Chris Moneymaker
Christopher Bryan Moneymaker (born November 21, 1975, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American poker player who won the main event at the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP).[1] His 2003 win is said to have revolutionized poker because he was the first person to become a world champion by qualifying at an online poker site.[2] This has been referred to in the press as the "Moneymaker Effect."[3]
Personal life
Moneymaker's ancestors made silver and gold coins and chose the name "Moneymaker" as a modification of their German last name: "Nurmacher."[4]
Moneymaker attended Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, and later earned a master's degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee.[2]
Moneymaker married his wife, Christina Wren, in Las Vegas in April, 2005.[5] He has a daughter, Ashley, born three months before he won the WSOP main event. They currently reside inNashville, Tennessee.[2]
Career
After receiving his master's degree, Moneymaker worked as a comptroller. He was also a part-time employee at a local restaurant.[2] After his WSOP win Moneymaker became a spokesman forPokerStars. He has also started his own company, Moneymaker Gaming.[2]
His autobiography, Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series of Poker was published in March 2005.
World Series of Poker
Moneymaker was working as an accountant when he won a seat into the main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker through a US$39 satellite tournament at the PokerStars online poker card room. Although largely unknown prior to the tournament, on day one of the tournament his skills caught the attention of professional sports handicapper Lou Diamond, who called Moneymaker his "dark horse to win the whole tournament."[6] Moneymaker went on to win the first prize of $2.5 million, instantly garnering poker superstar status. It was his first live poker tournament. One of Moneymaker's most memorable hands was heads-up against Sam Farha, when on the river he bluffed "all in" with King high. Farha folded a pair of nines, quickly changing the momentum of the match. Moneymaker eventually won the WSOP when his 5♦ 4♠ beat Farha's J♥ 10♦ on a board of J♠ 5♠ 4♣ 8♦ 5♥, giving Moneymaker a full house. After winning the WSOP, he quit his job to serve as a celebrity spokesman for Series owner Harrah's Entertainment as well as PokerStars. He also began traveling to play in more large buy-in tournaments.
Other poker tournaments
On the World Poker Tour Moneymaker finished second at the 2004 Shooting Stars event and won $200,000.[7]
During Event 5 of the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker which was a $10,300 buy-in of No Limit Hold'em, Moneymaker finished in sixth place, taking home over $139,000. He also did well in Event 16, the $215 Pot Limit Omaha with ReBuys, where he finished fifth, earning over $28,000.
Moneymaker finished in first place in the Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha event of the World Poker Open tournament in July 2009 and won $15,889.[8]
As of April 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,000,000,[1] the majority of which, $2,532,041, have come at the WSOP.[9]
Greg Raymer
Gregory Raymer (born June 25, 1964, in Minot, North Dakota),[1] nicknamed "Fossilman," is a professional poker player. He is best known for winning the 2004 World Series of Poker main event, and for the opaque holographicsunglasses that he sometimes wears while playing poker.[2]
Early life
Raymer's family moved numerous times during his childhood, from his birthplace to Clearwater, Florida, and then to St. Louis, Missouri.
After Raymer graduated from Parkway South High School in St. Louis, he enrolled at the University of Missouri–Rolla, where he majored in chemistry and became a member of the Kappa Sigmafraternity. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1992 then practiced law as a patent attorney for more than a decade and worked for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Raymer is nicknamed "Fossilman" because of his hobby of collecting fossils. He uses a small fossil as a card protector while he plays poker. Early in his poker career he would supplement his bankroll by selling fossils to other players at his table.[2]
Poker
Raymer first finished in the money of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event during 2001 in the $1,500 Omaha hi-lo split 8 or better event won by Chris Ferguson. At the 2004 World Series, Raymer defeated David Williams to win the $5,000,000 first prize in the $10,000 no limit Texas hold 'em WSOP main event.[3]
The following year, as defending champion, Raymer finished 25th (out of 5,619 entrants) in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, earning him $304,680. Arguably, this two-year accomplishment ranks as one of most impressive performances in the main event in recent history, along with Dan Harrington. Both players posted deep-runs in consecutive years (Harrington finished 3rd and 4th in 2003/2004), and both looked to repeat as world champion within a ten-year span (Harrington won the Main Event in 1995).[4]
In 2005 Raymer also entered the inaugural British Poker Open which was filmed in London and was the UK's biggest live poker event in history. As a firm favourite Raymer made the final table to come third in a live final and collect around £20,000.
