Kari Davis is FPN Minnesota State Champion
The Free Poker Network’s Minnesota “Poker Pro” State Championship was held today at Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, MN. A field of 274 players qualified to participate to be crowned State Champ.
The final 13 players all get the opportunity to play in the exclusive National Championship in Las Vegas against other FPN players across the country. They will compete in early December for 10 seats to the Bellagio 5 Diamond Classic. The final six would also receive an airfare/hotel package to Harrah’s on the strip in Las Vegas. The National Champion will win a $10,000 Poker Pro contract which includes 5 separate tournament buy-ins throughout the year.
After 14 hours of play, Kari Davis of Spicer, MN outlasted the entire 274-player field to become the 1st ever female FPN Minnesota State Champion. Davis plays at 19th Avenue in Wilmar where she was 1st overall for all 6 months. “It was very tough competition,” Davis said. “Brian Thiele had me sweatin’ that last week. He was up there in points with me and luckily I got just a few more than he did.”
As a result Davis entered the State Championship on Saturday as a Double Stack. She qualified twice so she didn’t have to go to Regionals. “I came in here tonight and was getting good hands,” stated Davis. “I made one bad call against Jerry when he hit his set of deuces. But I was able to come back to win it!”
When asked about her approach when reaching the final six, Davis responded, “When we got to the final six I wanted to be aggressive, luckily in the first two hands, I got hands I could be aggressive with. Then I stayed patient for a bit until I got hot again and was able to roll.”
| Place | Name |
| 1 | Kari Davis |
| 2 | Henry Pojonwski |
| 3 | Steve Hinson |
| 4 | Jim Lewis |
| 5 | Marty Knoss |
| 6 | Allen O’Shea |
| 7 | Jerry Anderson |
| 8 | Rob Miller |
| 9 | John DeRung |
| 10 | Jared Carlsen |
| 11 | Jake Stringfellow |
| 12 | Bruce Ackerman |
| 13 | Dustin Musil |
Fun Stats:
- There were 13 past champions in the field.
- Ladies made up 21% of the field (68 female).
- This was the first championship for 143 players (39% of the field).
- There were 53 double chip stacks (14 from qualifying directly twice, 15 from regionals twice, and 24 from direct once, regional once)
- This was the 22nd championship event for Minnesota players.
October 31st, 2011 at 9:10 am
HUGE field, fun to see, congrats Kari!!
October 31st, 2011 at 11:14 am
Way to go Baby. Played aggressively well!!!
October 31st, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Congrats to all qualifiers and good luck in Vegas!