Kentucky man wins $100,000 in Fantasy Fishing game
Last-minute entry lands auto-parts production worker big prize; FLW Fantasy Fishing kicks off race for $1 million grand prize with first tournament of 2009 season
MINNEAPOLIS – To win FLW Fantasy Fishing, or any contest for that matter, you have to enter. And entering at the last minute counts just as much as if you entered days, weeks or even months before.
That’s what Terry Moberly, 45 – a resident of Berea, Ky., a small town near Lexington – learned. On Feb. 11, with less than four hours until the closing bell on FLW Fantasy Fishing picks for the first tournament, Moberly registered at FantasyFishing.com. Using Player’s Advantage, an online tool that provides “inside” information about FLW Tour bass pros, Moberly picked 10 anglers from among a field of 157 that would compete the very next morning in the first of six tournaments that make up the Walmart FLW Tour, professional bass fishing’s largest and most prestigious tournament circuit.
Moberly, an avid bass angler, was urged to enter FLW Fantasy Fishing by his two sons: Tyler, a student at Eastern Kentucky University, located in nearby Richmond, Ky.; and his 19-year-old son, Brandon. Both sons are avid bass anglers too, having competed in regional bass tournaments sponsored by FLW Outdoors.
The rest, they say, is history. Today Moberly is $100,000 richer, proving once again that old adage, “You need to enter to win.”
“This is fantastic,” said the even-keeled Moberly, a production worker at Tokico USA, a manufacturing plant in Berea that makes automobile shocks and suspensions. “I had never played any sort of fantasy sport before, but my sons said to me, `Dad, you just gotta try this,’ and with the additional resources Player’s Advantage offers, I was able to enhance my picks.”
Married for 24 years to his sweetheart, Debbie, Moberly says that fishing runs deep in his family, along with other outdoor activities such as camping and hunting. Born and raised in Richmond, Ky., Moberly frequently fishes nearby lakes and reservoirs, including Cumberland Lake, from his Ranger bass boat. And while he’s fished a few tournaments himself, Moberly and his wife especially enjoy watching their sons compete in fishing tournaments. Tyler competes on a bass-fishing team representing Eastern Kentucky University in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Tournament Circuit, and Brandon has competed in the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division tournament circuit.
“With the economy as it is, the extra money will allow us to shore up our finances and help us pay college tuition,” added Moberly. “And maybe I’ll treat myself to a new Ranger bass boat.”
Now Moberly is setting his sights on the $1 million grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing player who accumulates the most points over six tournaments. Moberly, like many FLW Fantasy Fishing players, will continue to tap the powerful online tools of Player’s Advantage, available for only $10 for the entire season, to help give them the edge they need to enhance their fantasy team picks.
“I’m going to continue to rely on Player’s Advantage, a great resource for only $10, to give me an even greater edge in the race for that $1 million grand prize,” Moberly said. “I’m off to a great start, and I want to be in the winner’s circle in Pittsburgh on August 1 when FLW Fantasy Fishing announces the $1 million grand prize.”
The winning combination
To win the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament, Moberly earned 12,744 points based on the performance of the pro bass anglers who fished the FLW Tour’s first four-day tournament, the Chevy Open, on Lake Guntersville near Huntsville, Ala. The first FLW Tour tournament was won by TUM’s bass pro David Fritts, a resident of Lexington, N.C. Starting in sixth place on the last day of the tournament, Fritts’ crankbait assault catapulted him into first place and the tournament’s $200,000 prize.
Moberly scored three exactas, earning him additional points on top of the points he accumulated based on the fishing performance of each of his individual fantasy team members. He picked Fritts to finish in first place, David Dudley, who finished in third, and Craig Dowling, who finished in 10th place. He also selected another angler, Scott Canterbury, who finished within the top 10 (eighth place). Moberly’s bass pro picks, in the order he thought they would finish, included:
1. David Fritts
2. Randall Tharp
3. David Dudley
4. Andy Morgan
5. Greg Pugh
6. Dan Morehead
7. Jerry Green
8. J.T. Kenney
9. Scott Canterbury
10. Craig Dowling
“‘I’m not as familiar with all of the FLW bass pros as my sons are, but because of the insight Player’s Advantage offers, I deliberately picked Dave Fritts to win because I thought his style of fishing would work really well on Lake Guntersville,” said Moberly.
