Chris Moneymaker

Chris Moneymaker shot to prominence in the poker world by winning the World Series Of Poker $10,000 no-Limit Holdem Main Event in 2003. This achievement came in his first ever live poker tournament after qualifying in an online satellite at PokerStars. This ‘rags to riches’ story is sometimes credited with contributing to the recent boom in online poker.

Though involved in gambling and card games from an early age via bridge and blackjack, Moneymaker started playing poker after watching the film ‘Rounders’. Starting with home games with friends Moneymaker’s play moved online where he would play many $20 to $30 multi-table tournaments in leisure time while practicing as an accountant during the day. Before his World Series experience Chris Moneymaker had already built a winning record in these small stakes online tournaments.

Moneymaker's Satellite

The satellite which Moneymaker won to qualify for the World Series was in fact a two stage affair. The first ($39) satellite was a 2-table qualifier for the later ‘super-satellite’ which awarded a place in the Main Event.

After winning both, and a $10,000 seat, Moneymaker realized he did not have the cash needed for air-fares and hotel expenses to attend. This was solved by selling a piece of his action to his father and a friend – it is not known how much of the $2.5 million won was profits for these backers.

While luck played a part in Moneymaker’s main event win, there is no doubt in the minds of fellow professionals that he played a solid game to take down 1st place. Noted good fortune included spiking a set when all in with 8-8 against an opponent’s pocket aces. Moneymaker also famously knocked Phil Ivey out in 10th place when holding a small ace against Ivey’s Ace-Queen – hitting a 3-outer on the river to take down a monster pot.

Continued Success

Proving that this win was not a one off lucky event took some time – however Chris Moneymaker recently took 2nd place in the World Poker Tour’s ‘Shooting Stars’ event at Foxwoods – earning him $200,000 in addition to proving to any doubters that he is a formidable opponent at the tables.

Off of the tables Moneymaker has used his fame to take two high profile media roles. He is the official spokesman for the World Series of Poker for the Harrah’s group which own the brand.

Chris Moneymaker is also a PokerStars pro – and can often be found playing at the tables under the user name ‘money800’. Moneymaker apparently tries to answer any questions from fans using the Poker Stars chat facility and has a reputation for being both modest and approachable off of the tables.

In 2005 Moneymaker produced an autobiography “ Moneymaker: How An Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 Into $2.5 Million At The World Series Of Poker”. He is also known for donating $25,000 of his big win to cancer research.

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