Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2. 5 Million at the World Series of Poker
In 2004 the number of entrants — and the winning pool — at the World Series of Poker tripled, thanks in large part to Chris Moneymaker, an amateur player who came out of nowhere to win the 2003 Series, and prove to newcomers and poker pros alike that anything is possible with a chip and a chair.\ Moneymaker was a young accountant from Tennessee who loved to gamble but only took up cards after college. Three years later he was playing a $40 game of online Texas Hold 'Em and won a coveted seat...
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In 2004 the number of entrants — and the winning pool — at the World Series of Poker tripled, thanks in large part to Chris Moneymaker, an amateur player who came out of nowhere to win the 2003 Series, and prove to newcomers and poker pros alike that anything is possible with a chip and a chair.Moneymaker was a young accountant from Tennessee who loved to gamble but only took up cards after college. Three years later he was playing a $40 game of online Texas Hold 'Em and won a coveted seat at the 2003 World Series of Poker. Borrowing money to get to Las Vegas, he entered his first real-time tournament and spent the next four days battling for a top spot at the final table.Filled with everything from his early gambling ventures to a play-by-play of his major hands at the World Series of Poker, Moneymaker is a gripping, fast-paced story for anyone who has ever dreamed of winning it big. Publishers Weekly Moneymaker's improbable 2003 victory at the World Series of Poker (where he was an untested amateur player) has been seen on ESPN's WSOP series as many times as a Seinfeld rerun. Here, with veteran coauthor Paisner, Moneymaker (the publisher insists this is his real name) presents a blow-by-blow, hand-by-hand account of the experience. Unlike James McManus in Positively Fifth Street, Moneymaker eschews analyzing the psychology and milieu of the poker world in favor of his real interest: gambling. The result is a sophisticated deconstruction of the important hands Moneymaker played as the tournament progressed, many already famous among fans of the WSOP. For connoisseurs, this offers an entertaining and insightful insider analysis that will allow them to decide for themselves whether Moneymaker was fabulously lucky or played a skillful game and thus deserved his success. For the uninitiated, the excitement of Moneymaker's progression toward the big prize will be enough to thoroughly engage. Readers also get some surprisingly candid glimpses into a gambler's consciousness-one that reflects the myth of American exceptionalism, the idea that each of us is entitled to make and to break our own rules, and to make our own luck. Agent, Tim Staples. (On sale Mar. 15) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Day one : morning11Easy money9Day one : early afternoon252Not-so-easy money33Day one : late afternoon493Poker star55Day one : evening774Do tell83Day one : late night97Chip leaders : close of play, day one1055Day two107Chip leaders : close of play, day two1236Day three125Chip leaders : close of play, day three1457Day four147Chip leaders : close of play, day four - final table1798Day five181Chip leaders : tournament results2019The morning friggin' after205App. ACRIB sheet 1 : the relative values of poker hands227App. BCRIB sheet 2 : a short course on Texas hold 'em229App. CCRIB sheet 3 : the relative values of Texas hold 'em hands233App. DCRIB sheet 4 : the probability of key opening hands235App. ECRIB sheet 5 : a glossary of poker terms237
\ Publishers WeeklyMoneymaker's improbable 2003 victory at the World Series of Poker (where he was an untested amateur player) has been seen on ESPN's WSOP series as many times as a Seinfeld rerun. Here, with veteran coauthor Paisner, Moneymaker (the publisher insists this is his real name) presents a blow-by-blow, hand-by-hand account of the experience. Unlike James McManus in Positively Fifth Street, Moneymaker eschews analyzing the psychology and milieu of the poker world in favor of his real interest: gambling. The result is a sophisticated deconstruction of the important hands Moneymaker played as the tournament progressed, many already famous among fans of the WSOP. For connoisseurs, this offers an entertaining and insightful insider analysis that will allow them to decide for themselves whether Moneymaker was fabulously lucky or played a skillful game and thus deserved his success. For the uninitiated, the excitement of Moneymaker's progression toward the big prize will be enough to thoroughly engage. Readers also get some surprisingly candid glimpses into a gambler's consciousness-one that reflects the myth of American exceptionalism, the idea that each of us is entitled to make and to break our own rules, and to make our own luck. Agent, Tim Staples. (On sale Mar. 15) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsAn inexperienced Internet poker fish tangles with the best at Binion's World Series of Poker-and wins big. Our tyro on the hot seat is surnamed Moneymaker, so you might say it was in the cards. Though an amateur by Binion's standards, the author has been drinking and gambling since an early age. He nearly tanked at the University of Tennessee, where his eyes were mainly glued to multiple televisions as he followed his sports betting and amassed a tidy little bundle of debt. He then became involved in online betting and managed to secure himself a seat at Binion's. Moneymaker and coauthor Paisner can get lost in the detail of hands, which tends to throw water on the gathering fire. But their razor-quick prose does a good job of getting us inside Moneymaker's head to explain why he did what he did. Mind you, as this pleasingly feckless character is quick to admit, "there were so many holes and shifts in my tournament strategy that it's probably a stretch to even call it a strategy." It's great fun to watch Moneymaker mature, gathering his cool at the table where the game is Texas Hold 'Em, no fools are suffered, and "over time, the player with the most smarts and guile and intuition and experience, and the biggest balls, is always going to win." (The vernacular is shorthand for courage, as there are dozens of crack women playing.) He learns to read certain tics of the great players, though not enough to avoid some big, blunt hits that teach him about patience, perhaps a player's greatest asset. And he plays well enough to be graced with touches of luck just when they count most. "There is no justice in poker," says Moneymaker, and it's true. But bring some smarts, guile, intuition,experience-and luck-to the table, and it can be as much fun as this firsthand account.\ \