Race on for $1 million grand prize
Established by Irwin Jacobs, the creator of FLW Outdoors and the Forrest Wood Cup, FLW Fantasy Fishing is rapidly growing in popularity. There is no entry fee to enter, but for an added edge, participants can purchase Player’s Advantage for only $10 to assist them in trying to win a $1 million payday, plus six $100,000 payouts, one for each qualifying tournament.
Fantasy Fishing is sponsored by FLW Outdoors, which 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 FLW Tour, and just like fantasy football and fantasy baseball, you can follow the leading money winners on the FLW Tour all season long and win America’s richest fantasy event when the Fantasy Fishing winners for 2009 are announced in Pittsburgh Aug. 1, 2009. Highlights from each FLW Tour event are broadcast to more than 79 million households weekly on the “FLW Outdoors” television program, which will premiere April 5, 2009, on Versus. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is also broadcast internationally through agreements with World Fishing Network (WFN) and Matchroom Sport to more than 500 million households in such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, 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 the six $100,000 tournament prizes, FLW Fantasy Fishing players are eligible to win prizes such as a $54,000 Ranger boat, a brand new Chevy vehicle, a $25,000 gift card or one of more than 1,800 additional prizes. Fantasy Fishing also offers $3 million and $5 million exacta bonus games by correctly ranking the top five finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup or the top seven finishers in a tournament.
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 Walmart FLW Tour professional bass circuit include:
Tournament 2: Table Rock Lake, Branson, Mo., March 12-15, 2009
Tournament 3: Lake Norman, Charlotte, N.C., April 23-26, 2009
Tournament 4: Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark., May 14-17, 2009
Tournament 5: Kentucky-Barkley lakes, Benton, Ky., June 11-14, 2009
Tournament 6: Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y., July 9-12, 2009
$1 million grand prize announcement: Forrest Wood Cup, Pittsburgh, Aug. 1, 2009
The richest fantasy sports game
In its first season, FLW Fantasy Fishing took the fantasy sports world by surprise by 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 attracted to the game’s $7.3 million in overall cash and prizes, the highest payout of any fantasy sports game in the world. Last year’s million-dollar winner was Michael Thompson, 34, of Minneapolis, a stay-at-home dad.
This year, FLW Fantasy Fishing once again sets 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, the highest payout of any fantasy sports game in the world.
First tournament: Second and third places
Finishing behind Terry Moberly in second place with 12,389 points was Nate Rose, a resident of Addison, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, who won a $5,000 Walmart gift card. Rose is an avid angler and fantasy sports gamer, who learned about FLW Fantasy Fishing from a fishing buddy.
“Our basement was flooded last fall during a 9-inch rainstorm,” said Rose, “so this gift card will come in really handy in helping us redecorate our basement.”
Clarence “Junior” Hillyard, a resident of Winchester, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C., came in third place with 12,259 points, winning a $1,000 Walmart gift card. Hillyard, a technician with Rubbermaid, and his wife are the parents of a 15-day-old baby girl.
“This is great! I can’t tell you how useful that Walmart gift card will be for our new baby,” said Hillyard, a self-proclaimed fishing geek. “It’s going to make buying all of those diapers and formula a lot easier.”
International winners
FLW Fantasy Fishing players representing four countries outside the United States earned prizes in the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament in 2009. Winners represented Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico.
The highest-placing international player was William Martin, a player from Wingham, New South Wales, Australia, who came in 123rd place to win a $50 Walmart gift card.
In the first year of FLW Fantasy Fishing, participants from 123 countries played Fantasy Fishing with prizes awarded to players in the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Estonia and a number of other countries.
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 at FantasyFishing.com, 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.
FLW is a registered trademark of FLW Outdoors, Inc. For a complete list of rules and prizes for FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FantasyFishing.com.