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Level 13
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
2026 FPN Vegas National Championship
Clash of Kings & Queens Nat'l Championship Main Event
Day: 1
Event Info
2026 FPN Vegas National Championship
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
Buy-in
$50
Prize Pool
$58,700
Total Entries
392
Level
23
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
392
Players Left
1
Players Left 1 / 392
Filter
Level: 13
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 10,000
Level 12
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
The remaining 62 players have been sent on a 40-minute dinner break. Action will resume at approximately 5:31 p.m. local time.
Level 12
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
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Level 12
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
In a heads-up pot on a board of 8♣J♥7♠K♦, a player bet 30,000 and Melissa Friday moved all in for about 55,000. The player called.
Melissa Friday: A♣Q♦ 
Opponent: Q♣10♥
Neither player had pairs and the 8♠ river bricked off for Friday to double with ace-high.
Level 12
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Note: Hours after this was written, Glenn Schaefers went on to win the Royal Court National Championship Main Event for a $12,000 WSOP Main Event package.
The Royal Court National Championship Main Event began with a request: raise your hand if you've played at an FPN Vegas National Championship before.
Dozens if not hundreds of hands raised up throughout the ballroom, but most of them dropped as the announcer asked if they had played five FPN championships. Ten? Fewer hands now.
The number of hands raised turned to single digits as players were asked if they had played 15 championships. Sixteen? Seventeen? Eighteen? By the time the announcer got to 20, there was only one player with his hand raised: seminal FPN grinder Glenn Schaefers, the single player in the room here since the tour's inception.
"I Can't Believe It"
At last year's festival, PokerNews reported on Schaefers hitting quads twice in the first five hands of the day. He's also had a hot start this year, which is fitting for his 20th anniversary playing the tour that he watched grow through the Poker Boom of the 2000s.
“In 2009, it was at Harrah’s. There was only 25 players at the National. It’s like three tables. And now look at it."
The South Dakotan teared up as he pointed around the ballroom to the hundreds of players in the Royal Court National Championship.
"I can't believe it," he said with a shaky voice.
Schaefers described himself as a "barfly" who has spent two decades playing bar poker all over Sioux Falls — from The Thirsty Duck to Woody's. It's a game he first learned from his grandparents.
"Who don’t grow up with cards in the family? We’d always play poker. We’ve always played cards, no matter what form," said Schaefers.
What keeps Schaefers coming back to Vegas year after year? “The thrill, the adrenaline," he said before pausing, "friends. You meet a lot of new people."
Level: 12
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 8,000
Level 11
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
This event has been anything but kind to Eric Reinhardt, who had his aces cracked earlier in the tournament by the ace-jack of Marvin Rumer as the latter player flopped quads.
A few hours later, it was deja vu as Reinhardt once again had his aces cracked by the same player.
Reinhardt moved all in on a flop of 4♣6♦2♠ and Rumer called with a slightly smaller stack.
Marvin Rumer: 7♦7♠
Eric Reinhardt: AxAx
Rumer was in need of help, but he had his opponent's number today. The board proceeded to run out 8♣5♦ as Rumer made a runner-runner straight to double up. And the whole room heard about it.
"Same f***ing guy!" cried Reinhardt. "How the f*** does this happen EVERY SINGLE TIME?! Every f***ing time."
Reinhardt let Rumer know that there were no hard feelings — "not you, man. I just need to breathe." He got his breather as the floor came over to break the table.
Level 11
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Brad Henkin open-jammed in the cutoff and was called by the big blind.
Brad Henkin: 6♦4♦
Big Blind: Q♦J♦
The board ran out A♣7♦6♥8♥3♥ as Henkin paired his six to win the pot and double up with what he called the "Elgin Nuts."
Level: 11
Blinds: 3,000/6,000
Ante: 6,000
