Developments in New Mexico poker:

Well, we lost Higgy5, a guy with casino experience from a different state who tried to breathe some life into the Santa Ana poker scene.

Now, Buffalo Thunder has hired a new room manager who has similar hopes of making New Mexico poker more like the rest of the world. The guy has some good ideas, but we'll see if he can get any of them to work here.

Plans are for more tourneys per week, some with higher buyins and some with larger starting stacks without major changes to structure (tho, maybe 20 min levels on some of these).

I sincerely hope it helps the room, but I find it amusing when these guys show up from Nevada or Cali and think that what worked there is gonna somehow work here. He even has hopes of one day bringing WSOP Circuit events to BT.

He's all wide-eyed and excited, promoting the room by talking up the players...which is just plain adorable. It will be so sad to see him as a beaten down, shell of a man in a few months when he resigns himself to the fact that you can't make changes for the better in a poorly managed casino/resort nearby the City Difficult.

I hope he proves my pessimism to be wrong.

Just got done playing at Blue Thunder tonight, visiting Santa Fe & went there based off reading this thread.

They had 1 1-3nl & 1 1-2plo8 w/ a 5 bring in 500 max buyin & played like a 2/5 game + 2 limit games going. The 20/40 mix wasn't going & they said they expect to spread it Wed am. The 6:30 $60 tourney had 44 runners & paid top 7.

Nice room will definitely be hitting it up again this trip, thanks for all the info.

I forgot to mention that they've started doing something that Santa Ana has been doing for awhile: If you play cash for at least an hour prior to a tournament, you get a free add on. 1 hour prior gives you an additional 300 chips, 2 hours prior gives you 1000 chips.

I always thought this was a pretty good deal for the players that take advantage of it, but I do find it somewhat bizarre. Why should extra chips be put into play just because you played a raked cash game? None of the rake is being added to the prize pool and every player is paying the same entry fee.

Obviously, its a good promotion for the room but from a math/equity perspective it doesn't sit right with me. At least with "optional" so-called "dealer" add on's (which everybody ends up paying anyway) you can choose to put yourself at a chip disadvantage and save a small amount on your buyin.

Looks like our New Mexico thread's been pretty slow. So let's get it going, eh?

HPT qualifiers for the Rt 66 Main Event started in earnest this week. I'll be playing the $180's on Monday & Tuesday night, and the $360 on Wednesday. Anybody else from 2+2 planning to jump in some of those?

I played one the last time they came through and won my seat with ease. The folks at my FT were pretty clueless about how to play a satellite. I'm thinking I'll play multiples this time, because you can sell the seats if you don't want to use them. Maybe I'll do a Raymer and fire multiple bullets at the ME. How fun would that be?

Thanks for the bump, but it seems like its just you and me ever posting here.

I've been traveling a lot and not playing or logging into 2+2, but hope to be around more often after the beginning of the year.

What's new at Santa Ana, I haven't been over there since last spring?

Santa Ana has become pretty depressing. Only Monday & Friday see a good quantity of runners for the tournaments. Sunday Omaha cash game is drying up too. $1-2 NL games are almost always playing short handed. They're supposed to be moving the room back out on to the casino floor before Christmas. I hope that will help.

They still haven't replaced Higgy5, so don't have a permanent room manager.

I'd really like to see it pick up, as it's the closest to my house, and has the best tournament structures in the state.

Buffalo Thunder has moved it's room to where the gift shop used to be. Only been there once since the move. But, it's got a few more tables and you can still order drinks from the bar in the room. They now have a more limited food menu, but service has greatly improved.

does anyone have any information on the december 2 $230 tourney at inn of the mountain gods? on their website they dont really have that much info. or any other major tourneys around new mexico this winter?

how's the traffic for the 4/8 LHE game at Sandia? according to PokerNearMe app on my iphone, that game runs "always, or nearly so" and that its a 1/2 kill game, and that the rake is 10% up to $3 (which i think is sick low)

so, is it true that this game runs regularly? is it true that the rake is so low? is there a BBJ or other stuff that adds to the rake/drop? anyone have any experience in the game as to how soft the field is? thanks.

