Moneymaker Poker

1. Moneymaker Poker Tour
2. Moneymaker Poker Tournament Win
3. Moneymaker Poker

Chris Moneymaker and PokerStars parted ways at the end of 2020, ending a 17-year relationship between the 2003 World Series of Poker main event champion and one of the world’s largest poker sites. The games you want. PokerStars is home to the most exciting poker games. No Limit Hold'em. Hold'em tournaments.

All Good Things…

It is often said that all good things must come to an end. This is true in many aspects of life, perhaps no more so than in the world of poker. After a 17-year relationship, the 2003 World Series of Poker World Champion Chris Moneymaker and his longtime sponsor, the #1 online poker site in the world PokerStars, have decided to call an end to their relationship and part ways.

In two separate announcements, both Moneymaker and PokerStars let the poker community know that it was an amicable parting. For his part, Moneymaker admitted that, after a 17-year grind on the tournament circuit, it was time for him to cut back on the schedule. Over the span of a minute video on his Twitter feed, he told his fans and followers of the news.

PokerStars was equally complimentary of the time spent between the former World Champion and the online site where he made his name, Tweeting, “After 17 years as a PokerStars Ambassador, today we say farewell to Chris Moneymaker. Thank you for everything you’ve done for PokerStars, the game of poker and the industry. Without you, who knows where we would all be today, we can’t thank you enough. Farewell, but not goodbye.”

The Times They Are a Changin’

In a simple year, PokerStars has whittled its stable of players down to a dozen or so foreign players that have name recognition outside of the States of America. The three former World Champions that used to make up their roster – 2003 victor Moneymaker, 2004 World Champion Greg Raymer and 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem – are now no longer members of Team PokerStars. Along with these men’s departures, such players as Daniel Negreanu also left in the past year. Those departures were all preceded by players such as Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Liv Boeree, Igor Kurganov and Barry Greenstein taking the Red Spade off their attire.

PokerStars’ new direction seems to be oriented towards the “rest of the world” rather than a focus on the Americas. They recently signed soccer professional Neymar to an ambassadorial relationship. It also seems the new signings have been more focused on promoting the online game in other areas of the world, where growth is possible, rather than in areas which have been saturated by the PokerStars brand since their inception in 2001.

But What A Trip It’s Been!

To say that the relationship between PokerStars and Moneymaker has been mutually beneficial would be a huge understatement. As the legendary story goes, Moneymaker was able to satellite into the 2003 WSOP Championship Event, despite never playing in a live tournament previously. In fact, Moneymaker has admitted that he would have rather taken the cash for coming up short in the tournament rather than the $10,000 seat, the accommodations, and the travel expenses that PokerStars gave its satellite winners.

As we all know, the Cinderella story saw Moneymaker ride an unbelievable amount of skill and luck to eventually defeat the veteran professional Sammy Farha heads up to take the title. There has been many “what ifs” regarding the poker world if Farha had won instead of Moneymaker and…well, let’s just say it wasn’t as good as Cinderella finding the prince at the ball.

Over the past 17 years, Moneymaker has not been an extremely successful professional. He has barely made $1.4 million in the 17 years since that $2.5 million victory at Binion’s. But Moneymaker has been the “face” of PokerStars since that unlikely day in May 2003, and he has ridden it to a lengthy career and an induction into the Poker Hall of Fame, not because of his playing prowess but for being the impetus that began the poker explosion of the Aughts.

Where will Moneymaker go now? Perhaps he is honest when he says he wants to get off the road and spend more time with his family. Perhaps he is going to wait for the phone to ring from a more-U. S. centric site (WSOP.com, anyone?) or maybe one that focuses more on the Americas (GGPoker comes to mind). He could also just occasionally pop his head out for the WSOP each year and bask in the glow of his Champion Emeritus status. Whichever way he goes, Chris Moneymaker will probably be a success.

