Chris Moneymaker helped launch the poker boom in 2003 when he won the World Series of Poker Main Event, but even though he is a Poker Hall of Famer and one of the greatest ambassadors the game has ever had, he has not won anything of note since. On Monday, though, he hoisted the trophy of the $25,000 GGMillion$ Live event at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro for $903,000, one of the biggest cashes of his career.
His total live tournament earnings are now over $7.1 million, mostly from three tournaments: this Triton victory, the WSOP Main Event ($2 million), and a fifth place finish in the 2023 $250,000 Luxon Invitational at the Triton Super High Roller Series London ($2.03 million).
Moneymaker almost didn’t make it to the final table, getting it all-in on the bubble with a short stack, but he nailed an Ace on the river to keep going. To him, it was a sign that he was going to go all the way.
“I hit a three-outer, a six outer. I thought to myself, ‘You know what, this is going to be 2003. I’m not going to lose any more hands today,’” he said in the post-game interview.
“I wasn’t going to lose today,” Moneymaker added. “I could have put it in with any hand and I would have won. I ran pure.”
Despite sitting on a short stack for quite a while, Moneymaker made a huge run and entered the nine-handed final table as a comfortable chip leader, however much one can be comfortable in a high roller tournament filled with great players. He had 11.300 million chips, while his closest competitor, Biao Ding, had 6.125 million.
When it finally got down to heads-up, Moneymaker had a 10 million-chip lead on Brian Kim, 25.700 million to 15.050 million. It only took three hands for Moneymaker to seal the deal.
On the third hand, Moneymaker raised with A-T suited and Kim moved all-in with A-8. Moneymaker made the call and a Ten on the flop essentially clinched it for him. Kim couldn’t find anything to help him on the turn and river and that was it. Chris Moneymaker is the second WSOP Main Event champ after Espen Jorstad to win a Triton Super High Roller title.
Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro $25,000 GG Million$ Live Event – Final Table Results
- Chris Moneymaker – $903,000
- Brian Kim – $609,000
- Igor Yaroshevskyy – $419,000
- Ding Biao – $341,000
- Danilo Velasevic – $272,000
- Adrian Mateos – $209,500
- Lewis Spencer – $153,000
- Morten Klein – $110,500
- Isaac Haxton – $91,300