Chris Moneymaker plays on Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Main Event on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, at the Rio. (Antonio Abrego/PokerGO) Qui Nguyen plays on Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Main Event on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, at the Rio. (Jim Barnes/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Multimillion prize pool finalized for WSOP Main Event Doyle Brunson survives, Phil Hellmuth arrives at WSOP Main Event Eighteen years after igniting the poker boom, Chris Moneymaker was back in a familiar place Thursday at the Rio.
The 2003 Main Event champion was near the chip lead in this year’s Main Event after crossing the 1 million mark early on Day 3.
“It’s surreal, kind of reliving 2003 a little bit,” Moneymaker told PokerGO before playing on the livestreamed featured table.
Moneymaker’s run to the 2003 Main Event title fueled an explosion in poker’s popularity, as viewers watched the amateur player — an accountant from Tennessee who earned his $10,000 seat in a $39 satellite — eliminate Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey and other top pros on the way to the victory and $2.5 million.
The episodes ran over and over on ESPN in the months after his victory, and Main Event fields ballooned in the next few years. Moneymaker defeated a field of 839 entrants. The field more than tripled to 2,576 in 2004, then more than doubled to 5,619 in 2005.
The next year, Jamie Gold won what is still the largest Main Event in history, beating a field of 8,773 for $12 million.
Moneymaker has remained a part of the poker scene since his victory, playing tournaments as an ambassador for the online poker site PokerStars and now Americas Cardroom.
He has nearly $4 million in career tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database.
On Thursday, Moneymaker built his stack by winning a huge hand with pocket aces. He raised, Robert Kuhn reraised, Moneymaker reraised, and Kuhn called.Moneymaker bet on a flop of ten-deuce-deuce, and Kuhn called. Moneymaker bet again after a three on the turn, and Kuhn called. After a queen on the river, Moneymaker went all-in, and Kuhn called with jack-ten, […]
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