Poker Player Biography: Chris Moneymaker

 

Poker Player Biography: Chris Moneymaker

There are many memorable poker players that we can remember – but none of them make such an impact on us than Chris Moneymaker. Many who do not know much about Chris would think that his last name was a nickname that was given to him when he first started to make it big in the world of poker. The funny thing is this is his actual name – Moneymaker. And true to his name he is one of the most successful moneymakers in the poker world.

Chris has a passion for gambling that few professional poker players have. He first started to play poker when he was a child when he and his grandmother would play bridge. Later in life he fell in love with blackjack. Most players who find that they are great at poker will play it full time and make their money off of it as best they can. Chris had other plans.

He decided that he would begin his life by going to school. He attended the University of Tennessee where he earned his Masters degree in accounting and decided to take a full time job as an accountant when he finished.

It wasn’t until much later in life that he made the decision to pursue his love of poker. He became inspired after he and his friends were watching Matt Damon play in Rounders. It seemed impossible at first to find a legalized poker room that he could test his skills on. He finally decided that driving for hours to play wasn’t the way to do it. He chose instead to use his skills in the online gambling community.

Poker Stars was his room of choice and there he played many of the multi table tournaments. He started winning big with some of the $20-$40 buy-in tournaments. Chris was excited to be winning these small tournaments – but nothing would prepare him for the excitement that awaited him at the $39 satellite tournament.

In this satellite tournament he went up against 17 other players. He chose to play this specific tournament as a way of improving. He found instead that he was the better man and that each player would be learning something from him. He ended up by earning himself a seat in the World Series of Poker satellite that had close to 64 other players. Through that he won himself a seat to the main event and than a free trip to Las Vegas.

Chris soon learned that playing online and playing in front of someone was very different. He found himself up against some of the top players (Phil Ivey and Dan Harrington) – but proved his skills were true when he made it to the final table. He ended up by paying $39 and winning $2,500,000 – becoming one of the best poker players.

Chris is now one of the spokesperson for Poker Stars and is still the number one place that he plays at. He still has the passion for poker that he started with and enjoys playing in many of the tournaments. He also has started his own company – which he calls Moneymaker Gaming.