Josh Freund Bags rummy expertRGPS Kansas City Main for $86,974

Table Of Contents

• Final Table Results
• Winner’s Reaction
• The Day’s Action
• Final Table Action

With just forty seconds left on the registration clock, Joshua Freund fired what turned out to be the most profitable bullet of his life in the 2025 RGPS Mission RunGood Kansas City $1,100 Main Event.

Entry No. 447 ended up as Champion No. 1, as the Wisconsin native battled through a stacked 55-player Day 2 field to claim $86,974 and the final RGPS Main Event title of the season at Harrah’s Kansas City.

Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

When Freund entered the tournament, he certainly wasn’t expecting for it to end in victory.

“The only thing I feel right now is disbelief. It’s an amazing feeling,” Freund explained after taking down the title.

“I’ve been playing cards all my life, but I only play around five poker tournaments a year, usually here in Kansas City for this series,” Freund discussed regarding his background.

After some early success in the series, Freund decided to fire the main event but busted with two minutes remaining of registration in the final flight.

“I was chatting with fellow final-tablist Ted Forshey on break. He told me a story about how he rebought the final break one time and finished second. I thought to myself, ‘You know, I might as well go fire it.’”

Twenty-five hours after that conversation, Freund was the one hoisting the ring once the dust settled.

Freund came into the day with an average stack and it stayed that way for much of the day until a pivotal hand against Blair Hinkle with thirteen players left. Freund made a set of nines in a pot of almost 100 big blinds to vault himself into the chip lead, and he maintained the lead all the way to the end.

After over an hour of heads-up play with Brent Gregory, Freund got it in with pocket fives against king-ten suited and held to take the title. He is excited to celebrate with 19th place finisher and new friend Brenton Czapla, who he gave a shout out to for his support down the stretch.

The Day’s Action

From the starting field of 448, just 55 returned for Day 2 with an average stack of 40 big blinds to fight for their piece of the $434,560 prize pool. However, with many short stacks after the bubble, the eliminations came quickly to begin the day.

Some notables who cashed but fell short of the final table include RunGood ambassador Carl Masters (42nd-$1,992), three-time MSPT champion Nick Barksdale (27th-$2,676), former RunGood Main Event champion Cody Bartlett (16th-$4,573), and local legends Blair Hinkle (13th-$5,600) and Grant Hinkle (10th-$8,698).

Final Table Action

Freund came into the final table with a sizeable chip lead, but no one was sub-ten big blinds to begin.

The first casualty at the final table was local regular William McCracken. He would get it in with ace-jack suited against the ace-queen of Brent Gregory and could not improve as he hit the rail.

In eighth place was David Greufe. He got his short stack in the middle with king-six but fell to the dominating ace-six of Ted Forshey.

The next to fall was Jon Stanfield in seventh. He would four-bet jam forty big blinds with jacks but ran into the kings of Brent Gregory as he hit the exit in a cooler.

Shortly after, Thanh Bui was eliminated in sixth. He found himself at-risk with a huge combo draw against the top pair of Kyle Case who held on to send Bui to the rail.

Case took another victim in Ted Forshey next. Forshey was all-in with ace-queen suited for 25 big blinds but ran into the aces of Case as he exited in fifth.

Former RunGood Main Event champion Jesse Jones navigated the short stack for a few ladders before he fell in fourth. He was all-in with king-jack from the big blind against the ace-nine of Freund and could not improve.

Three-handed play would last for some time until Kyle Case hit the rail in brutal fashion. He flopped top set in a three-bet pot against the overpair and gutter of Freund, who spiked the gutter to send Case to the rail.

Freund came into heads-up with a sizeable advantage until Gregory doubled into the lead with just ace-high in a wild hand.

However, Freund would regain momentum after making some big hands. Eventually, Gregory would open the button before Freund jammed with fives and Gregory called off his stack. Pocket fives held for Freund as the players shared a sporting handshake and Freund secured the title.