ROHAN ARORA, Editor-in-Chief—
Chris Moneymaker is sitting across from Sammy Farha, widely considered at the time to be one of the most dynamic pros in all of poker.
It is 2003. Moneymaker, despite his last name, is far from a pro. He was working as an accountant, who played poker online in his free time. On what pundits considered a ‘fluke’, he had qualified for his spot in the World Series of Poker main event online, through a $86 satellite tournament.
Money maker is dealt the Four Of spades and the five of diamonds. A decent hand on its own, but a 2 to 1 underdog to Farha’s Jack-ten off suit. After some pre-flop betting, the first three cards come down.
Moneymaker makes a two-pair as a four and a five come down, Farha makes the top pair, as the third card is a jack. Moneymaker is now a three to one favorite to win. After some betting, Farha goes all in. He doesn’t buy Moneymaker’s story; just a few hands before moneymaker had bluffed Farha out of a large pot to take the chip lead. Not this time though; Moneymaker calls immediately.
The river is a five. Farha looks disgusted.
Moneymaker has won the World Series of Poker. The first ever to qualify online to achieve such a feat.
What would ensue would be dubbed by poker scholars,aptly, as the ‘moneymaker effect’ in part to pay homage to chris moneymaker, responsible for the influx of amateurs trying their hand at high stakes tournaments. The sheer amount of commitment it requires to continuously excel at a game like no limit texas hold em seems to escape many who are not familiar with the game.
Even though Moneymaker and Farha did not move from the table(until after moneymaker own, at least) their commitment and training rivals, and sometimes often exceeds that of pro athletes.Poker is a game of numbers, and especially in poker knowing what numbers matter at what points can actually greatly inform strategies that can prove to be advantageous. Many professionals will spend weeks or months before a big tournament memorizing opponent’s play styles, using poker […]
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