In 2003, a little-known Tennessee accountant named Chris Moneymaker took down the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Moneymaker is the reason you and I are here today and this week marks the seven-year anniversary of his win. Moneymaker joined Tuesday’s installment of the ESPN.com poker news show “Inside Deal.”
The annual WSOP used to wrap up in May. Such was the case in 2003, when Moneymaker outlasted industry titan Sammy Farha in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament after winning his seat online. On his anniversary, Moneymaker told “Inside Deal” hosts Laura Lane and Bernard Lee, “I had no idea that today’s the day. Poker has changed so much in the last seven years. It’s been a great ride to see the differences between then and now. I can’t wait to see the next seven years.”
Spoiling the nostalgia is mandatory compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) on June 1st. What the lay of the land will be come next Tuesday remains to be seen, but Lee prognosticated, “There’s really going to be no change. The ability to play online is going to be the exact same. However, the biggest change, which is really the heart of the UIGEA, is that the banks are going to be responsible for preventing any financial transactions to any online gaming site.” The definition of “unlawful internet gambling” was never spelled out in the law.
Recently, the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) ended with Ryan “toetagu” Fair taking home the high-stakes Main Event to the tune of $1.1 million. Fair joined ESPN “Inside Deal” via phone and told listeners, “The structure is really good and this year I haven’t played as many events as I normally do because I had an elbow injury, but it’s just a good tournament [series]. The buy-ins are a lot bigger than they normally are.” Fair and the rest of the industry will now descend upon Las Vegas for the WSOP.
Since Moneymaker’s victory, entries into the WSOP Main Event have gone up over 600% and entries into WSOP tournaments have increased 700%. What could cause those numbers to rise even further? Moneymaker opined, “A woman winning the Main Event would do phenomenal things for the game. It would bring another boom and definitely spark a lot more interest.” Following Moneymaker’s comments, Joe Hachem, Tony G, Jason Mercier, Gavin Griffin, and Vanessa Rousso shared their WSOP plans.
Despite being an icon of the poker industry, Moneymaker is only slated to play in one tournament during the 2010 WSOP. He explained, “Right now, I’m just playing in the Main Event. I’m talking with my wife and we’re trying to figure out if I can go out the first week. I’d like to play in the $50,000 [Player’s Championship]. My big goal right now is just to play in the WSOP and from there we’ll see if we can win it.” Moneymaker has two kids at home and just found out that a third is on the way.
ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman traveled to Los Angeles to meet with new WSOP bracelet designer Steve Soffa. With Corum no longer, Soffa explained how his hardware differs: “We’ve been working diligently for three months, night and day, on this project. I’m going to bring something a lot different than anyone’s seen around the world.” Each player will have his or her name engraved into the bracelet upon winning it.
Poker powerhouse Christina Lindley then joined the show. Lindley has racked up $380,000 in online poker earnings over the last six months and told Feldman what makes the game appealing: “I love the challenge. It’s one of the most difficult things I’ve done in my life. You always have to learn and you always have to change. It’s something I’ve been passionate about ever since I found it.”
“Inside Deal” can be seen exclusively on ESPN.com. Starting on June 7th, the show will be rolled out weekly.