In recent days, Tripp trippkirkKirk (pictured) took down his second gold ring by virtue of winning the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event in St. Louis, Missouri. After outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting 624 opponents, he earned $190,000, a six-figure sum he’ll now bring back to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Poker isn’t his full-time career, as he works for a software firm, but he’s learned from some of the game’s best, like PokerSkiBumand four-time gold ring winner Kyle da_kyky Cartwright. We caught up with Kirk just after his big victory to learn what it takes to win two WSOP Circuit rings.

PocketFives: Tell us about the significance of getting your second gold ring.

Tripp Kirk: It was a pretty good day, and then I woke up the next day and found out we might get our Full Tilt money back. Ha. Winning a second ring makes the first one not feel as fluky, especially being a Main Event. It adds some validity to it. Live poker is just so high variance that I never really pictured myself winning something as large as a WSOP Circuit Event. It seems somewhat prestigious and tough.

PocketFives: Talk about entering heads-up play with a 2:1 chip lead against Tim “Killer” Killday (pictured).

Tripp Kirk: I coolered Chris Conrad three-handed pretty bad to get it heads-up. I was confident too. I got my start playing low-stakes heads-up cash games on PokerStars and Full Tilt, so I was confident in my heads-up abilities. I wanted to keep the pots small, whereas Killer’s strategy was to play these huge variance pots. Conrad opened one time under the gun and Killer put in 55 big blinds with jacks and beats tens.

PocketFives: Talk about the final hand. You had aces-up, whereas Killday was on a stone cold bluff with Q-10 on an A-7-4-2 board. What were you expecting him to turn over?

Tripp Kirk: I thought maybe he got tricky with 7-4 and flopped bottom two. He could have turned over a straight draw or a middle pair. I knew my hand was good and didn’t think there were any aces in his range. I think he would have shoved over my pre-flop raise with an ace rather than see a flop. He was trying to get all of his chips in the middle.

PocketFives: How excited are you to qualify for the WSOP Circuit National Championship, a gold bracelet event?

Tripp Kirk: I’m very excited for it. I’ve never played a $10,000 buy-in event, which is basically what this is. I’m excited to play a $10,000 event and excited to play against some of the stars. If you win a WSOP Circuit Main Event, you automatically qualify for the tournament, and there are other ways to qualify as well.

PocketFives: Can you talk about your online poker career following Black Friday?

Tripp Kirk: I haven’t been playing online much recently. I had some money on Merge and played the nightly High Roller, but that’s been about it. I’ve been busy and have been traveling. The prize pools online don’t interest me as much. Three or four of my really good friends all want to play these live events and the players are so bad, so we try to get to as many of them as possible. They’re a lot of fun.

PocketFives: What went through your head when you saw the news that PokerStars could be on the verge of purchasing Full Tilt?

Tripp Kirk: I was excited and encouraged. I only have about $3,000 on Full Tilt, but the intrigue about the site being open in the U.S. market again is exciting. I think part of the reason I haven’t been playing on Merge is because I don’t like playing two or three tables, which is about all of the relevant tournaments. Merge and Cake are not Full Tilt and Stars. There just aren’t the prize pools. Grinding out $44 tournaments for eight hours to win $2,400 doesn’t sound that fun.

PocketFives: How did you get started in poker?

Tripp Kirk: In college, we started playing $20 buy-in poker games. After college, a couple of my close friends, including PokerSkiBum, taught me the ropes. I spent a lot of time watching him and studied the game intently. He taught me how to think about the game, like what things to look for at the tables and things I had never thought about before. He taught me stack sizes, exploitable spots, and how to think about the game.