Royal Court Nat'l Championship Main Event
Day 1 Completed
2026 FPN Vegas National Championship
Royal Court 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
$50,700
Entries
333
Level
23
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
333
Players Left
1
Players Left 1 / 333
Filter
Level 23
: Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
There were two Free Poker Network (FPN) champions at the Royal Court National Championship Main Event final table, but it was two new winners who emerged at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas as South Dakota's Glenn Schaefers and Minnesota's Steve Belland both won trophies and $12,000 packages to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
The two navigated a final table that included champion Wendy Adamczyk D'Andrea (4th - $1,200) and two-time FPN winner Joel Smith (7th - $800), as well as third-place finisher Larry Sundberg ($2,500) looking to bring Billy's Bar & Grill a fifth title.
There were 333 qualifiers who made their way to Las Vegas for the $50 buy-in Royal Court National Championship Main Event, which had a prize pool of $50,700 and $10,000 in mystery bounties.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glenn Schaefers | $12,000 Main Event Package |
| 1 | Steve Belland | $12,000 Main Event Package |
| 3 | Larry Sundberg | $2,500 |
| 4 | Wendy Adamczyk D'Andrea | $1,200 |
| 5 | Sam Romero | $800 |
| 6 | Aaron Miller | $800 |
| 7 | Joel Smith | $800 |
| 8 | Bonnie Bona | $800 |
| 9 | Suzzanne Barsaloux | $800 |
"20 Years of Hard Work"
Schaefers, who PokerNews profiled earlier in the tournament, was the only player in the field who has played FPN since its inception 20 years ago.
“In 2009, it was at Harrah’s," he told PokerNews. "There was only 25 players at the National. It’s like three tables. And now look at it."
It was a sweet, sweet victory for Schaefers, who recalled nights walking miles to The Thirsty Duck in Sioux Falls to play 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. tournaments.
"This is 20 years of hard work!" Schaefers cheered after the victory.
Belland, who told PokerNews he plays at bars throughout Fargo, was also sentimental after the victory, postponing a winner's photo until someone could bring his dog.
Royal Court Action
Despite the fast structure, the money bubble took its time to burst and only did when Darren Weise open-jammed with a suited ace-king to be flipping against the pocket threes of D'Andrea. Weise flopped two cards of his suit and picked up Broadway outs on the turn, but he whiffed it all to be sent home outside of the money.
Action picked up quickly after that among the 27 remaining players and before long the event was down to its last two tables. Carole Dole was the first to go out at the last two tables at the hands of Smith, who followed the knockout by eliminating Vince Holloway.
The elimination of Garth Courtney in 10th place brought on the final table, which took nearly an hour to lose a single player. But the eliminations eventually picked up, starting with Suzzanne Barsaloux and Bonnie Bona.
Two-time champ Smith was next to go as he fell in seventh place at the hands of Schaefers to be denied a third title. The last remaining champion, D'Andrea, bowed out in fourth and was quickly followed by Belland, who jammed queen-nine only to be dominated by Belland's ace-nine to deny back-to-back titles for Billy's Bar & Grill.
That wraps up PokerNews' coverage of Royal Court National Championship Main Event. We will be back tomorrow with more coverage of the FPN festivities in Las Vegas.
*Photos courtesy Free Poker Network
Level 23
: Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Glenn Schaefers and Steve Belland are the winners of the FPN Royal Court National Championship Main Event after the third-place elimination of Larry Sundberg in third place.
Both players take away $12,000 Main Event packages. Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glenn Schaefers | $12,000 |
| 2 | Steve Belland | $12,000 |
| 3 | Larry Sundberg | $2,500 |
| 4 | Wendy Adamczyk D'Andrea | $1,200 |
| 5 | Sam Romero | $800 |
| 6 | Aaron Miller | $800 |
| 7 | Joel Smith | $800 |
| 8 | Bonnie Bona | $800 |
| 9 | Suzzanne Barsaloux | $800 |
Level 23
: 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Larry Sundberg open-jammed for 735,000 on the button and Steve Belland called in the small blind to put him at risk.
Larry Sundberg: Q♦9♠ 
Steve Belland: A♣9♣
Sundberg was dominated and couldn't improve as the board ran out J♥3♥4♠2♠K♠ to mark his elimination in third place for $2,500.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,700,000
1,100,000
|
1,100,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 23
: 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Wendy Adamczyk D'Andrea raised to 400,000 on the button and Glenn Schaefers three-bet jammed in the small blind. D'Andrea called to be at risk.
Wendy Adamczyk D'Andrea: K♦3♦
Glenn Schaefers: 8♥8♦
D'Andrea couldn't pull ahead as the board ran out J♥Q♦5♦5♥5♣ to whiff her outs and to mark the FPN champion's elimination in fourth place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,100,000
1,200,000
|
1,200,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 23
Blinds: 100,000/200,000
Ante: 200,000
Level 22
: 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Sam Romero was all in for 655,000 in the big blind against Steve Belland in the small blind.
Sam Romero: K♣3♣
Steve Belland: K♥Q♣
Romero was dominated and couldn't improve as the board ran out 8♥9♣Q♦10♥7♥ to mark his elimination in fifth place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,600,000
1,225,000
|
1,225,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 22
Blinds: 75,000/150,000
Ante: 150,000
Level 21
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Aaron Miller open-jammed a stack of 740,000 from under the gun and Glenn Schaefers called in the big blind.
Aaron Miller: J♦10♥
Glenn Schaefers: A♠A♥
Miller had run into aces and nothing changed on the runout of 9♥5♦9♦10♠4♥ to mark his elimination in 6th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,900,000
1,400,000
|
1,400,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 21
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 100,000
