“It was destiny.”
When you hear Poker Hall of Famer Chris Moneymaker talk about destiny you’d be well to assume he’s talking about his 2003 victory in the World Series of Poker Main Event that sparked the poker industry “boom” that resonates to this day.
But this time, you’d be wrong. Moneymaker was talking about his win in the $25K No Limit Hold’em opening event of Triton Poker Series Montenegro for $903,000 – the third-largest score of his 21-year career.
This latest win is another major milestone for Moneymaker, who has found himself cashing in on big-money situations over the past nine months. In August 2023, at his first foray into a Triton event, Moneymaker took 5th place in the $250K Luxon Invitational for just over $2 million, and then earlier this month, he finished in sixth place in ACR Poker’s Venom for a $382K payday.
“Of course, it feels good,” Moneymaker said right after the win. “It’s been a whirlwind of a couple of months and obviously getting this win…I wasn’t going to lose today.”
After besting the field of 163 entries, Moneymaker officially soars to more than $7 million in lifetime career live earnings according to The Hendon Mob. Moneymaker talked about battling back from one big blind on the bubble and once he started the climb to the chip lead, there was no looking back.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘You know what…this is going to be like 2003. I’m not going to lose any more hands today.’”
Moneymaker topped a final table that included the likes of Isaac Haxton (9th, $91,300), Adrian Mateos (6th, $209,500) and runner-up Brian Kim ($609,000) – a table filled with players that were likely inspired – directly or indirectly – by his WSOP run more than two decades ago. Just before being presented with his first Triton trophy Moneymaker talked about how, even after all this time, he still has a passion for poker.
“I love the game, the competition,” Moneymaker said. “It’s just trying to compete and seeing if I can play with these guys. I love the game. I want to grow the game. I don’t really come out and play a whole lot of high rollers but when I do I do enjoy it.”