World Series Of Poker Legend Chris Moneymaker

The story of poker legend Chris Moneymaker is the ultimate fantasy of any online poker wannabe. The question remains is how did he do it?

Chris Moneymaker was born in 1976 in Tennessee. He was brought up in a family that loved cards and gambling, regularly playing bridge with his grandmother and blackjack with this father. Chris always felt drawn to the exciting world of gambling but never tried to pursue this passion in any serious manner. He studied accountancy at the University of Tennessee and earned a Master's degree in the field. Chris settled for a suburban life of playing with numbers instead of playing with cards.

Chris had been content playing Texas Hold'em and other poker games with friends but at one point he decided he wanted to try out the real thing. He dabbled around on a few virtual poker rooms but it was Poker Stars' Online Poker that grabbed him. Chris gained some experience through a few mini online competitions and finally found his way into a $39 buy-in satellite competition that was offering a spot in the biggest poker tournament in the world – The World Series of Poker.

He still doesn't understand how it happened but the $39 satellite tournament against 18 other players was Chris' stepping stone into the world of professional poker that would entirely change the course of his life. The $39 that Chris had originally begun playing with had grown and grown and he was finally sitting very pretty with $10,000 – He had won a seat at the World Series of Poker for 2003! 

Chris was flown to Las Vegas and was faced with the most famous poker stars that he had only previously dreamt of meeting. Chris admittedly had no real poker room and land casino experience and was afraid that his amateurish image would be a giveaway. Chris' original goal was to get through the first day of the tournament without too much humiliation, to gain some experience and to then go home. This, however, was not meant to be. 

When Chris managed to end his first day with 60,000 chips, he decided that if he was already in the tournament he may as well try making some money from it! He cruised through the second day and on the third day he found himself on one of ESPN's live televised tables, sitting with top stars like Paul Darden, Howard Lederer and Johnny Chan. After making some embarrassing mistakes such as not realising it was his turn to play, Chris somehow managed to win at that table and work his way through to the final table.

The now famous match between Chris Moneymaker and Sammy Farha, and Chris' ultimate winning of the 2003 WSOP title is what made him an instant legend. His instant move from accountancy to professional poker was not a hard choice for Chris, especially given the fact that he had won a lot of money in a very short period. Since his 2003 win, Chris has continued to win professional poker tournaments, has written a book about his poker career and has opened his own company called Moneymaker Gaming.