Talking about Chris Moneymaker, he is an American poker player who won the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP). You may not believe, but it’s true that he won his entry into the tournament by playing a $40 satellite at PokerStars and finished up winning $2,500,000.

Once he emerged as a winner for the trip to the WSOP, Chris didn't have much money for the cost of flying and staying in Vegas for seven days. Therefore, he sold chunk of his entry to his father and his friend in order to cover the cost for the trip in exchange for a portion of his winnings. In addition to that he also donated $25,000 of his winnings to cancer research.

Plenty of experts are of the opinion that Chris won because he got lucky. And even though there is no doubt that there were instances where he got very lucky but in the end his solid game was the main reason behind winning. He was extremely lucky against Humberto Brenes and Phil Ivey. But you certainly require some luck in order to compete against 800 odd people.

Chris attended Farragut High School in Farragut, Tennessee and later completed a post graduate degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee. When he qualified for the World Series of Poker in 2003, Chris was working as an accountant in Tennessee He went on to win the first World series of poker tournament as well as a whopping prize money of $2.5 million. Winning such a prestigious tournament give Chris the instant celebrity status. Interestingly it was his first live poker tournament.

In the opening round of the World Series poker tournament, Chris Moneymaker had Johnny Chan sitting on his right and Phil Ivey on his left. In an interview to media, Chris openly admitted that he got outplayed and that night decided to not be afraid anymore. In other word, he decided if he got beat, he got beat, but he was going to play his natural game. And that’s what he did. Instead of playing defensively, he mixed it up beautifully and made some brilliant plays during the tournament.

The one move that is still in the mind of people is when Chris went all in with his pocket 8s against Humberto Brenes's pocket A's. Chris Moneymaker caught the 8 giving him a set and sent Brenes to the rail. Yes, you can say that there was some luck involved, but it was not a bad strategy.

During the World Series poker tournament, Chris's most memorable hand set him heads-up against Sam Farha, when on the river he bluffed "all in" with King high. With Farha being such an experienced player, he folded a pair of nines, without wasting any time to alter the momentum of the match. But Chris Moneymaker eventually won the match and the tournament thanks to his solid and aggressive style of strategy. Experts still feel that it was a mind-blowing strategy by Chris against the likes of Farha. Though, Farha did manage to win a rematch on Pokerstars after the World Series poker tournament.

After winner the tournament, Chris has since played on the World Poker Tour, finishing second at the Shooting Stars event, earning staggering $200,000. Expectedly, Chris quit his job of accountant and started working as a celebrity spokesman for Series owner Harrah's Entertainment as well as PokerStars. Apart from that, Chris Moneymaker also started traveling to play in more large buy-in tournaments.

Chris Moneymaker is married and has a daughter named Ashley, who is 4 years old. After gaining the super star status in the world of poker he decided to publish his autobiography, which was published two years after winning the World Series poker tournament. His autobiography is aptly named “Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series of Poker”. You can take the tips from Chris Moneymaker every Thursdays on Playboy Radio's Morning Show on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Personal Quote