Brooklyn-Born Child Genius Adam Raichel, 38, Wins the Gold in Albuquerque.

Raichel of Chicago Corrals $100,000 as 8th Round Champion of Gold Rush on AOL.com

$1.3 Million in Gold Still up for Grabs

Three Rounds Remain to Lay Claim to Gold

DULLES, Va. & LOS ANGELES -- Adam Raichel of Chicago, who competed in the latest Gold Competition held in Albuquerque, NM, has been named the 8th round winner of Gold Rush (www.aol.com/goldrush), the groundbreaking seven-week interactive game from AOL and Mark Burnett, where players can literally turn their pop culture know-how into gold. As the 8th round champion of Gold Rush, Raichel has won $100,000 in gold or cash (he chose cash) and will return to play in the game's finale round in November to compete for an additional $1 million.

Raichel, 38, one of the youngest people ever to go to law school, attended Princeton University at the age of 14 and Harvard Law School at 18. Now an educational consultant, Raichel plans to use a large chunk of the winnings to help his father cover uninsured medical expenses following a 10-hour surgery for melanoma.

"I want to help make my father's life more comfortable as he recovers from a long, grueling surgery," said Raichel. "I'm not sure what that may be, but whatever it is, I'd like to help."

Raichel earned a spot in the final $100,000 round after he edged out competitors Amy Hovious and Anisha Wilson in a hotly contested second round game of charades, featuring a live appearance by the online game's popular character "The Charader." In the final round, Raichel faced off against Wilson in a tight match that saw both competitors turning to their Gold Buddies for help on the final challenge. Asked to identify the debut dates of programs that have ties to the state of Albuquerque, including TV's "Beavis and Butthead" and "Roswell," as well as the movie "St. Elmo's Fire," Raichel's Gold Buddy proved a valuable resource, as he quickly solved the final challenges and unlocked the lock to the gold vault.

After the realization of the moment set in, Raichel said: "The adrenaline just left my system and I felt relieved. Up until that point, everything went so quick and was so surreal. But when that locked opened, I said, 'this is real.'"

Beginning today (Tuesday, October 17), the 8th round $100,000 "Gold Competition" will air, free on demand, on AOL.COM/GOLDRUSH (http://www.aol.com/goldrush) through November. New players can begin playing any time.

"Many of the people who have already won were just playing for fun, and now are competing for $1 million in gold," said Gold Rush producer Mark Burnett. "Anyone can still join the game at anytime and play for one of the three remaining $100,000 prizes, and possibly the coveted $1 million prize."

Gold Rush[TM], hosted by Entertainment Tonight Co-Anchor Mark Steines, asks players to answer a series of pop culture challenges using clues scattered throughout the world of media and pop culture - in CBS Television Network programming, popular magazines, radio shows, and on AOL.com.

The first three players in each of the first 12 rounds to answer the questions correctly are whisked away to a specially selected location to compete in a fast-paced, pop culture-focused battle for $100,000 in gold. In the 13th round, the first 12 winners return, along with 6 new contestants, to vie for the $1 million grand prize.

Log onto www.aol.com/goldrush for more details and rules on how to play and win.

About Mark Burnett

Mark Burnett is the leading producer of reality content for both primetime television and the internet. Mark Burnett has revolutionized television with hits such as Eco-Challenge, Survivor, The Apprentice, The Contender, Rock Star, Martha Stewart in syndication and On the Lot. Mark Burnett has also partnered with AOL on the eagerly anticipated adventure Gold Rush, the first-ever unscripted project to be produced exclusively for the internet. Mark Burnett has also successfully reintroduced product placement as an integral part of each of his shows and his companies have garnered a total of 43 Emmy[R] nominations since 2001. Mark Burnett was listed as the #1 Most Valuable Player by TV Guide and in Time Magazine's Top 100 most influential people in the world today.

About AOL

AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs the country's largest Internet access business, and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., AOL LLC is based in Dulles, Virginia. AOL and its subsidiaries also have operations in Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.

For free hi-res stills of Adam Raichel, and all previous Gold Rush winners, please log onto www.aolepk.com/goldrush.