Chris Moneymaker, once thought to be a mere memory in the poker tournament world since his 2003 WSOP Main Event win, made a very surprise appearance tonight during Event #5 of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker. Unlike past WCOOP appearances in which Moneymaker was a guest commentator or guest host at the final table, it was the man known online as “Money800†that would actually BE at the final table this time around!
Yes, you definitely just saw that last sentence correctly. Chris Moneymaker, pretty much only known as of late for his spokesman role on Team PokerStars, surprised a lot of critics this evening by making the final table of the very much pro-infested WCOOP Event #5. The $10,000 No Limit Hold Em championship drew in 321 players, shattering the $2 Million Guarantee PokerStars had put up by over a million bucks. The very best players from both the online and live poker stratospheres would gather to battle it out for the $617k first-place prize and the esteemed WCOOP gold bracelet.
As I railed the final couple of tables, I noticed Chris Moneymaker was playing some of the best poker of his career, utilizing his chip stack and loose image to steamroll his way deeper and deeper into the tournament, even outlasting fellow pros Ted Forrest (aka TheProfess) and Daniel Alaei (aka Steamraise) – both of whom finished in 20th and 13th, respectively. By the time it was said and done, and the final table bubble had burst, it was Moneymaker who would be sitting in the middle of the pack chip-wise at the Event #5 finale. He had outlasted 312 of his fellow poker peers and professionals in one of the toughest online tournaments of the year, and was hoping to add a little more gold bling to compliment his WSOP bracelet he won in 2003.
The journey, however, would be a tad short-lived. While three players in front of him went out before he did, it would be Moneymaker himself eventually succumbing to the bigger blinds, making a move with a weak Ace at $12.5k/$25k with his remaining $300k or so in chips. Unfortunately for him though, as the action was folded around the table, the big blind unexpectedly decided to wake up with pocket Kings! As the board bricked out horrendously, Moneymaker would take home a very impressive $179k in prize money for his 6th place finish. It may not have been the fairy-tale ending he was expecting, but at least it sort of signifies he can still be somewhat of a force in the tournament arena.
More importantly than that though – and I of course can’t account for this from a personal standpoint since I don’t know the man obviously – I think he will get to FINALLY enjoy some satisfaction of finally making it back to the final table of a huge tournament. I mean, after being written off as a one-hit wonder after the 2003 Main Event, he played some of the most spectacular poker of his life in this particular WCOOP event tonight. The man who started the “poker boom†played like the player a lot of people knew he was capable of becoming since his WSOP win, and at least for tonight, he’ll be able to give a nice, royal “F**K You†to all of his critics and poker peers that had bashed him in the past for his lack of tournament FT’s.
Congrats Chris, we here at 4Flush are glad to hear you’re back on the winning track again.
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