Chris Moneymaker

Chris Moneymaker

Nationality
United States
United States
GPI Rank 2,286
WSOP Bracelets 1
Total Live Earnings $6,215,554
The Hendon Mob Data provided by The Hendon Mob

Biography

"This is beyond fairy tale. It’s inconceivable!" — Norman Chad

Chris Moneymaker is an American poker player who won the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event. He was the first Main Event winner to qualify through online poker. His victory, coupled with the rise in popularity of televised poker, gave rise to the early 2000s poker boom. This is sometimes dubbed 'The Moneymaker Effect'.

In 2019, Moneymaker was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Biography

Moneymaker was born in Georgia and went on to earn a master's degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee.

In 2003, he won a seat to the WSOP Main Event in an $86 satellite on PokerStars. Coming into the Main Event, no one knew who Moneymaker was, but he battled his way to the top and defeated a final table that included Sam Farha and Phil Ivey.

He took home $2,500,000 for his efforts, defeating a field of 839 entries. The impact of his victory cannot be understated. In the space of three years, the Main Event field would increase to 8,773 as online satellites, televised poker and a boom in interest in the game saw players take their shot at following in Moneymaker's footsteps.

"I went back to work, because I didn't realize I could be making enough money to retire or quit doing what I was doing," Moneymaker told PokerNews in 2016. "It wasn't really until it started airing on TV. They had it on a loop and I guess that really woke me up to the fact there was something to it. Poker was not just a passing fad. It looked like it was going to be around more than just a few years and somehow I was part of the driving factor behind all that."

He also was a member of PokerStars Team Pro for 17 years, before leaving in 2020.


Related: Chris Moneymaker's WSOP Memories


Other Poker Achievements

A year after his WSOP victory, Moneymaker placed second at the 2004 Shooting Star WPT event for $200,000.

WSOP Main Event Winners 1994-2003

YEARENTRIESCHAMPIONCOUNTRYPRIZE
2003839Chris MoneymakerUnited States$2,500,000
2002631Robert VarkonyiUnited States$2,000,000
2001613Carlos MortensenSpain$1,500,000
2000512Chris FergusonUnited States$1,500,000
1999393Noel FurlongIreland$1,000,000
1998350Scotty NguyenVietnam$1,000,000
1997312Stu UngarUnited States$1,000,000
1996295Huck SeedUnited States$1,000,000
1995273Dan HarringtonUnited States$1,000,000
1994268Russ HamiltonUnited States$1,000,000

Kentucky Poker Room Purchase and Forced Closure

Prior to the pandemic, Moneymaker, who resides in Mississippi, had planned to open a poker room in Dallas, Texas. Due to COVID-19, he decided against that move.

Instead, in September 2022, he opened a card room in Paducah, Kentucky, a small town in the northwest corner of the state, four hours from his home. The room, called Moneymaker Social Club, operated similarly to a Texas poker room in that, due to gambling being illegal in both states, he didn't take rake out of the pots. The money was made via selling memberships to the club and charging seat fees.

All was fine until February 2023 when the county attorney, Cade Foster, reversed course and determined that his business was operating illegally. Facing criminal charges, including a felony, Moneymaker was forced to remove the poker tables from his social club. He is continuing to operate the business for the time being and still hopes to one day be able to legally bring poker back to Moneymaker Social Club.

PokerNews Covered Events

Event Place Prize
2023 RGPS Tunica
RGPS Main Event
4th $24,455
2023 World Series of Poker
Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship
403rd $40,000
2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship
2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship
139th $40,300
2022 World Series of Poker
Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event World Championship
1198th $15,000
2022 World Series of Poker
Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop
167th $4,341
2021 World Series of Poker
Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event World Championship
260th $38,600
Lone Star Poker Series Champions Social
$1,300 Texas State $1M GTD Main Event
148th $2,825
Stars CALL For Action powered by PokerStars - Charity Tournament
Stars CALL For Action powered by PokerStars - Charity Tournament
5th $20,000
Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 - Seminole Hard Rock
$360 Main Event
32nd $765
Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 - Dublin
€175 Main Event - Road to PSPC
7th €3,260
Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 - London
£140 Main Event - Road to PSPC
15th £940
Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 - Newcastle
£140 Main Event - Road to PSPC
50th £267
Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 - Hippodrome London
£140 Main Event - Road to PSPC
15th £588
2019 PokerStars EPT Open Sochi
₽133,000 EPT Open Main Event
119th 227,500 RUB
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship
687th $20,200
2019 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Vegas @ Aria
$10,300 Main Event
9th $80,000
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #61: COLOSSUS - $400 No-Limit Hold'em
1354th $689
2017 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
105th $4,089
2017 PokerStars Championship Sochi
Main Event
15th 1,815,000 RUB
2016 PokerStars Festival - New Jersey
$300 NL Hold'em PokerStars Cup
11th $720
Hollywood Poker Open Season 4 Charles Town Regional Main Event
$1,115 Regional Main Event
4th $10,080
Hollywood Poker Open Season 4 Toledo Regional Main Event
$1,115 Regional Main Event
23rd $2,746
Hollywood Poker Open Season 3 Grantville Regional Main Event
Regional Main Event
7th $4,402
2014 Hollywood Poker Open St. Louis Regional Event
HPO St. Louis Regional Championship
1st $36,259
2014 Hollywood Poker Open Tunica Regional Event
HPO Tunica Regional Championship
3rd $6,016
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Sanremo
Main Event
116th €8,000
2012 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
86th $4,517
2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
2nd $300,000
2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
Main Event
11th $130,000
2010 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo
Main Event
69th €25,000
2010 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship
$20,000 Heads-up Championship
15th $25,000
2007 EPT - London
EPT London - Main Event
17th £12,230
2007 World Series of Poker
Event 3 - $1,500 No Limit Holdem
233rd $3,888

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