Event #9: $580 No-Limit Hold'em

Event #9
No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in: $500 (+$80)
Total Entries: 281
Prizepool: $140,500

Richard Fitzgerald won his first gold ring on Friday after a long career, including 19 Circuit cashes and eight final tables.

Stateline, Nevada (November 4, 2016) – The ninth ring event at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe saw a warrior win his first Circuit title. Richard Fitzgerald earned his first gold ring by vanquishing a field of 281 players in Event #9: $580 No-Limit Hold’em. This was a milestone achievement for the Construction Worker from South Dakota who invests in poker part time.

“I just play recreational, off and on, like the last ten years. I don’t get to go to many Circuit events because of my job,” said Fitzgerald.

Even though Fitzgerald does not play poker year-round, he has established a healthy World Series of Poker resume nevertheless. Before this victory, Fitzgerald could attest to 19 cashes and eight final table appearances on the Circuit tour. Along with banking his biggest WSOP Cash to date, at $33,720, Fitzgerald can finally say he captured the ultimate prize.

“I just felt like it was destiny that I was going to win tonight,” said Fitzgerald.

The assured feeling of fate may have stemmed from the recent loss of his father as well as his best friend. A win for them was simply in the cards. Fitzgerald played with grit and heart, boosting him to a validating victory, after a tough final table battle. His aspirations for the 12-event series are coming together beautifully.

“I made a goal that I was going to come out here and get three final tables and two rings, and I’m two final tables and one ring down,” stated Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald made the final table in Event #5 earlier in the week. There are three tournaments left, including the Main Event, for Fitzgerald to achieve his ambitions and he is more than happy to continue participating here at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. Fitzgerald was beaming with admiration for the dealers, and overall tournament staff after his personal triumph.

“Shout out to these guys. Like I said, this crew is terrific, spot on. They don’t make mistakes and the dealers are the best in the world,” exclaimed Fitzgerald.

Here is a look at the final table results:

1st: Richard Fitzgerald - $33,720
2nd: Loren Cloninger - $20,839
3rd: Danny Elmore - $15,121
4th: Ned Mantua - $11,156
5th: Mark Lehnert - $8,367
6th: Shawn Roberts - $6,376
7th: Michael McDonough - $4,934
8th: Josh Mammon - $3,878
9th: Michael Karbushev - $3,094

Complete results can be found above, under the "Results" tab.