On Friday, Alex Masek (pictured) won a $365 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles for a record ninth World Series of Poker Circuit ring. He earned $12,000 to boot. It was his first ring in over 20 months and, since his last title, he has recorded seven top-four finishes, missing out on a ring each time.

Masek told WSOP officials after securing his ninth ring, “When we were heads-up, I was thinking to myself that I’m not going to be results-oriented and if I get second, I can’t be disappointed. But, I have to be completely happy with my play and I have to make every right decision. So, I got lucky on the last hand, but I need to make every right decision and I was actually very disappointed in myself for making the bad call there and that’s why I decided to walk around for a couple minutes.”

On the last hand of the $365 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event, Masek flopped top pair against Erick Lee‘s bottom two pair. Lee shoved on the turn and Masek called as an underdog, but hit trips on the river to win his ninth ring in dramatic fashion.

Masek said of finally being able to close out a tournament for another piece of hardware, “It definitely doesn’t get old. The last three or four times I got heads-up, I lost, so this one maybe actually means more to me than any of my other ones just to be able to finally get back into this spot and win.”

The nine-time ring holder lives in nearby Irvine, California and said he prefers playing poker in his home base rather than crisscrossing the country: “I just play everything in LA. Whether that is a good $300 or $500 or $1,000 tournament here or the LAPC Main, which I’ve played the last five years, or the Legends of Poker Main here. For me, it’s just about everything that is good in LA. I’m going to play and then Vegas in the summer. I don’t see myself traveling too much. I’m engaged now and we have a couple puppies, so I got enough on my hands at home.”

Masek Tweeted when all was said and done:

Masek has almost $900,000 in career WSOP and Circuit cashes to his name. Here’s a look at his nine rings over the years:

December 2015: $365 NLHE
March 2014: $365 NLHE Six-Max
December 2013: $365 NLHE
January 2013: $365 NLHE Turbo
December 2012: $365 NLHE
November 2011: $345 NLHE
March 2011: $345 NLHE
March 2010: $340 NLHE
March 2009: $230 NLHE

Congrats to Masek on his ninth WSOP Circuit ring!

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook.