Bad luck streak ends with $100,000 Fantasy Fishing miracle
Unemployed for a year and recovering from heart bypass surgery, New York man reels in $100,000 playing FLW Fantasy Fishing
Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2009, 10:12 AM
MINNEAPOLIS — They say bad luck comes in threes, but not for Eugene Sullivan. The Syracuse, N.Y., resident broke his run of bad luck by winning the third tournament of an international online fantasy fishing game, FLW Fantasy Fishing, and claiming its $100,000 prize – by just a 15-point margin.
Out of work for nearly a year and facing mounting bills, the $100,000 win couldn’t have come at a better time for Sullivan. The 54-year-old data security administrator had been laid off by JPMorgan Chase a year ago amid mass layoffs within the financial services industry. His luck had taken a turn for the worse three weeks ago when Sullivan unexpectedly underwent heart bypass surgery, from which he is now recovering.
Last week, Sullivan went online to FantasyFishing.com and, using an online research tool called Player's Advantage, picked a team of 10 bass pros scheduled to fish the National Guard Open. He earned 12,188 points based on the performance of his 10 bass pros who fished Lake Norman, near Charlotte, N.C., April 23-26. The National Guard Open is one of six regular-season tournaments on the Walmart FLW Tour, the largest and richest professional bass-fishing tournament series in the world.
Sullivan scored big when he picked Stetson Blaylock, a rookie on the FLW Tour, to finish first and Sean Hoernke to finish fifth. Those picks constituted two exactas that earned Sullivan huge bonus points. In addition, three of his other 10 bass pros finished in the top 10 of the National Guard Open. At just 21, Blaylock became the youngest bass pro in history to win an FLW Tour event, taking the National Guard Open’s $200,000 first-place prize. Blaylock, a Team Berkley pro from Benton, Ark., weighed in 10 fish in the final two days of the tournament to win with a total weight of 23 pounds, 15 ounces.
Sullivan’s $100,000 win was close – almost too close. Edging out Wadsworth, Ohio, resident Dan Broadbent by just 15 points, Sullivan won by the closest margin ever recorded in FLW Fantasy Fishing history.
“This is simply a miracle,” said Sullivan, who suspected that he had done well as he watched the National Guard Open final weigh-in on FLW Live, a live satellite broadcast available through FLWOutdoors.com. “I desperately need the money. This will give me a cushion as I continue my job search. Thank you FLW Fantasy Fishing and FLW Outdoors.”
Sullivan learned about FLW Fantasy Fishing back in January when he visited the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y., which is located about 30 miles east of Syracuse. Sullivan registered for FLW Fantasy Fishing as part of Turning Stone Resort & Casino’s “Cast and Cash” promotion. Sullivan entered the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament of the 2009 season at FantasyFishing.com, which took place in February.
Sullivan, who has never played any other fantasy sports games, says he owes his $100,000 win to Player's Advantage, the online research tool offered by FLW Fantasy Fishing, which he purchased for just $10. Not familiar with any of the bass pros who fish the FLW Tour, the Player’s Advantage research tool helped Sullivan decide which bass pros to pick before each FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament.
A recreational angler who enjoys fishing for just about any type of fish, Sullivan is now in ninth place overall in FLW Fantasy Fishing’s six-tournament series and is within easy striking distance of the $1 million grand prize. But it won’t be without a fight; there are players in 123 countries competing to accumulate the most points over six tournaments and receive the $1 million grand prize on Aug. 1 in Pittsburgh. The current overall points leader, with 22,673 total points, is Terry Moberly of Berea, Ky., who won $100,000 for the first 2009 FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament.
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$1 million grand prize to be awarded in Pittsburgh Aug. 1
FLW Fantasy Fishing, conducted by FLW Outdoors, brings the world's richest bass-fishing tournament, the Forrest Wood Cup, to Pittsburgh this summer from July 30-Aug. 2. The Forrest Wood Cup is the final event in the Walmart FLW Tour. Just like fantasy football and fantasy baseball, you can follow the leading money winners on the FLW Tour all season long at FLWOutdoors.com as well as on the “FLW Outdoors” television program, which is broadcast in high definition on VERSUS, the network that brings anglers the best fishing programming on television and features the most trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors” airs each Sunday from 12:30 to 1:30 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.
In addition to the $1 million grand prize and six $100,000 cash tournament prizes, FLW Fantasy Fishing players are eligible to win more than 1,800 prizes including a Ranger boat valued at $54,000, a brand new Chevy vehicle valued at $27,000, personal watercrafts and ATVs valued at $8,000 each, and much more. Fantasy Fishing also offers the $3 million exact bonus game for the player who correctly ranks the top five finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup and a $5 million exacta bonus game for the player who correctly ranks the top seven finishers in any of the six regular-season tournaments.
FLW Fantasy Fishing players can increase their chances of winning the $1 million grand prize by entering all FLW Fantasy Fishing tournaments throughout the season and accumulating a greater amount of points leading up to the Forrest Wood Cup. The next tournaments in the FLW Tour professional bass circuit include these:
Tournament 4: Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark., May 14-17 (Walmart Open)
Tournament 5: Kentucky-Barkley lakes, Benton, Ky., June 11-14
Tournament 6: Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y., July 9-12
$1 Million Grand Prize Announcement: Forrest Wood Cup, Pittsburgh, Aug. 1
The richest fantasy sports game
In its first season, FLW Fantasy Fishing took the fantasy sports world by surprise, offering the first $1 million guaranteed grand prize for a fantasy sports game. And with that announcement, FLW Fantasy Fishing soared to the top of the fantasy sports world, gaining fans from 123 countries who were attracted to the game's $7.3 million in overall cash and prizes, the highest payout of any fantasy sports game in the world.
In 2009 FLW Fantasy Fishing once again set a new standard, offering a $1 million grand prize again along with 1,800 other prizes for a total of $10 million in overall cash and prizes.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors – named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats – is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world and is offering anglers the chance to win more than $33 million through 231 tournaments in 2009. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player's Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player's Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
