Sure, he was the chip leader at the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) having miraculously, and literally, battled against the odds all the way to make it to the final table out of 839 entrants. And now, from his initial $86 satellite entry fee granting him a seat at the WSOP — the price of admission to enter the tournament at Binion’s Hotel in Las Vegas could have been $10,000 — a million-dollar payout was guaranteed.
Over the course of one week in May, 837 contenders had been eliminated, leaving this amateur online player going up against seasoned professional Sam Farha. And as they played heads-up Texas Hold ‘Em, Moneymaker must have wanted the glory of winning the most prestigious prize in poker, to say nothing of the $2.5 million on offer to the winner.
And regardless of Farha’s starting hand, Moneymaker’s five of diamonds and four of clubs did not exactly inspire confidence. But by this point, destiny was clearly calling.
Judging by his name, you might think that Chris Moneymaker was meant to have been involved with dealing in sums. And you would be right.
Growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, Moneymaker became an accountant and — as he told CNN Sport as part of an interview discussing his involvement working with VELO’s sponsorship with the World Series of Poker, who are highlighting how poker skills can translate beyond the table — he acknowledged how translation also played a part in his surname.
“My father is Moneymaker, and we’ve had a long line of males in our family tree,” he says. “From what I’ve been told […] they made silver and gold coins.
“The name was originally Nurmacher. And when they went to England, they took the literal translation of someone that made the silver and gold coins and it was Moneymaker.” Chris Moneymaker competing during the main event at the World Series of Poker in 2015. Moneymaker’s love of card and table games resulted in poker becoming more of a regular occurrence in his routine. But it wasn’t likely to lead to a career change and, even his partaking in an $86 […]
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