Can confirm rake is 10% up to $3, and there is a BBJ of $1 when the pot hits $30. Don't know about the other stuff but I would assume it runs pretty often.

Just returned from the Ho Ho Holdem tourney at Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso and here's a Trip Report:

Enjoyed my time there, didn't cash, but played well. 3-outer on the river knocked me out with about 27 left. Paid 11. Missed a few opportunities and misplayed one hand which left me short with 12 BB's at the 2k BB level.

Congrats to JakeB who took down the tourney without even having to play heads up. He took out 2nd & 3rd place when his AA crushed K8 and Short Stack in the same hand. This is Jake's 2nd big tourney win of the year in NM as he took down the September Bracelet event at HardRockAbq as well. Solid player who's just crushing the bigger tourneys.

The tournament sold out at 110 entries on the morning of. Several locals who were debating about it got shut out. It was played close to the hotel lobby with an inspiring view of the lake and the mountains. Nice beverage bar set up with free coffee/tea/water/bottled juices. Portable chairs...

Started with 10k chips for your $230 BI plus the $10 dealer-add-on added 5k to your stack, and I'm pretty sure everybody did that. Tourney ran all 40 minute rounds and was well run. Only complaint i heard was that our 30 minute dinner break happened when the buffet was closed. Those that did the early bird registration like me got 2 free buffet tickets, so that was a miss...Although to be honest, the buffet was pretty horrible. I'd rather have a better rate on the room next year than the buffet tickets.

Structure was:

100/200
200/400
300/600
Break 20 minute
400/800
400/800/100 ante
700/1400/200
Dinner break 30 minute
1k/2k/300
2k/4k/500
3k/6k/800
Break 20
5k/10k/1k
10k/20k/3k
15k/30k/4k
Break 20
20k/40k/5k
40k/80k/10k
60k/120k/15k

I didn't recognize how impactful the jump to a 1400 BB in level 6 was quickly enough. Took me from ~35 BBs to around 17 in one orbit.

This was a fun NM road trip, and I'll definitely do it again. Especially like the stop at the Buckhorn on the way back. Best Green Chile Cheeseburgers around.

yea I actually went to go play the tourney, but I was one of the ones shut out lol. its all good tho I played 1/2 cash all day and cashed out like $1200. I forgot how soft the cash games are there

bump.

can anyone speak to the health of the NL and LHE cash games in Albuquerque? Sandia? Santa Ana?

not really sure about alb, but I recommend driving to ruidoso. really easy NL games. bunch of ABC older people. only thing is that there isn't many good tourneys. anyone know about the tourneys going on around alb?

Yea I also get curious about the nl games at sandia when I venture home for the holidays

Regarding the health of NM poker, I stopped in at Sandia on Friday at 3pm and at least 12 different games were going. I put my name on the 1-2 NL list (there were 4 or 5 going at the time). About 10 minutes later they opened a new table and called my name and said "table 15". I look around and all 15 tables in the room are running. The holdem BBJ was 76K and someone told me it had been 2-3 months since it hit.

This is before 4pm on a Friday afternoon and the room is full! Granted, it's a holiday week, but I don't think it was out of the ordinary. I've walked in there on Monday mornings and seen at least 3 tables going. So, there's always action at Sandia, more than any other NM casino...and more than most Vegas poker rooms.

Evenings and weekends at Sandia a typical mix of games will look something like this, in most-likely-to-happen order:
1 to 5 tables of 2-4 limit going
1 or 2 tables of 4-8 omaha h/l with 1/2 kill
1 to 5 tables of 1-2 nl (with must-move to 1 or 2 "main" games)
1 or 2 4-8 limit holdem (not sure if full or 1/2 kill)
1 table 1-3 nl or 3-6 limit
1 table of a scheduled higher limit game like 10-20 limit (you need to call ahead to get on the list for these, different ones each day).
1 table 2-5 nl or higher (mostly weekend evenings)

For other ABQ casinos, Hard Rock is on BravoPokerLive and its been looking pretty dead lately. Not sure what's happening at Santa Ana or any other rooms.

