WPT Career Stats
| Stat |
Value |
Rank |
| Career Earnings |
$457,408 |
249 |
| Cashes |
1 |
944 |
| Final Tables |
1 |
109 |
| Titles |
0 |
112 |
| Tournaments Played |
11 |
684 |
|
Richard Grijalva grew up in the Bay area of California. He says he has always loved to compete, especially in sports. He says he played his heart out, even though he was never the best. He is a self-professed computer geek and an expert at chess. When he was 12 years old, his older brother was killed in the line of duty as a police officer. Grijalva says he started playing poker the summer between high school and college with a bunch of friends. He says he always lost, and he vowed to get better so he could beat his buddies. Grijalva studied geography at University of California, Santa Barbara. While he was in college, Grijalva played poker online. He says he gained a lot of experience during that time, which he says helps eliminate the age factor in a live tournament situation. He says he can play more hands online than a person can play in a live game at a casino. Grijalva had quite a bit of success playing online during college. The biggest online tournament he won during that time paid him $25,000. He eventually began working on his live poker experience as well by winning several tournaments at Santa Ynez's Chumash Casino. Grijalva describes himself as a pretty conservative player with a case of "chip lust," meaning when there are chips on the table, he wants them in his stack. Grijalva played in two World Poker Tour events before he made a final table. He qualified for the WPT World Championship in Season 2 through an $86 satellite. He turned that entry fee into a pretty big payday, taking home more than $457,000 for his fourth place finish. Since that time in 2004, Grijalva has cashed in five World Series of Poker events. If he's not playing poker, Grijalva says you might find him playing chess, going to the movies, or watching sports.
