Nichols won online and on-track competitions during the 2025 Tour season, while accumulating 24,492 Tour points.
“I’m extremely excited to win the NHC Tour. As a regular competitive player, this has always been my biggest goal, so I’m ecstatic to have ended up on top,” said Nichols. “There’s very little that separates the top players on the Tour, so I was lucky to come out on top. I’m sure the top 10 or 15 on this year’s Tour could point to one race or one match where, if things had gone a little differently for them, they would have been the Tour champion. Jill Matzat was as good as me this year. It would inevitably come down to a photo finish between us, and I was lucky enough to put my nose down at the thread.”
Jill Matzat of Boca Raton, FL, finished in second place in the Tour standings with 24,432 points. She was followed by Louis Masry of Solana Beach, CA, who finished in third place with 23,784 points. Dylan Donnelly, who made the 2025 NHC final table from Rancho Cucamonga, CA, finished fourth with 23,670 points. Paul Shurman of Dix Hills, NY, finished in fifth place with 23,415 points.
Nichols has qualified for the NHC twelve times, including the first qualification in 2014. He will also be in Las Vegas this year and next. He remains very grateful to everyone who helped him get here.
“Thank you to those at NTRA who update the Tour rankings every week and answer player questions non-stop. Michele Ravencraft and Holly Short are very patient rock stars who make the NHC what it is.
The biggest thanks goes to my wife, Jenn, who listens to me talk about horse racing all the time, but had to deal with the added anxiety of being on the verge of winning the NHC Tour over the past four months. Without her support I wouldn’t have won.”
Larry Pirollo of Largo, FL, finished in 64th place with 15,909 points and won the Jim Nace Award as the NHC Tour’s Rookie of the Year.
“Last March I saw Dave Portnoy promoting the NHC on “I grew up hitting the track with my father (Larry), uncles (Joe/John) and grandfather, which eventually led me to horse ownership with great friends Joe, Eddie and Kenny from New Jersey. With strong guidance this year from John Fisher and Kenny Orchard, this run has been incredibly special. I respect the grind of all the tournament participants and I am truly grateful and excited for what lies ahead in the main event.”
The NHC Tour is a year-long bonus series that awards $345,000 in cash prizes and 75 qualifying spots for the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC). Membership in the NHC Tour is required to ensure that the top finishers of sanctioned NHC qualifying events are eligible to compete in the NHC Finals in Las Vegas. NHC Tour membership is open to adults 21 years of age or older and requires a one-time annual membership fee of $50. NHC Tour membership must be in effect prior to the start of a particular qualifying tournament in order to qualify for the NHC Finals of that qualifying tournament.
Over the past 25 years, more than 11,000 people have qualified for the NHC, which has awarded nearly $50,000,000 in cash and prizes. This year, the NHC will host more than 600 individuals and award nearly $4.5 million in cash and prizes.
To register for the NHC Tour, visit www.ntra.com/membership.
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