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Chris Moneymaker surely never figured he’d be a household name, the idol of millions, and the subject of a biography subtitled How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series of Poker, but that’s exactly the former accountant’s profile today.
Moneymaker is, of course, the now-legendary online player who went pro and kept slamming metaphorical homers until he won the MVP in essentially his rookie year with a massive World Series of Poker win in 2003; this miracle victory is said to have triggered the international poker – and specifically online poker – boom in the 21st century.
And why not? After all, Moneymaker is hardly the sole example of the online player who found fortune and fame in real-world tournaments. Examples are abound as tens of millions log on to compete for a dream win. Below run a few characters of the online world – people just like you and me, except perhaps that they’re poker geniuses – to inspire your dreams of glory. Remember, though: Beyond the skills, the key ingredient here is investment of time and hard work. Put some mental elbow grease into it and someday you could be in a list alongside the likes of...
• Annette Obrestad, a.k.a. Annette_15, is the very poster girl for online play. As legend would have it, the young Finn has now earned over $1 million from an original ante of exactly ... zero. Starting with free tournaments, Annette has worked her way onto European Poker Tour tables at which the average age of neighboring players is double hers. Obrestad’s career highlights are already numerous, but here’s a handful: At least $836,000 taken in online play between September 2006 and February 2007; the legendary 180-player online tournament win of July 2007 during which she looked at her cards just once over the course of play; taking the first-ever World Series of Poker Europe Main Event in September 2007 (worth just over $2 million) at just under 19 years of age; a win in the $20,000 Stars Sunday Hundred Grand online tournament of 20,000 players; and, most recently, a $35,000 win in a Betfair online tournament in June.
• Chad Batista, a.k.a. M8kingmoves, remains one of the most dominant and ubiquitous players online today. In 2007, he was named statistical online champion by OnlinePokerPro.com by a nearly 25 percent margin after taking, among many others that year, two $1 million online guaranteed tournaments. Batista, just 25, is no slouch at the real-life tables either: In 2006, he took the state-level WSOP Circuit No Limit Hold ‘em Championship in Indiana for $262,000 to get free entry into the World Series final, and was last seen on “World Poker Tour Season 7” taking over $122,000 in a no limit hold ‘em event in July.
• Another young star, Alec Torelli, a.k.a. Traheho, is an internet pro who started at the age of 16 and is reportedly completely self-taught. At 18, Torelli took his internet act live, going first to casino play in the Bahamas and on European Poker Tour stops throughout the Continent. Now 21 and able to include Mike Matusow among his close friends, Torelli still competes constantly in both realms when not competing in triathlons or contributing to his excellent and thoughtful blog at AlecTorelli.net. Torelli’s biggest cash win online in 2008 was the $14,343 he bagged for a fourth-place finish in a no limit hold ‘em tournament at PokerStars.com.
• Jim Worth, a.k.a. KrazyKanuck, has seemingly been around online forever and is often known as the first online poker celebrity. Ironically, Worth first broke into what would soon become the mainstream at the World Series of Poker in 2003 – the same year Moneymaker took it all. Getting into the final 50 for a seat in the Main Event of the ‘Series, Worth was actually forecast by his peers as second-favorite behind Bruce Van Horn to take the tourney that year; in fact, Moneymaker reportedly introduced himself to Worth at the players’ dinner held before the tourney, proclaiming himself to be a big fan of Worth’s. Since 2002, Worth has banked over $725,000 in real-life tournament winnings alone.
• Talk about your natural talent: Scott Freeman, a.k.a. SCTrojans, suddenly began crushing online competition in early 2007 with a surprising velocity most often described as “from out of nowhere.” By March 2007, Freeman’s wins were high-profile enough to start earning him points toward a possible Online Player of the Year award; however, the player claims he “didn’t start taking online poker seriously” until May of that year. Almost immediately he turned his online success into real-life success with a 19th place in the 2007 World Series of Poker, good for $333,000; his biggest win online also came in 2007, when he snagged a first-place finish in a Full Tilt tourney for $67,000.
• You. Well, that’s the dream, isn’t it?