About 20+ years ago, poker didn’t enjoy the popularity it does today, but that changed for one person with a fortunate name, Chris Moneymaker, after which the term the Moneymaker Effect came to be. Chris unexpectedly won the WSOP in 2003; interestingly, after joining and winning several satellite poker tournaments, he got his spot at the World Series of Poker, which he won. Here, we’ll outline the emergence of the term Moneymaker Effect and discuss the particulars of Chris Moneymaker.
Who is Chris Moneymaker?
Chris Moneymaker was 27 years old in 2003; he was born on November 21st, 1975, in Atlanta, Georgia according to his WSOP bio. He spent most of his life in Knoxville, and in 2003, he was working as an accountant in Tennessee. Interestingly, Moneymaker is his family surname, dating back to his German ancestors.
He was an amateur poker player who preferred online poker games and was usually partaking in low-entry fee poker tournaments on the poker card room PokerStars. In 2003, he entered an online satellite poker tournament at PokerStars with an $86 entry fee. After winning that event, he qualified and won a larger satellite poker tournament, which earned him a seat at the 2003 WSOP at the Binion’s Hotel in Las Vegas, where the entry fee was a staggering $10,000.
Credit: 20Bet
The Winning Bluff
The 2003 WSOP was held in May, and a total of 837 poker players were eliminated in the course of the week, leaving Chris Moneymaker playing in the finals; he played heads-up Texas Hold ‘em poker against seasoned poker pro Sam Farha. An interesting fact about the final game is that Moneymaker suggested to Farha that they split the main prize. Still, Farha, who is a professional poker player, was insulted and declined the offer, and the game continued.
During the final game, Farha had an upper hand almost the entire time, but Moneymaker held his ground. Close to the end, Moneymaker had a five of diamonds and a four of clubs as his hole cards, and Farah had a J of hearts and a T of diamonds. The flop revealed a five of spades and a four of clubs, and a J, giving Moneymaker two pairs, while Farah had a top pair.
Farha decided to go all in, and Moneymaker called the bet, thinking he could bluff his way to the win, and the dealer placed the turn and the river. The turn card was an eight of diamonds, and the river was a five of clubs, giving Moneymaker a full house as a winning poker hand.
The win was obviously Moneymaker’s, and he won the 2003 World Series of Poker and a massive $2.5 million prize. However, it was his legacy that brought forth the Moneymaker Effect term, which inspired new generations of poker players and brought a surge in the popularity of poker.
Inspiring Poker Enthusiasts
Because Chris Moneymaker started as an online poker player, he was considered the underdog in the WSOP 2003, where most of the participants were experienced poker pros. In fact, Moneymaker was the first online poker player to win the World Series of Poker tournament, and his story inspired plenty of online poker players to join live poker tournaments.
Another thing that happened, inspired by Chris Moneymaker’s win, was that the online poker industry boomed. Many amateur poker players thought they could recreate Moneymaker’s win, and the term “Moneymaker Effect” became famous.
His 2003 WSOP was inspiring for Greg Raymer, also an online poker player, who qualified online and won the 2004 WSOP against 2,576 players, winning a $5 million grand prize. Chris Moneymaker has said that luck was on his side that day but that it is also important to put yourself in the position to be lucky. Overall, Chris Moneymaker made a profound impact on thousands of online poker enthusiasts and completely changed the course of poker.
Credit: Karamba
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