Table Of Contents

The Platinum Pass giveaway for the 2020 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship has begun as the online poker giant builds upon last year's success in providing hundreds of players the poker opportunity of a lifetime.

The 2020 Platinum Passes include entry to the €22,500 buy-in PSPC taking place in Barcelona next August along with money for travel, accommodations and spending, bringing the face value to more than $30,000. In addition, pass winners have the opportunity to turn their entry into millions, just as Ramon Colillas did when he won the 2019 PSPC for $5.1 million.

Platinum Pass Giveaway Underway

Like last year, players will have a multitude of avenues through which to try to get their hands on a coveted Platinum Pass, including paths online and live.

One popular path to the PSPC last year was the Moneymaker Tour, headlined by a man who embodies the dream of turning a small buy-in satellite win into life-changing money, Chris Moneymaker himself. In fall of 2018, Moneymaker embarked on a tour through North America and Canada, stopping at various venues to help host events that included Platinum Passes added to prize pools.

Like the path Moneymaker took in 2003, the buy-ins were on the small side, affordable. And like Moneymaker in 2003, the pass winners held in their hands an opportunity of a lifetime.

Moneymaker: “The Moneymaker Road to PSPC gives players the opportunity to win big and have a great time without traveling too far from home.”

PokerStars had already hinted that the Moneymaker Tour would be returning in the lead-up to the second PSPC, and on Friday, they dropped more details. Among the eight stops listed thus far, the tour is promised to span the globe: from Russia to Reno to U.K. to Dublin, with both coasts of the U.S. accounted for with stops in California and Florida.

The Moneymaker PSPC Tour will kick off next month at the popular Sochi Casino in Russia. The tournament will run Oct. 11-13 and sports a RUB10,500 (~$166) buy-in. From there, it heads to Reno for Somerville's semi-annual Run It Up Reno festival, then to a few stops in the U.K., on over to Ireland, and back stateside with stops at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood and Stones Gambling Hall in the greater Sacramento, California area. More stops are sure to be announced in the coming months, so check here for updates to the Moneymaker Tour schedule.

“The Moneymaker Road to PSPC gives players the opportunity to win big and have a great time without traveling too far from home,” said Moneymaker. “There are not enough words to explain how much fun was had on last year’s Tour, I can’t wait to get back out there. Playing poker and hanging out with people who love the game is memorable enough, then add in the Platinum Pass and opportunity to potentially change someone’s life… it’s going to be awesome!”

Last year, three lucky Moneymaker Tour Platinum Pass winners made it to Day 3 of the PSPC, all cashing for five-figures after qualifying through $86 buy-in events. Stones Gambling Hall qualifier Cliff Ellefson won $39,500 for finishing in 97th place while New Jersey pro Anthony Maio and L.A. qualifier Ori Kossonogi each collected $35,000 for finishing in 130th and 139th places, respectively. Time will tell if the next batch of Moneymaker Tour qualifiers can best the results of their predecessors.

Moneymaker PSPC Tour Schedule

_{Schedule is subject to change.}

The following is a list of upcoming chances to win a Platinum Pass, provided by PokerStars.

• Road to PSPC Namur
• PSPC Mega path winners every Sunday
• Streamer Showdown
• Dare to Dream Sign Up Offer: Any new sign-up on FRES from Sept. 1 will get a freeroll ticket upon specific requirement depending on each license. No deposit required.
• IPO, Nova Gorica
• Moneymaker's Road to PSPC (beginning with Sochi)
• Platinum Pass Experience Aix en Provence
• Road to PSPC Aix en Provence
• Road to PSPC Divonne-les-bains
• CEP Marbella
• CEP Peralada
• University Championship Paris

Moneymaker Poker Tour

For more on these opportunities, check out the PokerStars Blog page dedicated to upcoming Platinum Pass opportunities.

Moneymaker Poker Tournament Win

_{The Stars Group owns a majority shareholding in iBus Media.}

Moneymaker Poker

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