The Free Poker Network (FPN) Championship has been taking place in Las Vegas, and a new champion was crowned early Monday morning. While there was a new winner this year, the champion came from a very familiar location when discussing this event.
Jordan Sleen was crowned the winner, and he was representing Billy’s Corner Bar & Grill in Vegas, Minnesota. That might not sound significant, but he is the third straight winner from that location, and there were four other players who took home money from there this time around.
The 2024 FPN Vegas $100K World Championship had a massive prize of $25,000, and Sleen walked away with a nice trophy as well. There were 388 qualifiers for this event, making it the largest pool of competitors that this event had ever seen.
Unfortunately, not everyone was able to walk away a winner, but there were 36 different places paid out, with $720 being awarded at that position. Joseph Fisher of Illinois was the runner-up at the main event, and he walked away with $15,000 for his efforts.
Rounding out the top five and their prize money were Dale Hjelmgren, Gary Lance, and Wendy Adamcyzk-D’Andrea.
Wild Action Ensued
Sleen had to stay focused for a long time in order to win this title as the championship event lasted 13 hours. A large portion of the field was eliminated early on in the action, but there were plenty of others who were in it for the long haul.
Things tend to ramp up pretty quickly once the field gets dwindled down a bit, and that was the case this year as well. Once there were just two tables remaining, many of the players started to get more aggressive in hopes of ending things.
Sleen had a big decision to make early in the final tables, but he was able to win a huge hand with ace-queen, barely nudging out another competitor that had ace-jack. From there, Sleen tended to play it pretty safe as he sat back and watched other players go all in and eliminate one another.
It was Sleen who made the first move when there were just three players remaining, and he stayed aggressive when it was down to the final two competitors. One final turn on the river did make things interesting, but Sleen was able to get the luck that he needed to secure the victory.
Tag Team Championship Was Competitive
The 2024 Free Poker Network Tag Team Championship was also being held at the same time, and this was another event that was hotly contested. Phil Wilburn and Darren Sneed were able to win the event and managed to take home $1,500 in the process.
The Tag Team Championship was not only handing out prize money, but it also handed out some entries into the main event. There were 162 teams competing for the prize, and Wilburn/Sneed were very low on chips at one point in the competition.