Online Qualifier Turns $25 into $440,000 at PartyPoker Million III

The recently completed PartyPoker Million III set all kinds of records. It had the biggest prize pool in World Poker Tour history, as well as the largest-ever limit hold'em prize pool. While those statistics speak for themselves, they cannot compare to the life-changing experience of one online player.

Chris Hinchcliffe, a construction worker from Olympia, Washington, had been a longtime home-game player, occasionally venturing into cardrooms. A friend told him he thought his skills would work well online, and shortly before online qualifying for the PartyPoker Million III closed, Hinchcliffe opened an account and entered one of the $25 qualifying tournaments. On his first and only try, he zipped directly through the qualifying rounds to win a $9,000 package: a cruise for two on the MS Ryndam, and free entry into a tournament with a $7,500 buy-in.

Hinchcliffe, wearing a hat that was signed by dozens of his poker idols, reached the televised final table, and despite his relative lack of experience, he came in third, winning $441,463. Most poker players are upset at the moment they bust out of a tournament, no matter what they win, but Hinchcliffe smiled broadly and said, "Do you know what I can do with $440,000?" Later, he said it was "life-changing money," and not only would he immediately repay the $10,000 he had borrowed from his mother, he was going to buy her a new car.

Online qualifying for the PartyPoker.com Million IV has already begun. You can find those events, as well as a wide range of other one-table and multitable tournaments and cash games, at the recently revised, easy access PartyPoker.com lobby screen.

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