Chris Moneymaker
Most people have probably heard of Chris Moneymaker’s story. He did, after all, win it big just by playing a small game. Some people who have heard of him know him because of this; others just do not believe that his name is real – which, in fact, it is. Still, if there is one success story on the poker tables that people should hear about, it is the story of Chris Moneymaker.
Christopher Bryan Moneymaker was not a professional poker player. He played poker every now and then online as a hobby, sure, but for the most part he spent his days as an accountant. He had a master’s degree in Accountancy and he was your ordinary family man, with a wife and a daughter to support. That’s what makes his success story even more poignant – he could be anyone.
It was in 2003 when he rose to fame as a poker player. He joined in one of the online poker games that he usually participates in, and he ended up winning a seat on the World Series of Poker for that year, which included the buy-in money for that seat. He participated in the WSOP and ended up winning the main event, and kept playing until he reached the final table. He won the highly-coveted WSOP bracelet, and more importantly, he won $2,500,000. This fortune all began with a $39 satellite tournament on the online cardroom, Pokerstars.
Since then Moneymaker has been making the rounds playing as a professional poker player, joining the WSOP and the World Poker Tour as well as Pokerstars’ EPT. He always places high enough to make a money finish. Today he has made over $2.8 million, over $2.5 million of which came from his World Series of Poker winnings. Today he is known both for his playing poker and for his surname, which, in fact, is his real surname.