North of Santa Fe, Buffalo Thunder has been picking up a little steam since moving the room. They are considering adding a mid-month deep stack tournament for $225. Right now, they have a last Saturday of the month deep stack for $150 at 1pm for $15K chips, 20 min levels, which got 23 runners yesterday and had 3 tables in November and October.

They are also on BravoPokerLive, Friday nights are the most likely time to see any action, the rest of the week can vary from stone dead to hopping. There are some big games that run there (5-5 PLO, 20-40 limit) that are known to be crazy. But, a typical "busy" night at BT means 1 table of 2-6 spreadlimit, 1 table of 4-8 Omaha h/l (no kill) and 1 table of 1-3 NL, while a tourney is finishing up, and then maybe when the tourney ends a second table of one of the other games opens up.

Nice Update B4L. I'm banned for life from Sandia, so couldn't give that update. Kinda sucks because they are the busiest room in the state.

I play at Santa Ana the most. Very slow these days, but hopefully it'll pick up soon. They're moving the room sometime in the next few weeks back out on to the Casino floor, and dropping from 12 tables to 5. They'll keep some portable tables for the bigger tournaments.

These days the best tournaments are:

o Friday night 7pm $100 buy in which gets 20-30 runners each week.
o Monday and Friday 11am tourneys get 30-40 players and have a great structure for an early tourney. They play deep because it's a $30 BI for 3k in chips with a 1k dealer add on for $5, but you also get an optional 5k add on for $20 more, and most folks do that. So it's really a $55 BI for 9k in chips. Blinds don't hit 1k/2k until Level 8. They also run on Tues, Wed, Thur, Sat, but only get around 20 people for those.

$1-2 NL runs 1 table weekdays before and after the tourney until late afternoon. $3-6 Omaha H/L with 1/2 kill runs on Sundays from 9am until it fades out normally around 5pm. $1-2 NL runs 1 or 2 tables on Friday and Saturday nights.

Sounds like i need to start heading up to Buffalo Thunder more often.

Where are the best places to play limit Omaha Hi Lo in the area?

Omaha hi/lo is alive and well in NM! I've seen it played at Sandia, Buffalo Thunder and Santa Ana. Sunday's are always a good time to find Omaha at any of those places. Santa Ana used to (maybe still?) have a Sunday morning omaha TOURNAMENT.

Sandia is always the place to go if you're looking for anything, they're always busy. I don't get there very often, but i've never NOT seen an omaha 4/8 game running.

I get to Buffalo Thunder 1-3 times a month and also watch it on BravoPokerLive and there's omaha there several times a week, with Sunday and Thurs the "unofficial" omaha days, but Thursdays can sometimes be completely dead, so call ahead.

BT will also run 1-2 PLO and 5-5 PLO that alternate between High and Hi/lo split. These games are super-actiony and the 5-5 game may be the biggest game in the state. I wouldn't sit in that game with less than $1K (plus another $2K in my pocket). That is, if I ever sat in that game, which is a lifetime goal, if I ever build the 'roll.

So I'm making my annual April trip to Buffalo Thunder for a conference (confirmed staying there on a Wednesday and Thursday night) and hoped to get an update on the poker scene these days. I'm mostly interested in the 1/3 NL game. Last year it ran every night (Wednesday through Friday) but never during the day. Hoping maybe that's changed? I'm also debating between staying Friday night at BT or heading down to Sandia. Rooms at Sandia are somewhat pricey, though, so I wondered whether there are alternative lodging options within walking distance or at least a short drive away? Thanks, and see you folks soon.

Sandia is now on the Bravo app, but I haven't been checking what runs during the day on weekdays.

According to some friends, Buffalo Thunder's been spreading $1-2 & higher PLO/PLO8 on Wednesday & Friday. Some of the bigger money local players are making the trip up there now to play that game. Then there's also a bigger Limit HE game on Thursday. Usually 20/40 I think.

Sandia is on a reservation, so there's no other hotels or restaurants on the rez to compete with them. Next closest hotels are about 2 miles south on I-25 on the North end of Abq.

moving to Farmington where's the closest best poker room for 2-5nl?

Probably Sandia. 2/5 rarely runs at Buffalo Thunder.
Farmington is pretty far away from anything.

thanks