The name Chris Moneymaker is forever attached to the World Series of Poker. We all know of the storybook run of Moneymaker in 2003 that began with an $86 online poker satellite. Now, 16 years later, Moneymaker is looking to turn another $80 online poker satellite into a life-changing sum of money.

“Overall, I feel really good,” Moneymaker said later on Day 3 of the 2019 WSOP Main Event. “It’s been a good day. The first two days were tough, I never caught any cards, but I’m trying to stay patient and realize that this is more of a marathon than a sprint. In years past, I’ve probably sprinted out a little bit too much and buried myself, so I’m trying to stay composed and not get in a hurry.”

The 2019 WSOP Main Event attracted its second-largest field ever, drawing 8,569 players to the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino. The winner will take home $10 million. That’s a far cry from the 839 players to play in 2003 when Moneymaker won it. Although he said there aren’t really any comparisons between now and then, Moneymaker did say the turnout this year was a bit like what was experienced in 2004. That’s when the field size grew by more than 1,700 entries to 2,576, showing just how popular and healthy poker was.

“There’s really no comparison,” Moneymaker said. “We’re breaking the record for the second-biggest crowd ever. It doesn’t even really compare to what we had. I guess the closest thing we could compare it to would be 2004 at Binion’s. We had so many people that we were playing 11-handed and I started out playing on my knees in the first hour. The lines to get in Sit & Gos were three, four hours long. It was just insane. Obviously we don’t have that issue here at the Rio. We just have so many people, which is amazing to see that we got over 8,000 people this year. Poker has been growing every year. It’s great to see after everybody was proclaiming that poker was dead a couple of years ago. I’m glad to see that all of the tours seem to be growing and that the game is popular and it’s only going to improve.”

Going from 7,874 entries in 2018 to 8,569 in 2019 proved quite the rise in attendance, and this is without widespread legalized online poker in the United States. Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware have regulated online poker, which is a start, and as more states come on board it can only mean good things for the industry and the WSOP. Pennsylvania is next in line. Legislation passed in the Keystone State and now it’s just a waiting game for when Pennsylvania online poker is going to launch. A date of July 15 is pegged as the launch date, but there’s plenty of word on the streets that things may be delayed a little bit.

Nonetheless, online poker is coming to Pennsylvania and it will be the largest state by quite a big margin to have legal online poker. Of the three states to currently have legal online poker in the US, New Jersey has the largest population at 8.9 million people. Pennsylvania’s population is 12.8 million, so nearly 4 million more.

As an ambassador for PokerStars, Moneymaker has a lot of experience pushing for the advancement of legalized US online poker. Although he lives in Tennessee, he’s spent plenty of time in New Jersey with PokerStars. He’ll likely be doing the same once Pennsylvania is on board.

“Hopefully, we can get sharing of player pools,” Moneymaker said. “For Pennsylvania, I’ll be up there close to when they open to check out the site. I think it’s going to be great. I still think we need a state like California, New York, or Florida [to get on board]. Pennsylvania, landmass wise, is a huge state, but we still need a New York or California to push it over the hump. Once they see the tax revenue dollars coming in from a big state like that, I think that’s when it will start going similar to how marijuana and sports betting have gone.”

Right now, it’s a waiting game for Pennsylvania online poker players, but launch day will be here before we know it. When legal PA online poker does become available, Moneymaker suggests to take it slow and get yourself acclimated with the current game.

“Most people used to play online poker back a certain number of years ago, so start off small, step your toe in, and get used to it again because the game has changed a lot,” Moneymaker said. “If you haven’t played in a decade because you used to be an online player and you don’t play anymore, or you’ve been playing live, the online game, if you remember, is quite different. Start small, get your feet wet, and get used to it again.”

Another tip for Pennsylvania online poker players is to do some research and get up to speed and what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. This can be done while waiting for launch day.

“Do some research to find out what tools are out there that you can use as far as HUD trackers and things like that, or if those things are illegal,” Moneymaker said. “Make sure that you’re up on all of the regulations and have fun with it.”