The game of poker changed early this century because an appropriately named accountant from Tennessee won a satellite and a seat for the World Series of Poker Main Event for less than $100. In a tale, that screen writers would have trouble selling to a studio because it’s almost too unbelievable, Chris Moneymaker as a rank underdog, battled the best players in the world and won the World Series. A poker boom was spawned and a niche game became a billion dollar industry.
Nowadays, most players that sit down at WPT event or a World Series tournament qualify in the exact same fashion. World Poker Tour Qualifiers are everywhere online and they all offer that same tantalizing element of possibility where one can literally turn a tiny investment into millions of dollars. Chris Moneymaker was true to his name as he showed how to make money from almost nothing. He bluffed an experienced pro in heads up action. He got a man, known for being willing to gamble, to take the safe route and fold and from that critical hand was able to win it all.
Now everybody that plays in World Poker Tour qualifiers have the same chance to win a seat in a $10,000 buy-in event and do the same. While Moneymaker’s story at the time was one in a million, World Poker Tour qualifiers now easily duplicate the feat. It is now common for World Poker Tour qualifiers to win WPT Main Events. There may be no better, faster route to fame and stardom then taking chances in World Poker Tour qualifiers and then surviving a two hundred person field to win a large prize purse.
As the poker boom has taken hold on the country there have been many comparisons to the Gold Rush that gripped the United States a few times over in the 1800s. This is an interesting comparison because in both mining and poker there are a couple of factors at play. Skilled miners like skilled poker players have a decided advantage over rank novices, but both had low barriers of entry and both also have an important element of luck that can contribute to success.
Miners could pan on another man’s land if they were willing to take only a share of their findings. In a way, for young upstarts this was a bit like winning a satellite or a World Poker Tour qualifier. Of course, they had to share their findings (or winnings), where poker players unless staked by someone else have all those winnings to themselves. Both poker and mining booms were set off by well publicized finds by fairly inexperienced players and miners.
Players flocked to poker sites to try and duplicate Moneymaker’s success just as others hundreds of years ago ran to California to find gold of their own. It still is entirely possible for an amateur to run exceptionally during a poker tournament and win one. They can rely on luck to beat more seasoned and skilled pros. Arguably, Moneymaker’s famous bluff was done in a spot where many more experienced players might have not made the same move.
Just like Moneymaker, many early miners simply stumbled onto fortunes by panning in the right spot, or finding a vein of gold in a spot others wouldn’t even consider. In both booms, the early successes of amateurs brought intense study into the discipline by intelligent newcomers. Poker has been transformed from a strategy perspective since Moneymaker brought all these new minds to the game. Mining enjoyed similar leaps in proficiency with each boom. While now it is much harder for a player or a miner to attain such success, just based on good fortune, it is still possible and as long as it is possible there will be World Poker Tour qualifiers running all day online, and somebody trying to pan for gold for the first time.
Most Commented