New Mexico - Route 66 Casino Recap
Albuquerque Man Turns
$190 into HPT Championship
Albuquerque,
NM (November 5, 2012) – Heartland Poker
Tour producers saw another Cinderella story at Route 66 Casino Hotel in
Albuquerque on Monday when 26-year-old plumber James Williams turned $190 into $56,652,
doubling his lifetime poker winnings.
While his parents and wife watched from the rail, his king-queen held up
against queen-nine, making him the latest HPT champion.
Williams will hit the road with his winnings. “We’ll go on vacation; we’ll follow you
guys,” he told Jaymz Larson, host of the live broadcast on HPTpoker.com. His next stop is HPT’s Championship
Open at Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana where he’ll join HPT
champions from throughout the season for the last stop of 2012. The open event is expected to draw
hundreds of players from around the country.
The weekend
tournament was a wild ride for Tyler Thompson of Albuquerque. The software developer barely made it
into the Main Event in the last available satellite. He advanced to Day Two, but he had one of the shortest
stacks at the start of the day. By
the time the field was reduced to six, Thompson was the chip leader. As he prepared for Monday’s Final Table,
he said he was in shock. “Wait a second. I have a pretty good shot at winning
some serious money today,” he reminded himself. His wild ride took him to third place for $24,279.
The
field grew for HPT’s second visit to New Mexico. Many tour regulars made the trip including Craig Casino,
Stan Jablonski, Scott Dougherty and Logan Knight, who’ve all ascended to the TV
table at previous HPT stops. Only
Jablonski of Bullhead City, Arizona made his way back to the set Monday. He followed up his sixth-place finish
in St Louis with fourth place in Albuquerque for $16,692.
Like
HPT’s first visit in July, some recognizable pros were in the field including Maria
Ho, Bryan “Devo” Devonshire, and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler. Maria busted in Day 1, Devo went out as
the money bubble, and Chainsaw survived to 11th place.
In July,
world champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer eliminated John Bechard on the TV
bubble. Raymer went on to win the
event and two other HPT championships in a three-month period. Although he was impressed with Raymer,
Bechard admitted “It was disappointing.” The retiree from Woodlawn Park,
Colorado said, “I wanted to be on television.” Bechard got a second chance on HPT’s return visit, finishing
in fifth place for $13,151.
In a year of unprecedented follow-up finishes on HPT,
runner-up Anthony Herrera also has a comeback story to tell. The Santa Fe truck driver returned to
Route 66 Casino Hotel to improve on his eighth-place finish this summer. Putting up just $500, he found himself
playing heads up on national TV for a payout more than 100 times his
investment. He adds $36,419 to his
bankroll.
No one wants
to be the first eliminated from the TV table and Robert Weekes was no
exception. The short stack from
Gallup, New Mexico had to make a move early to stay in the game. He hoped he picked a good spot with
queen-ten, but he ran into ace-five with ace-ten-five on the flop. In sixth place, Weekes adds $11,128 to
his poker fund.
HPT goes
directly to Palms Casino Resort for another nationally-televised Main Event
this week before finishing the year at Belterra the following week. With the momentum in full swing this
season, HPT promises major announcements and upgrades for 2013, starting with a
nationally-televised event aboard a seven-day Card Player Cruise in
January. Tour details are
available at HPTpoker.com.
About Heartland Poker Tour
Founded in
2005, Heartland Poker Tour is built on agrass-roots strategy, "Real
People, Unreal Money". HPT
provides poker enthusiasts atelevised “Texas No Limit Hold'em” poker tour
with affordable buy-ins. HPT is
currently filming Season VIII and is available in over 100 million US
homeseach week. For more information and a complete schedule of
upcomingevents, visit www.HPTPoker.com.
For further information or to schedule a media interview
Jennifer
Mastrud
Director
of Operations
HPT
- Heartland Poker Tour
Mobile:
(701) 793-0380
Email:
jen@HPTpoker.com
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/HPTJen
HPT Media Kit
http://www.heartlandpokertour.com/mediakit/index.html
Results
All Paid Players Listed at HPTpoker.com
Route 66 Casino Hotel
Albuquerque, NM
November 5, 2012
Buy-in:
$1650
Main Event:
141
Total Prize Pool: $202,330
|
1 James Williams
|
(Albuquerque, NM)
|
$56,652.40
|
|
2 Anthony Herrera
|
(Santa Fe, NM)
|
$36,419.40
|
|
3 Tyler Thompson
|
(Albuquerque, NM)
|
$24,279.60
|
|
4 Stan Jablonski
|
(Bullhead City, AZ)
|
$16,692.23
|
|
5 John Bechard
|
(Woodland Park, CO)
|
$13,151.45
|
|
6 Robert Weekes
|
(Gallup, NM)
|
$11,128.15
|
|
