Roger Martin Wins Heartland Poker Tour Albuquerque

Colorado’s Roger Martin has won the Heartland Poker Tour Albuquerque, after defeating a field of 86 players on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the $39,082 first-place prize.
The $1,650 No Limit Hold’em Re-entry event took place at the Route 66 Casino in New Mexico and created a prize pool worth $122,130. By the time the tournament reached it last nine players, the biggest names headlining the final table was Team Ivey’s Allen Kessler and HPT Mile High Poker Open winner Craig Casino.
First to leave the arena was Charles Vargas whose pocket kings ran into the pocket aces of Roger Martin. Despite hitting a king on the K-10-8 flop, an ace on the turn sealed Vargas’ fate and so he exited in 9th for $4,641.
John Michalak (A-A) then eliminated Thomas Montoya (7-7) in 8th for $5,252, and after Norman Michalek was dispatched to the rail in 7th ($5,862), Roger Martin (10-10) knocked-out John Michalak (A-K) in 6th for $5,862.
Next, Craig Casino (A-J) called Kris Wagner’s (A-6) preflop shove and subsequently eliminated him in 5th ($8,549) when the board ran out K-J-6-8-5, but unfortunately for him was eliminated next in 4th ($11,602) by Cruz Baca. Continuing his run, Baca (Q-J) then did likewise to Allen Kessler (A-A) on a Q-7-6-J-K board to get heads-up against Roger Martin.
As the heads-up battle commenced, Cruz Baca held a 3 to 1 chip lead over Martin, but the Colorado man was able to eek out a lead when the final hand was played with Martin (A-Q) and Baca (9-9) all-in preflop. The board subsequently rolled out Q-6-5-Q-2 to relegate Cruz Baca to a runner-up finish worth $24,426, while Roger Martin was crowned the champion.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1 Roger Martin – $39,082
2 Cruz Baca – $24,426
3 Allen Kessler – $15,999
4 Craig Casino – $11,602
5 Kris Wagner – $8,549
6 John Michalak – $5,862
7 Norman Michalek – $5,862
8 Thomas Montoya – $5,252
9 Charles Vargas – $4,641