Poker Winner Blog

Phil Hellmuth, Jr.

The self-described “poker brat” is one of poker’s most intriguing, yet controversial players. At times, he demonstrates a level of ingenuity that is rare, even among high-stakes poker players. On other occasions, Hellmuth admittedly plays so poorly he probably couldn’t beat a small-stakes game. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Heilmuth is the son of a university dean. He started playing poker seriously while enrolled at the University of Wisconsin and soon discovered he was far more interested in playing poker than studying.

At age 24, Hellmuth played in his first World Series of Poker. He shocked the poker world by upsetting two-time defending champion Johnny Chan and became the youngest winner in the history of Binion’s annual classic. Hellmuth is famous for terrorizing the poker circuit with devastating hot streaks. In 1991, he finished in the top five in all Hall of Fame events at the Horseshoe. Two years later, he won an unprecedented three World Series of Poker events, in the same year! He also won the Hall of Fame championship in 1995.

Incredibly, all of Hellmuth’s big wins have been in Texas Hold’em events, although he normally plays all games. Today, Hellmuth lives in the San Francisco Bay area. He continues to play high-stakes poker and can be seen at most major tournaments.

Scatty Nguyen

The tale of Thuan “Scotty” Nguyen is truly a rags to riches story. Nguyen (pronounced “win”) fled South Vietnam in 1979 on a small boat that was stranded in the South Pacific. He was picked up with his family by a U.S. naval vessel and brought to the United States. Nguyen arrived virtually penniless and eventually settled down in Chicago.

At age 21, Nguyen moved to Las Vegas and began working as a poker dealer. In his spare time, Nguyen started playing for low stakes and entered small, daily tournaments that were common in Las Vegas (and remain so). Over the next decade, Nguyen’s skills gradually improved and he quit dealing to play poker full-time. Nguyen’s first big break came when he won the Omaha

Low Split event at the 1997 World Series of Poker. He returned the following year at age 35, and won poker’s world championship, defeating a then-record 350 opponents.

Chris Moneymaker

Chris Moneymaker — yes that’s his real name — turned the poker world upside down and on its ear by winning the 2003 World Series of Poker. Poker had a different look in 2003, and “Money” as his friends know Chris, is emblematic of it all.

2003 was the year Internet poker took hold, and many of the crowds that swelled the fields for the World Series of Poker events won their way in by playing online. That’s how Moneymaker did it. He entered a $40 buy-in satellite event on pokerstars .com, a leading online poker site, won his event, and with it an entry into poker’s big kahuna. Moneymaker’s win isn’t only symbolic of Internet poker’s coming of age, but also it means that anyone can become a top-notch poker player in the comfort of his or her own living room.

Moneymaker can play poker with the best of them. His victory in a grueling event lasting five days proved that. But he’s no grizzled Vegas pro; in fact the World Series of Poker marked the first poker tournament he ever played in a brick-and-mortar casino.

As past champions, big-money pros, and other players were eliminated over the tournament’s five-day run, two players were finally left standing: Moneymaker and Sammy Farha of Houston. With his friends cheering “Go Money,” he won the event with a full house consisting of three fives and two fours. Farha had a jack and a 10, ending up with a pair of jacks.

Moneymaker’s win helps revolutionize poker and boost the game’s popularity. “I got lucky along the way. I bluffed a lot during the tournament, but somehow I got away with it,” said Moneymaker, who only began playing poker three years ago.

Back in the real world, far from Las Vegas’s glitz and glamour, Moneymaker is an unassuming 27-year-old accountant from Tennessee who was working two jobs to support his wife and three-month old daughter when he won poker’s premier event and a first prize of $2.5 million. When he burst in from the complete anonymity of Internet play to win poker’s most prestigious event, he really tore down the walls. For his efforts, he no longer has to work two jobs, and his young daughter now has her college tuition paid for — and, oh yes, he’s no longer anonymous.

Moneymaker, who donated $25,000 of his winnings to cancer research, said, “I was a little underestimated because no one knew who I was. If I can win it, anybody can.”

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