My good buddy BJ Nemeth is in town this week and we’re spending time doing what we love best – talking about poker. I know the classic American cultural question is “Where were you when JFK was shot?” But in the poker world, there was probably no more important moment as when Chris Moneymaker parlayed 40 bucks into aWSOP Cinderella dream.
People remarked on Moneymaker’s moniker – as he really was the “money maker” in 2003. But few realizedat that precise moment how powerful a money maker he would be for the industry as a whole.Poker was already clearly on a growth curve, but it kicked intooverdrive when Chris (picture from Tunica 2006)turned over5-4offsuit;showing a boat toSammy’spair of jacks.
I was already well on my way to being a poker junkie at that point. I hadplayed in my first “major” tournament. I had been to the 2002 WSOP, just to watch. And in 2003, I decided to attend the WSOP preliminary events in lieu of the championship, so that I could also attend the taping of theWPT Championship event at the Bellagio. The last event I attended in 2003 was Chris Ferguson’s WSOP bracelet winning performance in the Omaha hi/lo event. And I still marvel at the fact that I was probably one of onlya dozen people, sitting on the bleachersat Binions, to see WSOP history in the making.I also was lucky to score a seat next to Tiltboy Perry Friedman, where he shared his ideas about a new online poker site; later I would realize he was talking about the birth of FullTilt.
From Vegas, I went to the mountains of New Mexico towork on my dissertation in “near” total seclusion.But it was killing me that the 2003 Championship was going on without me. I called Lou Krieger every day for updates.And during the event, I initiatedmy sporadic and often spirited, email correspondencewith the late great poker journalist, Andy Glazer. Ever day, I calculated how long it would take me to drive to Vegas; each time concluding it would be a fool’s errand.
Minutes afterChris Moneymaker flipped over his final hand, I wasin Arroyo Secco, New Mexico,looking over the valleythat laybeneath Taos. With phone toear, I listenedto Lou Krieger tell me how the poker world was forever changed.
Where were you when Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP Championship?