On September 17th, 2007, Raymer won his first World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) bracelet by winning Event #6 of the 2007 WCOOP, a $320 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys event. The victory netted Raymer $168,362.[5]
At the 2009 WSOP $40k No Limit hold 'em event, Raymer placed third out of 201 entrants and won $774,927.[6]
As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,850,000.[7] Most of his winnings ($6,487,512) have come from his places in the money at WSOP tournament events.[8]
Other activities
Raymer has lobbied extensively to have poker regulated and classified as a game of skill, after the passage of the UIGEA in 2006.[9]
In a December 2006 interview Raymer said that he was considering running for Vice-President of the United States in 2008 as a candidate of the Libertarian Party.[10] However, Raymer did not end up running.
On December 20, 2004, two men attempted to rob Raymer at gunpoint as he returned to his Bellagio hotel room after playing in a cash game. Raymer held them off until police arrived and was unharmed.[11]
Marcel Luske
Marcel Lüske (born 23 March 1953) is a professional poker player from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Luske's trademark is wearing upside-down sunglasses, singing, and wearing suits during poker tournaments and games.
Poker career
Lüske learned poker in market cafés. He officially quit his job as a salesman on 1 January 2003 to concentrate on poker.
Lüske made two appearances on the television show Late Night Poker (episodes 4.6 and 6.2) but did not fare well in either event, won by Barny Boatman and John Duthie respectively.
Lüske finished in 14th place in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and 10th place in the 2004 WSOP Main Event. In the latter tournament, Lüske won $373,000 and finished just one spot away from making the final table. These achievements in the 2003 and 2004 WSOP Main Events rank second behind only Dan Harrington's back-to-back final tables those years (and it was Harrington who eliminated Lüske one spot short of the final table in 2004). He has numerous money finishes at the WSOP, including a 2nd place finish to Joe Awada in the 2004 $5,000 Seven-card stud tournament, for which he earned $120,800.
Lüske has won the European Poker Awards Player of the Year twice, in 2001 and 2004.
In March 2005, Lüske correctly predicted Rob Hollink would win the European Poker Tour grand final. The following year Lüske himself made the EPT championship grand final, finishing 7th.
In July 2005, he won the €10,000 Hall of Fame Poker Classic in Paris, France, where he took home €119,000.
Lüske was the first person to be eliminated in the World Series of Poker Europe, during the inaugural ₤2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, in September 2007.
As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,700,000.[1] His 20 cashes as the WSOP account for $1,173,396 of those winnings.[2]
Mentoring
Lüske mentored David Williams (runner-up of the 2004 World Series of Poker) in poker. He is also the mentor of Russian poker professional Kirill Gerasimov, the runner-up of the World Poker Tourseason 1 championship. (Lüske finished in 14th place in the same tournament, earning $26,664.)
Lüske formed the Circle of Outlaws group, which promotes young poker players.
In the beginning of 2007, Lüske started a TV show called Veronica Poker together with Noah Boeken, in which they taught Dutch celebrities to play poker. Eventually the celebrities had to go up against each other and the winner was invited to a major tournament in Las Vegas. He also appeared in the show Poker Kings NL in which Boeken and Lüske attended tournaments while followed by a camera. Later he appeared in the show Celebrity Poker on Tien television channel.
Oklahoma Johnny Hale
By launchpoker, Sep 4, 2007
Look up Pittsburg, Oklahoma on any map and you will need to look close. That tiny dot on the map which is south of Tulsa is the birthplace of Oklahoma Johnny Hale. Here is a man who has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma University and who considers himself everything from a rags to riches businessman, to senior citizen spokesperson, to a poker author. He may be among the older gents known in poker circles - but he has a lot of history within the sport and plenty to tell about poker. Hale is not shy about self-marketing his "brand," his merit, and his place in poker history.
Hale's association with Benny Binion set the initial foundation of the World Series of Poker. Now he calls his family the "first family of poker" and keeps himself busy on the poker circuit.
He's an avid poker writer and wrote an autobiography in 1999 to share his worldly poker exploits called, "The Life and Times of a Gentleman Gambler." Shortly after the book was published he made the rounds in Las Vegas poker rooms with bags loaded full of his books - to sell to patrons.
The wide light ten-gallon hat and quick handshake are among the "gentleman" trademarks that Hale is known for. Hale spends a great deal of time hosting poker activities and tournaments for senior citizens. He is the proud founder of the Senior World Championship of Poker.
At age 78, Hale continues to write and submit poker articles to various poker media outlets. He also launched a website, http://www.oklahomajohnnyhale.com/ to share his poker pursuits with the outside world. Age is certainly not a factor and Hale is embracing the technology - even planning a chat site soon for poker enthusiasts to visit with him in real-time. He calls himself the luckiest person he knows but chances are this savvy senior's rewarding poker-filled life has been the result of the honest pursuit of a sport he simply adores.
Source: www.wikipedia.com www.http://www.launchpoker.com
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