.

Here is the link to this tournament, including all the satellites leading up to the main event ($1,650). Not a bad structure on the main event and a few of the larger buy-in satellites.

http://www.hptpoker.com/data/heartla...ydetail108.pdf

i was just in ABQ last weekend and of the "big" casinos that i went to there that one had the nicest poker room( atmosphere wise) you have to go through the bar to get to it and its kinda dark and relaxing. they for sure had the nicest tables with the huge HPT logo on them. the best poker room there i feel is at sandia with the most tables and biggest game selection. they had a 1-3 PLO and a 4-8 stud and stud8 going, first time i have seen that at a casino that wasnt in vegas.