News / Matthew Pitt / 12 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Online poker has been around for many years but it took the victory of an amateur player to launch the game on a global scale - and that man was the aptly named Chris Moneymaker.

Born on November 21, 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia, Chris Moneymaker used to make a living by working as an accountant and his head for figures went hand in hand with his love of gambling and, ultimately, poker.

Back in the spring of 2003, he decided to enter a $39, 18-man super-satellite game online and it turned out to be the best decision he would ever make. He won the tournament and his prize was entry into another satellite game, where the winner received a package that included the $10k entry fee for the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Moneymaker won this tournament and with it a seat to the biggest tournament in poker. Initially, he had one goal and one goal only and that was to survive day one and retain some pride.

Events, however, took a turn for the better, Moneymaker found himself with a very healthy stack of $60k chips, and suddenly realised that he could actually cash in his first major live tournament.

On day 3 he showed his amateur status when he was placed on the "TV table" with two poker legends, Johnny Chan and Howard Lederer. Chan raised and Lederer re-raised. Moneymaker sat studying Chan, wondering why he was taking so long to act until Chan had to point out to Moneymaker that he had not yet folded and the action was on him!

After the barrage of laughs had subsided, Moneymaker decided he could look no more foolish than in that hand and set his sights on winning.

Then the unthinkable happened. On Friday, 23 May 837 of the 839 entrants had been eliminated leaving just Moneymaker and pro player Sammy Farha heads-up. In the final hand, Moneymaker held 5d4s and Farha JhTd. Moneymaker flopped two pairs on a Js5s4c, which turned into a full house by the river and poker crowned its new champion.

Whilst Moneymaker's victory was not the only reason poker exploded after 2003, it was a key event in the rise in its popularity. Tens of thousands of amateur players the world over flocked to online poker sites with the aim of emulating the accountant from Georgia, who had turned $40 into $2.5m.

Moneymaker proved that dreams can and do come true. You just need to believe in yourself and have a little luck go your way and anything is possible, especially in the world of poker.