But there Chris Moneymaker is, walking proud and standing tall, and serving as an inspiration to all the people who sit down at their home games and dream of bigger things.
Before Chris Moneymaker's career was a skyrocket, he was a travelling accountant who spent many lonely hours on the road. Many a night he sat in his crummy hotel room trying to pass the time. He enjoyed playing poker but he found it difficult to find a game, so he turned to the internet. He started playing on PokerStars whenever he had free time which he still does under the same name, “Money800”.
Over
time his game improved, so he decided to take a run at qualifying for
the WSOP. As luck would have it he eventually won a seat,
paying $40 in the process. Cash was tight and Chris realized he
probably wouldn't even be able to afford to travel to Vegas to play
poker, so he sold pieces of his action to his father and a
friend.
It turned out to be a better investment than anyone could ever have imagined, and when the dust had settled Chris was clutching both the trophy and $2.5 million in cash. It is in this respect that Chris has emerged as the most influential figure in poker. His rags-to-riches story has prompted millions of average joes to take a shot at poker glory, both in live play at online poker.
It turned out to be a better investment than anyone could ever have imagined, and when the dust had settled Chris was clutching both the trophy and $2.5 million in cash. It is in this respect that Chris has emerged as the most influential figure in poker. His rags-to-riches story has prompted millions of average joes to take a shot at poker glory, both in live play at online poker.
As
“Money800' on
PokerStars, he entered, and won, a $39 satellite to the 2003 World
Series of Poker. As Chris
Moneymaker, he turned
that seat in a World Series of Poker Championship and $2.5 million,
capturing the world's attention and highlighting the fact that it's
not just poker players
that can win poker's most
prestigious title.
Wearing his trademark, a cap and sunglasses that have become the uniform of poker's next generation, Chris Moneymaker finished day one of the WSOP with over 60,000 in chips and realized that although he was an amateur amongst pros, he had as good a shot as anyone at winning the tournament.
Wearing his trademark, a cap and sunglasses that have become the uniform of poker's next generation, Chris Moneymaker finished day one of the WSOP with over 60,000 in chips and realized that although he was an amateur amongst pros, he had as good a shot as anyone at winning the tournament.
He
has a 2nd place finish in the
2004 WPT Shooting Stars
event for $200K, and two World Championship of online poker final
tables for a combined $175K. In 2005, Chris Moneymaker also published
an autobiography entitled, Moneymaker:
How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World
Series of Poker.
Whenever
someone has success there will always be people who attribute it to
luck, and Chris Moneymaker is no exception. Many people have stated
that they could have won the WSOP
too if they were holding the same cards Chris
Moneymaker held. It is
undeniable that luck was on Chris' side during the tournament. He
busted out Humberto Brenes' pocket A's when his pocket 8's hit a set
on the turn, and he rivered an A to make a higher full house than
Phil Ivey
and knock him out in a bitter 10th.
But
luck plays a factor in every tournament with large fields, and when
the play got down to the final table Chris
Moneymaker took control
of the table. And what a tough table it was, with former World
Champion Dan Harrington and feared cash player Sammy
Farha. Chris played like
a seasoned veteran and never backed down. He slowplayed his top pair
to bust out Harrington in third and then went mano a mano with Farha.
On one critical hand, Chris bluffed Farha off of his top pair when the board turned up three to the flush. It was a ballsy all-in move that showed the heart of a champion, and it gave Chris a 2-1 chip lead. It set the stage for the final hand, when Chris' 4-5 flopped two pair to Sammy's pair of jacks. All the poker world.
On one critical hand, Chris bluffed Farha off of his top pair when the board turned up three to the flush. It was a ballsy all-in move that showed the heart of a champion, and it gave Chris a 2-1 chip lead. It set the stage for the final hand, when Chris' 4-5 flopped two pair to Sammy's pair of jacks. All the poker world.
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