button in SafariThe Time Chris Moneymaker Almost Won a World Poker Tour Title
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Every poker player knows about Chris Moneymaker's iconic victory in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, but fewer are probably aware that the poker legend almost won a second major poker title less than a year later.
In March 2004, Moneymaker finished runner-up in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event for $200,000. It was the first time the event took place under the World Poker Tour (WPT) brand, and a victory would have given Moneymaker both WSOP and WPT titles in a ten-month span.
In anticipation of this month's WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Festival, taking place Oct. 16-Nov. 1 in California, let's look back at the time that Moneymaker almost became a World Poker Tour champion.
Moneymaker Denied WPT Title
The Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship is an event with humble beginnings, with Sam Merchant having won the $1,060 buy-in event in 1997 for $29,000.
In 2004, the year WPT stepped in, the buy-in increased to $5,200 and the field size nearly doubled. The increased popularity of poker could be attributed to Moneymaker winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event for $2.5 million in one of the biggest upsets in poker history.
It is fitting, then, that the accountant from Tennessee behind the "Moneymaker Effect" would make a deep run.
The 2004 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship drew 243 runners for a prize pool of $1.1 million and included a cast of heavy hitters. Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer and Prahlad Friedman are among the 27 players who cashed.
The final table included Moneymaker and Phil Gordon, a Full Tilt Poker pro and member of the legendary Tiltboys crew who would rob the reigning WSOP champ of a WPT title.
In a three-way all in that also involved third-place finisher Masoud Shojaei, Moneymaker held pocket jacks to be in great shape against Shojaei's ten-six and the ace-seven of Gordon, who had both players covered. But an ace landed on the flop to give Gordon a dominant lead and a blank runout left him claiming the title and top prize of $360,000.
2004 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Gordon | $360,000 |
| 2 | Chris Moneymaker | $200,000 |
| 3 | Masoud Shojaei | $103,300 |
| 4 | Scott Wilson | $79,800 |
| 5 | Susan Kim | $68,400 |
| 6 | March Mache | $57,000 |
| 7 | David Plastik | $45,600 |
| 8 | Jim Moore | $32,200 |
| 9 | Casey Kastle | $22,800 |
Where Are They Now?
Two decades later, Moneymaker remains an active poker ambassador, while Gordon has largely stepped away from the game.
In a 2025 interview with PokerNews' Chad Holloway, Gordon spoke fondly about the player he beat for a title 21 years earlier.
"Chris has been amazing in the poker world," said Gordon. "None of us would be here today, no one would care about poker were it not for Chris and his amazing win back in the day. I was standing ten feet from him when he won the tournament. It’s been fun to see him winning and doing great things in poker."
The Bay 101 Shooting Star returned in 2025 after a multi-year hiatus and is back again this year. The $5,300 buy-in Championship will take place Oct. 23-27.
