Isleta Casino Poker Room - Tournament Frenzy

To the south of Albuquerque's city limits lies The Isleta Casino & Resort, New Mexico's first reservation casino. Ever since its early days, poker has been a part of the action. The poker room is located at the far north end of the casino, next to the lounge and showroom. Although its poker room is not one of the bigger ones, it makes up for it by providing lots of action. Isleta is also the most smoker-friendly room in New Mexico with smoking allowed

Tournament Action

Every poker room in New Mexico tries to find its niche, and for Isleta it is constant tournament action. Every day of the week there are at least two tournaments and on weekends it rises to three. A link to their September schedule is here. Most all tournaments have a rebuy structure which keeps people playing and builds the winning pots. This can also create some unusual action and crazy results. The only no-rebuy tournaments offered are on Saturday and Sunday at 10AM. For those players who excel at tournament style play, one can get far or win in one tournament and finish just in time for the next one.

Personal blog notes

I went both Saturday and Sunday for the 10AM no-rebuy tournaments. Saturday, I performed like most times, and finished in the dead middle of the pack (16th of 33). I posted my best finish ever on Sunday as I came in 3rd place in a field of 23. One other note: I find the tournament structure at Isleta to be turbo in nature. They don' t raise the limits quickly, but at the tournaments I attended the starting chips were 800 and the blinds were 50/100. This made everyone have to act in more of a panic mode. I am happy for my 3rd place finish though, and look forward to more weekend tourneys at Isleta.

Friday's Weekly Poker Tournament Update

Isleta Casino Resort - Tuesday 9/5 and Thursday 9/7 @7PM, Qualifiers for the $30K Marathon Tournaments held on November 28th and 30th. No-Limit Hold 'Em $60 Buy-In with rebuy available in first hour.

Sandia Resort & Casino - Sunday 9/3 and Monday 9/4 @7PM No-Limit Hold 'Em $100 Buy-In (No rebuy) $1000 added. 1st place in each tournament will also receive a free ticket for a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

Santa Ana Star Casino - Saturday 9/2 @11AM No-Limit Hold 'Em $30 Buy-In + $5 Fee No Rebuy

Route 66 Casino - Saturday 9/2 @1PM No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo $20 Buy-In + $5 Entry Fee $200 Added (No Rebuy) Limited to the first 80 players.

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Route 66 Casino review - Building a good reputation

To the west of Albuquerque, some 20 miles from the city limits, rises one of New Mexico's newer casinos, Route 66. From the outside, its visual appeal is not as great as it other metro rivals, but one thing is clear from the outset, it attracts a large number of truckers. Route 66 Casino has created ample parking for semis and with its convenient location off the well traveled I-40, this strategy is part of their success.

So, one might at first think, "Oh no! The building looks plain and it is full of truckers. This place won't be nice." When in actuality, the interior is quite nice and up to the standards of the other competing casinos. What makes Route 66 Casino an even better situation are two things:

#1 A poker room was apparently never part of the original structure, so it has been added on recently. What this means is a dedicated space set apart from all the clatter of the slot machines and an interior design that was meant to welcome the poker players. A full service bar is located at the outside edge of the playing tables. Smoking and alcohol consumption is only allowed in the outer edge. The room has a giant mural on all the walls and the mahogany tones of the furnishings lets you know that this was the intent. Poker. Period.

#2 The place is full of truckers! Most truckers like to gamble, but it has been my experience so far that they are dead money. I was actually tipped off to this when playing a tournament at Isleta Casino Resort. The tip was not wrong. During the late morning to evening, any 2/4 or 2/6 spread table has at least 3 truckers per 10 people playing. I have yet to see one trucker who matches up to the regulars. Most come for the fun and entertainment factor, and have the bankroll to keep running to the cashiers' window for more. Yum yum!

Tournaments - Morning tourneys being at 10AM on M,W,F and 9AM on T, Th. Both are $20 buy-ins with $200 added on M,W,F and $500 added on T,Th. Evening tourneys are M-Th at 7PM with a $25 buy-in. One Omaha Hi-Low tourney is scheduled for Saturdays at 1PM with a $20+5 buy-in. $200 is added to the pot. All tournaments at Route 66 Casino are no-rebuy. Personally, I love this fact. I'd rather pay a higher entry on a no-rebuy tourney than have to suffer rebuying at a lower amount. Fewer fishes and more intense play is the order of the day.

All in all a good poker experience is waiting at Route 66 Casino, now one of my favorites.