Chris Moneymaker
In 2003 Chris Moneymaker turned $39 into $2.5 million, buying entry into a Poker Stars satellite tournament that led to his winning a free seat at the 2003 World Series of Poker and ultimately taking home that year’s WSOP title. Proof positive that anyone can become a World Series of Poker Champion, Chris Moneymaker is a role model for amateur poker players everywhere, online and off. And to answer that singular question on multitudes of fans lips since then – Yes, Moneymaker is his real name.
A Tennessee accountant bringing home about 40 grand a year until that fateful winning streak, Chris Moneymaker got his first taste of cards playing bridge with his grandmother and, later, blackjack with his dad. It wasn’t until the 1998 movie “Rounders” (starring Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Turturro, and John Malkovich) came out that Chris, like so many amateur gamblers just like him, that he was introduced to the thrilling world of high stakes No Limit Texas Hold’ Em.
When playing home games with his friends failed to satisfy, and with travel to land-based casinos so costly, Chris Moneymaker turned to the internet to fill his Texas Hold ‘Em cravings, and particularly PokerStars.net for their multi-table tournament structure. Scores of $20 and $30 tournaments later, Chris Moneymaker entered the $39, 18-player satellite tournament that triggered his transformation from amateur player to poker pro.
  Visit Poker Stars |
Squeezed at the very start of the competition between professionals Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey, the odds against him couldn’t have been more apparent. But by smartly mixing up his play and, of course, nabbing some killer hands – like when he went all-in with pocket 8’s against Humberto Brene’s pocket Aces, or like when he called Dutch Boyd’s all-in with a mere pocket 3’s – he rose to the top like the champ he was destined to become. The seal was set when he defeated Sam Farha, a ruthless ring game champion, with full house – 5’s full of 4’s.
After his main event win, Moneymaker quit his job to become the full-time spokesman for Harrah’s Entertainment and PokerStars.com. An instantaneous poker celebrity beset now with the onus of proving that his 2003 WSOP win wasn’t just a fluke, Chris Moneymaker has since had to defend himself against the myriad poker players who believed that by watching him on television they’d picked up on his strategies and tells. He’s done admirably at it, making numerous noteworthy appearances at some of the professional poker world’s most coveted annual competitions, including: the World Poker Tour Invitationals , the World Poker Finals hosted by Foxwoods, the Poker Stars Caribbean Poker Adventure, the European Poker Tour Grand Final in exotic Monte Carlo, and the Bay 101 Shooting Stars tourney in San Francisco, California.
Since hitting the big time, Chris Moneymaker has also opened his own online store selling Casino Quality Gaming Chips & Accessories. MoneyMakerGaming.com, as it’s called, features collections from Playboy Magazine, Jeff Gordon (24), and the WWE, among others. As well, this busy entrepreneur has gifted would-be poker pros with the story of his life and the lessons he has learned in his autobiography, “Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series of Poker” available in bookstores, online and off, now.
Test your metle against this whiz-kid of cards by logging in to PokerStars and searching for the player with the screen name Money800. At the very least you’ll get a schooling you’ll never forget. And at best, you could brag to your buddies that you nabbed some chips off the great Chris Moneymaker.
Bodog Poker Satellites
PokerStars Satellites
