Noel Batres and Paul Hamann Win FPN Qualifier #5: Tag Team Championship!
The 2024 Free Poker Network Tag Team Championship has come to an end, and it was the team of Noel Batres and Paul Hamann that took home the championship belts and the top prize of $1,200 at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas.
Batres and Hamann were chip-leading most of the day due to some major pots won by Batres, and they continued into the final table, still in the lead.
The pair are followed in second by Jacob Karnowski and Stephanie Rivera-Tomasello, who did most of the heavy lifting at the final table before bowing out as the runner-up. Jeff Gab and Neil Kokal finished third, and the team of Joel and Nikki Smith ran to fourth place, while Galen Nelson and Mike McConniel rounded out the top five teams.
FPN Tag Team Championships Final Table Results
| Place | Team | Qualifying Bar | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noel Batres-Paul Hamann | Pinz Yorkville | $1,200 |
| 2 | Stephanie Rivera Tomasello-Jacob Karnowski | Misfits | $600 |
| 3 | Jeff Gab - Neil Kokal | Champs | $400 |
| 4 | Joel Smith-Nikki Smith | Billy's Corner | $200 |
| 5 | Galen Nelson-Mike McConniel | Woody's | $200 |
| 6 | Darren Wiese-Larry Sundberg | Bills Bar | $200 |
| 7 | Joe Tijerina-Lysandra Ybarra | Seven-Deuce Poker | $200 |
| 8 | John Peden-Kelly Peden | Backstreet Bar/Steel Tips | $200 |
| 9 | Keith Wall-Lance Palmer | Misfits | $200 |
"Yeah, I really wasn't feeling it at first... just let Noel take the reins... he was running hot and built up a huge chip stack, which is awesome... he started fading out at the final table, so I stepped in and closed it out..." Hamann said in the post-win interview.
It also might have helped that Batres and Hamann already knew each other outside of Vegas, as they both play in some of the same games back in Illinois.
Hamann also had some success earlier in the week. He was one of the finalists in the opening Qualifier #1, which secured him 20,000 extra chips in the Main event as well as two mystery bounties totaling $200.
Final Table Action
After some fast and furious action throughout the day, the final table was reached relatively quickly. Team Batres-Hammond led the charge, but they became relatively silent as many bustouts happened around them.
First to go was the team of Keith Wall and Lance Palmer when Wall moved all in with king-jack but was sent to the rail when Jeff Gab called with ace-eight and further improved to two-pair.
After that, Team Rivera-Tomasello—Karnowski made their first move. Karnowski called the all-in of John Peden with jack-nine offsuit and was up against seven-eight suited. A jack appeared on the turn to lock up the hand for Karnowski, and Team Peden was eliminated in eighth.
Team Gab-Kokal was next to draw blood as Neil Kokal moved all in with pocket sevens and was called by Lysandra Ybarra for less with queen-ten offsuit. No help was provided to Ybarra on the runout, and she and her partnerJoe Tijerina were eliminated in seventh.
Exiting in sixth place was Larry Sundberg when he called the all-in of Nikki Smith with a flopped two-pair of sevens and tens, but Smith had made a superior two-pair of kings and fours to send him on his way.
Karnowski then scored a double elimination as he, Joel Smith, and Mike McConniel got all the chips in preflop, with Karnowski covering. Karnowski held pocket kings against the pocket jacks of Smith and ace-ten suited of McConniel, but the board bricked out to award him the huge pot, eliminating McConniel in fifth and Smith in fourth.
Kokal was next to go when he shoved the flop with an open-ended straight draw against Karnowski's top pair, but he failed to get there and was thus sent out in third place.
Entering heads-up play, Team Rivera Tomasello-Karnowski had a massive advantage with over a 10:1 chip lead, but when they started to falter once, Stephanie Rivera Tomasello made the call preflop with ten-seven suited to double-up Hamann, who held ace-three.
Hamann then won another double and began stealing pots until what should have been a five-minute heads-up battle turned into a lengthy 1-hour war. Before long, the tides shifted in Hamann's favor, who played the entire final table while Tomasello and Karnowski switched out several times. Eventually, team Rivera Tomasello-Karnowski was left with a single big blind and got it in with ace-five of diamonds versus the ten-eight of clubs. Unfortunately for them, the flop came out ten-high with two clubs, a huge flop for Hamann with top pair and flush draw. Nothing changed on the turn, and the third club came on the river to secure the pot for Hamann, eliminating Karnowski as the runner-up.
Team Batres-Hamann was then adorned with the Tag Team Championship belts and presented with the voucher for $1,200, along with $20,000 bonus chips to be used in tomorrow's Main Event.
Well, that's it for today's coverage. We will be back tomorrow with the Free Poker Network Main Event, so stay tuned here on PokerNews!