Poker news

Chris went from nothing to $2,5 million

In the beginning of 2003, Chris Moneymaker worked as an accountant in a 9 to 5 office job and had poker as a hobby. A few months later he became one of the world’s most famous poker players. Here is the story about Chris Moneymaker.

In the spring of 2003 Chris decided to play a $39 satellite for fun. Chris won the tournament and got a seat in the final satellite, where the first prize was a seat in the World Series of Poker main event. After a long tournament, Chris surprised and won the satellite. But it seemed like surprises were not stopping there… After the first day of the main event at WSOP (his first visit at a casino ever!), Chris was one of the players with most chips; his success continued. Chris kept winning big hands and after several days of playing, Moneymaker (yes, that is his real last name), who had qualified through a $39 satellite, played heads up against one of the world’s best poker players: Sammy Farha, in the World Series of Poker. After a long heads up match, Chris went all-in on a 4 5 J flop with 45. Farha called, and when Chris got a full house on the river the tournament was over. Chris Moneymaker was not only a proud gold bracelet winner but also a millionaire. He had proved that anyone can win in poker.

Editor's Pick: WSOP - 38 years of history

After Chris Moneymaker’s victory in World Series of Poker Texas Hold’Em main event, the poker world exploded. Suddenly, all the amateur poker players had a person to look up to - a player who had the same dream as they had, and fulfilled it. This resulted in a massive expansion of the registration for World Series of Poker main event.

The year 2003, when Moneymaker won, made 839 players participate in the main event. One year later, the amount of players increased to 2575. Compare that with World Series of Poker 1970. At that time only 7 players participated and the legend Johnny Moss became world champion after a voting (!) among the participants. One year later Johnny Moss won again. This time 30 players took part in the tournament and Moss got $30 000 for his victory.

Since that time, World Series of Poker has created tons of world champions. The player who has won the most Bracelets (World Series of Poker wins) is Phil Hellmuth. His first victory took place in the main event 1989 and the last in a $1,500 NL Hold`em event 2007. In June this year it’s time for World Series of Poker again and satellites that can bring you to the main event can be played at PokerLoco! It remains to see who will be the champion this year…

Poker Tips Take advantage of Sit-n-Go's

Know Poker Rules Inside and Out.

This is the first tip of a series to make a killing playing Sit-n-Go’s. You must master the rules: what hand beats what, when to call, fold, bet, raise, etc, The only way to know this is to practice and learn poker in every aspect. Free online Texas Hold’em poker or poker freerolls won’t do the trick, you must play real money Sit-N-Go’s. If your starting out, truly the best way to learn how to play poker is through Sit-N-Go’s, you can find them for real money as little as $1.00 a game.