It is near impossible to talk about the biggest names in poker and not mention Chris Moneymaker, the player who has been argued to be the sole reason for the poker boom back in 2003! Chris Moneymaker really symbolised the poker dream back in 2003 when he won an online satellite into the World Series of Poker Main Event for only a few bucks where he went on to become the 2003 WSOP main event champion! It was the fact that for the first time an amatuar - who also managed to qualify online - combined with a name like Moneymaker that really set the poker world alight. The press has even coined the effect he had on the world of poker now as the “Moneymaker effect” as he cemented his name in the poker world forever.
Before this event Moneymaker was an accountant who played poker on the site as a hobby however after turning $40 into $2.5million he then changed his life and became a travelling poker pro.
While Moneymaker has never managed the same success as that first win(which is near impossible really) he has gone on to do well in a few other events including the World Championship of Online Poker and the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure. Moneymaker’s tournament winnings now exceed over 3 million dollars and he has become one of the main ambassadors for the poker site Pokerstars. Moneymaker now resides in Nashville, Tennessee where he continues to make a living from poker making appearances every year at the biggest poker events in the world including of course the one that shot him to fame - The World Series of Poker!
