By
Dan
At the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, an accountant from Tennessee wrestled through a field of nearly 850 poker hopefuls to win $2.5 million and his first WSOP bracelet. His name? You guessed it: Chris Moneymaker. It was a suitable last name for the man who would be credited with providing the spark for the online poker boom. At the 2004 WSOP, the field tripled in size – yes, tripled – and over 2,500 people packed the antiquated halls of Binion’s in pursuit of a $5 million first place prize. The winner of a $39 satellite which he then parlayed into poker history, Chris Moneymaker’s profound influence can still be seen today. Moneymaker will join the
PocketFives.com Podcast on Thursday, March 1 to discuss his road to success.
Interestingly enough, if it would have been up to Moneymaker, the outcome of his life-changing PokerStars tournament would have been vastly different: “The $39 satellite got me into a $216 tournament on Sunday that had three seats to the WSOP. There were 69 people in the second tournament and were giving away three seats. At the final table, I just started dumping my chips because I really didn’t want to go play against the best players in the world [at the WSOP]. The $8,000 for fourth place sounded like a nice payday rather than going to a tournament I had no chance of winning.” No chance of winning, indeed. Taking down the 2003 event heads up against WSOP bracelet winner Sam Farha, Moneymaker would become the symbol of an “everyman.”
The fame did not sink in immediately, as it took a while for Moneymaker to understand the magnitude of what had just happened: “When poker started getting shown on television, that’s when I realized it. I started getting paid endorsements and appearances and I was making enough money to where I could quit my job. It really struck me at the 2004 WSOP, when I came back and the Horseshoe was just a mob scene.”
Despite strong live and online finishes, including several on his home site of PokerStars, the critics still question Moneymaker’s game: “People who look at WSOP champs negatively don’t understand how hard it is to go through a tournament and how hard it is to win a tournament. They see a lot of suckouts and winning races and see that as being lucky. A lot of it is luck to win a tournament. People who say that I’m bad, well, I like them a lot because it gives me an edge at the tables.” Will Moneymaker ever be able to shed the “luckbox” image? “I think people are so caught up in the idea that I was a luckbox. The poker players that play with me know I’m good. You have to win races and play well to win a tournament.”
So what advice would a man with millions of dollars and poker fame give an up and coming online poker player who’s just made a big score of his own? “Pull out and leave yourself with enough of a bank roll to play what you were originally playing. Don’t try to move up. You need to keep what you’re currently playing at and move up slowly.” Moneymaker has stayed true to this mantra and continues to allow lower stakes players to compete against him on PokerStars. You’ll find “money800” playing several $5 heads up matches and $3 tournaments on the site.
Aside from poker, Moneymaker runs his own business, Moneymaker Gaming. The company manufactures high-end chips, dealer buttons, poker tables, and everything else you’ll need to get your name on the Gallery of Champions at Binion’s in Las Vegas.
The PocketFives.com Podcast featuring Moneymaker will be available on Thursday, March 1. Thank you to 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker for joining the show.
Article photo courtesy of www.chrismoneymaker.com.