Is Chris Moneymaker Broke?

Has Chris Moneymaker gone broke?

Since his WSOP Main Event win in 2003, Chris Moneymaker has been rumored to have gone broke on more than one occasion. Going broke in the poker industry is something that happens on a daily basis. Even the best of players have gone broke at least once (possibly not Tom Dwan though!).

Chris Moneymaker picked up $2.5 million for his WSOP Main Event win in 2006 which started from a $39 satellite ticket which paid for his full $10,000 entry fee.

Moneymaker isn’t a typical poker pro. He kept quite a low profile in the years after his win. He didn’t appear in high stakes cash games, but instead played in tournaments. In saying that, he generally limited himself to 10 or so tournaments per year.

He wasn’t exposed to the gambling lifestyle that most poker pros found themselves in.

As he didn’t even pay $40 to win $2.5 million, his minimal investment says that he was not stakes. Many players are staked in major tournaments when they cannot afford the buy-in. Moneymaker did not.

As further proof he has not gone broke at any stage since his main event win, he has collected more than $1 million in tournament winnings since then.

Some of his notable cashes include:

2nd for $200,000 in the $5,200 WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship (Bay 101 Shooting Stars)
11th for $130,000 in the $10,300 No Limit Hold’em Main Event (PokerStars Caribbean Adventure)
2nd for $300,000 in the $25,000 NBC Head-up Championship

As recently as March 2014, Moneymaker won a $1,800 No Limit Hold’em event at the 2014 Hollywood Poker Open. He picked up a little more than $36,000 to help pad his career winnings of over $3.5 million.

Moneymaker is also a ‘Team PokerStars Pro’, which means plenty of financial benefits come his way on a regular basis.

Despite all rumors surrounding his financial situation, Chris Moneymaker is not broke.