'Dear Geno,' a member writes, 'I have been reading your stories about Las Vegas, the Caribbean and poker. It sounds like you live such carefree life that I envy you. I want to learn to play poker and have printed out some of your suggestions. However, I live in a small town in New Mexico. The nearest poker room is in Albuquerque, nearly 200 miles away. Any advice?' Bill W., Hobbs, N.M.
I don't know what Bill does in Hobbs, but I know the town. I lived there and worked as assistant city editor on the Hobbs Daily News-Sun. Hobbs is a community surrounded by oil wells and maybe he works in the petroleum industry. Anyhow, Bill, welcome to our website and thanks for your letter.
My suggestion to you is to start asking questions of your friends.
Quite a few fraternal lodges and organizations have poker games for its members. The Elks Lodge, for example, is known for its poker games and so is the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
You may have to join one of the clubs in order to play poker. I did it when I lived in Brownsville, PA. and again when I worked in Phoenix, AZ.
Do a thorough search, ask a lot of questions, and I am sure you will find something. If you fail in your search, don't give up. Talk to your friends and set up a home game where all of you can learn together.
Keep the stakes low and schedule the game at a time when everyone can be available. I would suggest you play for low stakes at whatever games you choose.
When I played at the American Legion in Phoenix, we played dealer's choice. The deal would move around the table and the dealer could come up with whatever poker game he wanted.
Our most popular games were five-card draw, five-card lowball, seven-card stud, Texas Hold'em, and Omaha High-Low. Sometimes we would use a joker in the draw and lowball games to make them more interesting.
If you get a game going, you could persuade the group to travel to Albuquerque which has several casinos that feature poker rooms, as does Santa Fe. Most poker rooms will set up a table to let you and your friends play whatever poker game you want. They won't agree to anything like 'Spit in the Ocean' or 'Baseball,' which I have also played, but any standard poker games will work.
A small friendly poker club is a great way to learn to play the game. Home games are legal in most states unless the host cuts the pot. If you have any questions about the laws in New Mexico, pay a visit to the police department and they will set you straight on their policies.
I lived in New Mexico for a number of years when I worked on newspapers in Clovis, Hobbs, Tucumcari, Roswell and Las Cruces. It's a great state with good people and is aptly nicknamed 'The Land of Enchantment.'
One of my best friends was Dave Molina, who worked as editor for the Clovis News-Journal. We were working the day John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas and put out a memorable edition that featured stories about the President all over page one.
When I worked at the Hobbs Daily News-Sun, Robert Summers, a gentleman owner of thoroughbred race horses, was the publisher. He used to race his horses in Ruidoso and at Sunland Park in Texas, two quarter horse tracks that featured big purses for the winners.
Good luck as you learn to play poker. Maybe I'll see you some day at the final table of the World Series of Poker.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).