From accountant to World Champion: ACR Poker’s tribute to Moneymaker

Garance Limouzy August 1, 2024

To celebrate the legacy of poker legend Chris Moneymaker, ACR Poker has rebranded one of its weekly tournaments. Previously known as the Warmup, the event will now be called the “Sunday Moneymaker,” honouring the World Champion’s impact on poker.

Turning 86 dollars into 2.5 million

Chris Moneymaker, born in Atlanta, USA, was a 27-year-old accountant when he turned $86 into a poker fortune. In 2003, sitting in front of his home computer, he entered an online poker tournament and outlasted 18 other players to qualify for the WSOP Main Event, one of the largest and most prestigious poker tournaments in the world. To everyone’s surprise, Moneymaker did what no other online player had achieved before: he won.

“If I can win, anybody can”

The story of a 27-year-old accountant who learned poker online and turned $86 into $2.5 million was simply too good to miss. The televised tournament, which showcased the amateur player becoming the World Champion, sparked the “Moneymaker Effect” and fuelled the poker craze of the 2000s. During the boom years, between 2003 and 2006, the number of poker players doubled in size every year.

“I was a little underestimated because no one knew who I was,” Moneymaker said after his victory. “If I can win it, anybody can.”

ACR Poker

By renaming the Warmup to the Sunday Moneymaker, ACR Poker is paying a tribute to Moneymaker’s unexpected legacy. The Sunday Moneymaker will take place every Sunday at 1:05 PM ET. With a $109 buy-in, the tournament offers a notable prize pool guarantee: $300,000 each week, escalating to $500,000 on the final Sunday of every month.