2003 World Series of Poker Champion
SoundPoker Says: Chris Moneymaker was the Cinderella story of poker in 2003. With only 4 years of online poker experience, Chris entered into a $40 online satellite tournament. Chris not only won the satellite, but he won an entry into the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas. At the time Chris was working two jobs and had to borrow money from family to even make it to the tournament. The World Series of Poker was Chris' first live tournament, and with over 800 entires the competition was filled with living poker legends such as Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey. With his signature shades, Chris went from surviving the first day of play, to making the final table, to being one of the final two players. The final hand saw a 5 drop on the river, giving Chris a full house of three 5's and two 4's, which handily beat Ihsan Fartha's pair of jacks to win the $2,500,000 first place prize.
Chris Moneymaker will be remember for being the first of the online poker generation to win the World Series of Poker. And yes, Moneymaker really is his last name.




