Chris Moneymaker managed a unique accomplishment on the poker tournament circuit on April 23, 2025, taking down an event on a poker tour bearing his name.
Moneymaker has been one of the most well known figures on the scene for more than two decades now, thanks in large part to his win in the 2003 World Series of Poker main event.
The former accountant turned an $86 satellite seat into the championship gold bracelet and $2,500,000 in that tournament, resulting in the so-called ‘Moneymaker effect’ that inspired a massive influx of new players to the game during the poker boom of the early 2000s.
Moneymaker was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2019, and in 2023 the new poker tour bearing his name debuted. The Moneymaker Tour has since hosted numerous festivals around the United States and even in Aruba.
The latest stop is running from April 21-28 at MGM National Harbor in Maryland. Several winners have already been decided in preliminary events, with Moneymaker’s win in a $300 mixed Omaha event being the headline grabber so far.
The tournament drew 71 entries, resulting in a prize pool of $17,750. The top nine finishers made the money, with Moneymaker earning $5,195 as the champion thanks to a three-way deal. This was his first time coming out on top, but not the first time he has cashed in a Moneymaker Tour event. He has six other final-table finishes and four more cashes on top of that, with his deepest run before this being a pair of third-place showings.
The 49-year-old now has more than $8 million in lifetime earnings, with four of his top five scores having been earned in the past two years. This latest win fell just short of making his top 50 tournament scores.
Moneymaker Tour Executive Manager Tony Burns took to social media to congratulate the champion.
But how? Congrats
CMONEYMAKER</a> on winning your first <a href="https://twitter.com/MoneymakerTour?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">MoneymakerTour trophy! https://t.co/hqDvdyPPpa— Tony Burns (@MMTonyB) April 23, 2025
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | Chris Moneymaker | $5,195 |
| 2 | Jordan Diamond | $3,710 |
| 3 | Mariya Persanova | $2,863 |
| 4 | Scott Mcintosh | $1,531 |
| 5 | Stanwood Yang | $1,181 |
| 6 | Jeremy Schofer | $919 |
| 7 | Carl Buckland | $788 |
| 8 | Matthew Mullins | $700 |
| 9 | Gerald Storseth | $613 |
Photo credit: Moneymaker Tour.
