Chris Moneymaker
Chris Moneymaker with his awards at the WSOP First Fifty Honors (photo: WSOP/Haley Hochstetler)

Is it 2003 all over again?

That was the year Chris Moneymaker made poker history when he famously won the World Series of Poker Main Event. Moneymaker earned his way to the big dance via an $86 satellite tournament on PokerStars and turned that into a life-changing $2.5 million payday. On Sunday, Moneymaker confirmed to PocketFives that he won a 2019 WSOP Main Event seat via an $80 All-In Satellite on WSOP.com.

Now 16 years later, for the 50th annual WSOP, Moneymaker will again compete in the $10,000 Main Event for a fraction of the cost. In 2003, Moneymaker was one of 839 entries in the WSOP Main Event. In a field full of the best players in the game, Moneymaker was just a guy. In fact, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to play in the event. He originally thought to lose the satellite so that he would take the cash prize that came for finishing in a lesser place, but a good friend convinced him that he should win the seat and go on to play in the event. The result was a storybook ending and Moneymaker has been a staple of the poker world ever since, serving as one of the game’s top ambassadors globally.

This time, though, he won’t be the unknown accountant from Tennessee with a too-good-to-be-true last name. Moneymaker is a known commodity in today’s poker world, and a player that is as celebrated by the community as they come. On Saturday night, he took home three awards at the WSOP’s First Fifty Honors. Moneymaker won the ‘Most Memorable TV Hand’ for his ‘Bluff of the Century’ against Sammy Farha in the 2003 WSOP Main Event. He then earned ‘Most Impressive WSOP main Event Win’ for his 2003 WSOP Main Event run and was honored as one of the ‘Four Most Important Players in WSOP History.’

Since his memorable victory in 2003, Moneymaker has just four WSOP cashes, with his best being a 10th-place finish worth $21,000 in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament in 2004. Moneymaker has yet to cash in the WSOP Main Event since his win in 2003, but it would prove to be quite fitting if he made the money this summer during the 50th annual WSOP and having won his seat via an $80 satellite.

Moneymaker wasn’t the only big name to win a 2019 WSOP Main Event via a WSOP.com $80 All-In Satellite on Sunday. Jason Somerville, playing under the screen name ‘HADERADE,’ did as well. Somerville has cashed in the WSOP Main Event on three occasions. His first run to the money was in 2010, and his deepest run came in 2012 when he finished in 69th place from 6,598 entries for $106,056.

The $80 All-In Satellite qualifiers on WSOP.com are a new addition for 2019 and have become a fun, fast-paced way for players to take an affordable shot at winning a $10,000 seat to the WSOP Main Event. The qualifiers run when 128 players sign up for $80 each and they are rake free. The winner gets a $10,000 Main Event seat and places 2-8 get a small cash payout. The catch is that all players must go all in from the moment the tournament starts. Players just sign up and watch the cards fall as they may from there. They don’t even have to be online when the tournament starts in order to win.