Christopher Bryan Moneymaker
(born November 21, 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia
) is an American
poker player who won the main event at the 2003 World Series of Poker
(WSOP). His victory is generally credited for being one of
the main catalysts for the poker boom in the years following his
win, which has since been dubbed the "
Moneymaker Effect".
Moneymaker attended
Farragut High School in
Knoxville,
Tennessee
and later earned a master's degree in accounting from the University of
Tennessee
. Moneymaker is married and has a daughter
named Ashley, born three months before winning the WSOP main event.
His
autobiography,
Moneymaker: How
an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World
Series of Poker was published in March 2005 (ISBN
0-06-076001-X).
Poker
World Series of Poker
Moneymaker was working as an accountant when he won a seat into the
main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker through a
US$39
satellite tournament at the
PokerStars online poker
card room. Although largely unknown prior to the tournament, on
day one of the tournament his skills caught the attention of
professional sports handicapper Lou Diamond, who called Moneymaker
his "
dark horse to win the whole
tournament." Moneymaker went on to win the first prize of $2.5
million, instantly garnering poker superstar status. It was his
first live poker tournament. One of Moneymaker's most memorable
hands was heads-up against
Sam Farha, when
on the
river he
bluffed "all
in" with
King high. Farha
folded a
pair of nines, quickly changing the
momentum of the match. Moneymaker eventually won the WSOP when his
beat Farha's on a board of , giving Moneymaker a
full house. After winning
the WSOP, he quit his job to serve as a celebrity spokesman for
Series owner
Harrah's
Entertainment as well as PokerStars. He also began traveling to
play in more large buy-in tournaments.
World Poker Tour
Moneymaker has since played on the
World Poker Tour, finishing second at the
2004 Shooting Stars event, earning $200,000.
Online poker
During Event 5 of the 2008
World Championship of Online
Poker which was a $10,300 buy-in of No Limit Hold'em,
Moneymaker finished in sixth place, taking home over $139,000. He
also did well in Event 16, the $215 Pot Limit Omaha with ReBuys,
where he finished fifth, earning over $28,000. As of 2008, his
total live tournament winnings exceed $2,800,000, the majority of
which, $2,532,041, have come at the WSOP.
Last name
Moneymaker's last name is not a
pseudonym,
and is in fact his real birth name (this kind of coincidentally apt
name is often known as an "
aptronym"). His
ancestors made silver and gold coins and chose the name
"Moneymaker". It actually is a modification of their German last
name which approximately was "Nurmacher".
Notes
- World Series of Poker Earnings,
www.worldseriesofpoker.com
- Chris Moneymaker at the German tv show TV Total.
(video-link on the bottom)
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