Tecumseh: New Mexico trip report

[Tecumseh]

I live in Colorado, and I went to New Mexico over the weekend to play for real money.

The first stop was Sky Ute in Ignacio, Colo. I got there about 11 p.m. Friday, and the pit boss shut down the six-deck game as soon as I got there. That left only a two-deck game that ended up being crowded with four players playing all seven spots on the table. I was the only one not playing two spots.

Even though I was taking on too many other hands to have an advantage while counting cards, I played. And I ended up losing.

I went back about 9 a.m. Saturday, and I won back almost all of what I'd lost. But I ended up leaving after about half an hour because the one other player at the table was being an idiot and playing from two to six spots on any given hand.

Then on to Taos Mountain Casino in New Mexico. The casino is small and was crowded on Saturday afternoon. There were only two blackjack tables. I won about $25 at the two-deck table in a couple of go-rounds while playing the $5 minimum. When I had the advantage, I incresed my bet to $10.
The table then got crowded and I left.

On down the road to the OHKAY Casino near Santa Fe. Refreshingly, there were two two-deck games going - with me at one table and only one other guy at the other table when I got there about 4 p.m. Saturday.
The casino also started a six-deck about 6 p.m.

The tables stayed relatively uncrowded until about 8 p.m. I played until 10:30 p.m. when it was too crowded to accomplish anything.

On Sunday morning, I went on to Cities of Gold Casino near Santa Fe. Surprisingly, the casino had a two-deck and a one-deck going when I walked in about 8 a.m.

I won on the two-deck, and then lost nearly all of it on the one-deck which had more restrictive rules.
Cities of Gold also has a six-deck game, but I didn't play there because it uses a continuous shuffle machine.

The three New Mexico casinos hit on soft 17.

The OHKAY was the best place to play regarding environment. It's an open, nice place. But Cities of Gold was better for me when it came to winning.

[Ouchez]