Flying Competition - Balloon Fiesta Hold'em Presented By Sandia Resort And Casino

Balloon Competitions:. It's a little hard to line balloons up on the starting line and have them race to the finish, but balloonists are inventive folks and have come up with some interesting forms of competition. In a ballooning competition, pilots must use the winds at different altitudes to steer the balloon to a target - usually a big "X" on the ground. The pilot then drops a marker from the balloon so that it lands as close to the center of the target as possible. Closest drop wins. On competition days, some balloons take off at Balloon Fiesta Park and fly to targets located north or south of the launch site. Other balloons launch at least a mile away from Balloon Fiesta Park and fly to targets at the park. The overall competition winners are determined by individual pilots' scores over all competition events flown during Fiesta week. The Balloon Fiesta Hold 'em race uses a similar premise, but pilots must drop two markers on giant playing cards laid out on the field to be added to their common cards (Ace, King and Queen of Hearts and 8 and 9 of Clubs) to. make the best poker hand.