League Champ Championship
Day 1 Completed
FPN King Slayer National Championship
League Champ Championship
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
FPN King Slayer National Championship
Prize Pool
$10,000
Entries
234
Level
22
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
0
Entries
234
Players Left
1
Level 22
: 80,000/160,000, 0 ante
The Free Poker Network (FPN) King Slayer National Championship “League Champ Championship” played out Friday night at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. The tournament catered to 234 players who qualified throughout 2019 at approximately 200 bar leagues across the county.
In essence, the tournament served as a satellite of sorts as the top 34 players earned a spot into Sunday’s $50,000 guaranteed Main Event, which is also only open to FPN qualifiers. One player to win a Main Event seat was Fargo, North Dakota’s Cory Retzlaff, who finished as the last player standing to also claim a $10,000 first-place prize.
Retzlaff has had a love for poker since around 2005 and has played on and off in different leagues and friendly games over the years. Retzlaff isn't a stranger to Vegas having been to the city at least ten times but he has never taken too many risks in the casino.
"$200 is probably my largest buy-in I've ever played and of course a few WSOP events are on my bucket list,” he said after the win. “This is my best poker experience... so far!" he shouted to his happy friends on the rail.
When asked what words Retzlaff has for his friends back home playing at the Prairie Brothers Bar in Fargo, he said, "I just got hot in a quarterly event and qualified for this weekend. I've played in so many of those and gotten nowhere but let me tell you, keep playing. Keep playing like I did and you can make it here and run deep like I did."
At the end of the winner-take-all tournament, Retzlaff squared off against Doug Lindgren of Mill Banks, South Dakota, who qualified at the Back Door Pub. In the final hand, Lindgren shoved with ace-seven but failed to hold against Retzlaff’s king-queen.
On to the Main Event
On Saturday, there will be some last-chance qualifiers for players to win their way into Sunday’s King Slayer Championship Main Event. That tournament, which will kick off at 1 p.m. PST, will pay out the top 27 spots. There will be $10,000 in mystery bounties awarded with the eventual winner taking home $25,000. The tournament is open to state tournament qualifiers, League Champ Championship qualifiers, satellite qualifiers, and others.
Most players earn their seats in the King Slayer Championship Main Event by first competing in their local state championship. The number of qualifiers is based on total participation. The state with the highest participation in the league is Minnesota, with 30 direct qualifiers to the King Slayer Championship Main Event.
Not only will the Main Event be live reported here on PokerNews, but there will also be a live-streamed feature table on twitch.tv/freepokernetwork. On Sunday at 6 p.m. there will also be a Tag Team Championship event that is open to the public.
Be sure to check back here at PokerNews on Sunday for more FPN King Slayer action!
Level 22
: 80,000/160,000, 0 ante
With a two-to-one chip advantage, Cory Retzlaff wanted to stay aggressive in his heads-up match against Doug Lindgren. Eventually, Lindgren went all in with the 
and Retzlaff made the call holding the 
.
Lindgren was in the lead going into a flop of 
. However, the turn gave Retzlaff the lead.
The river card sent Lindgren to the rail empty-handed (except for a seat into Sunday's Main Event) and awarded Retzlaff the title and $10,000 first-place prize.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,340,000
340,000
|
340,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 22
Blinds: 80,000/160,000
Ante: 0
Level 21
: 60,000/120,000, 0 ante
At one point, Cory Retzlaff had Doug Lindgren with a 10:1 chip advantage. That has all changed and as the players go on a quick break, Retzlaff still sits in the lead but with a more narrow margin.
The $10,000 in hundred dollar bills are now spread across the table in an effort to entice these players to battle hard.
Heads-up play continues at 80,000/160,000 blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,000,000
1,120,000
|
1,120,000 |
|
|
940,000
-560,000
|
-560,000 |
Level: 21
Blinds: 60,000/120,000
Ante: 0
Level 20
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Only two players remain in the FPN "League Champ" Championship event!
Doug Lindgren out of Back Door Pub in Mill Banks, South Dakota begins the heads-up match with 1,500,000 against Cory Retzlaff of Prairie Brothers in Fargo, North Dakota holding the remaining 840,000.
Play will continue until only one remains to win the gold bracelet and $10,000 cash prize.
Level 20
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Charles Woods moved all in from the button and Doug Lindgren snap-called from the big blind.
Charles Woods: 
Doug Lindgren: 
"Come on Charlie," came shouts from the rail. Unfortunately, those cries fell on deaf ears as the board ran out 
to send Woods out the door in third place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,500,000
1,221,000
|
1,221,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level 20
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Dale Schuman moved all in from the button for 320,000. Charles Woods went all in from the small blind for 490,000 and the Cory Retzlaff folded his big blind.
Dale Schuman: 
Charles Woods: 
The board ran out 
and 870,000 was pushed to Woods while Schuman exited in fourth place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
870,000
285,000
|
285,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 20
Blinds: 40,000/80,000
Ante: 80,000