WSOP $888 Crazy Eights Event Pays Fast Food Employee $888,888

Living up to its name, the $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold’em event provided some crazy action and runouts at the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

For Rick Alvarado, this was a crazy event for all the right reasons as he came out on top and took home the lion’s share of the massive $8,139,852 total prize pool.

Rick Alvarado is a former fast food worker having worked for the popular In-N-Out burger chain.

He isn’t going to be serving burgers anymore as he took home a cheque for $888,888 after working his way through a huge field of 10,185 players and defeating two-time bracelet winner Mark Radoja in heads-up play.

Not only did he have a big payday at Crazy Eights but he also won his first WSOP bracelet and in doing so recorded his biggest cash to date – a feat he finally achieved after busting six times at the unlimited re-entry tournament. 

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He is no stranger to the WSOP felt, with 26 previous cashes under his belt. However, this victory was even made more special as he finished on top, won a WSOP bracelet and had his mom by his side as she showed up to support him.

Final Table Highlights 

Alvarado entered the final day with one of the shorter stacks. He knew he needed to take big risks to improve his position and did exactly that. It worked out for him as he was able to rise through the standings by taking risks during the early stages of the final table. Alvarado kept his composure throughout the final table and it helped him make it to the final three.  

With three players remaining, an aggressive Alvarado moved all in with queen-jack suited against the pocket kings of Thomas Drivas, which almost cost him his tournament. However, the board gave him a flush and Drivas had to settle for third place and a $409,888 payout. 

Drivas’ elimination gave Alvarado a huge lead as he entered into heads-up play against Radoja. The Canadian poker pro is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and definitely had the advantage in terms of experience between the two. However, he wasn’t able to take out Alvarado and win his third WSOP bracelet as his Ah10d did not hold against Alvarado’s Ad4d when the river was a four. Radoja banked $548,888 for his second place finish. 

Alvarado was thrilled with his win and was happy to see his perseverance in playing poker finally pay off. He used to work at In-N-Out Burger before leaving his job to pursue a full-time poker career. However, when Black Friday hit, he had no choice but to return to the fast food chain to make ends meet. He now has over $1.6 million in career prize money!