Tiger Tours the Tables in the USA - Table of Contents

11/27/9 saturday

Acoma Gaming Facility

part 3 - sky city, acoma pueblo, new mexico

sky city is a relatively new casino. i had passed several billboards for the place as i sped along, each of which featured a picture of one kind of semi- or another, with the legend "the place for big rigs!" let's check it out!

The Poker Room

the poker room is off in a separate room in a corner, so there's very little noise from the casino. they've got 5 tables, and spread 1-5 stud and 3/6 hold 'em. they offer bad beat jackpots and run a small buy-in hold 'em tourney on wednesdays. ivan chong, thickset pony-tailed room manager, might be asian, or he might be a native american, or he might be something else, and he turns out to be a terrific guy! he makes a point to tell me that he is *not* related to tommy chong, of cheech and chong fame.

Truckers

ivan tells me that, as amazing as it may seem, most of his clientele are truck drivers, particularly local drivers who ply their trade between central new mexico and the west coast. he invites me to sit at the hold 'em game, and notes that, of the nine players there, six of them are truckers! :) the room is bright, and they've got new ceramic chips. :) the room is so new that the three tv screens in the room are not yet connected! cash plays here, and dealers keep their own tips. the rake is 10% to a maximum of $3, and they take an extra dollar for the jackpot.

3/6 Hold'em

in one hand, i limp in and call a raise from the big blind. i've got an ace-nine offsuit. flop comes down ace jack ace rainbow. i raise the blind's bet and he calls. the turn is the fourth ace. he bets and i stare at him. i've read the thread here about quads, and i want to get as much money as i can out of this pot. i figure that, if i raise, i'll lose him. so i shrug two or three times, and finally make what looks like a crying call. the river is no help, and he bets; it's his turn to stare when i raise. yeah, he had the jack, and paid me off. :)

and then the dealer tells me that the room offers high hand bonuses! besides the pot, i've just won a t-shirt! all right! :)

game breaks soon thereafter, and i'm back on the road to albuquerque, and a quick session at sandia casino.

[ No trip report on this quick session ]

next day, i make oklahoma city, and the day after, i get to st. louis.

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