Chris Moneymaker is a name that most people in the poker world are familiar with. His victory at the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is often referred to as the key event that led to the poker boom in the last decade. His WSOP Main Event win is remarkable mostly because of the fact that Moneymaker started the journey to that victory by qualifying via an online poker site. His victory turned him into a millionaire overnight and it inspired thousands of poker players all over the world.
Moneymaker Now In Coaching Mode
Since then Moneymaker has become an ambassador for the poker-playing life. The most recent sighting of him was at the recent PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Moneymaker is now focusing on conducting poker coaching sessions for new poker players and he opened up in a recent interview of how experienced pros can continue to give back to the game by coaching the younger generation of poker players.
In a statement, Moneymaker says “It’s not like this is some bad thing to learn or something hard thing to learn — it’s actually a very easy game to learn. It’s hard to master, but I can teach someone how to play in a couple of hours and they can go sit down and do okay.”
Moneymaker has been teaching poker in a variety of poker camps and is quite enjoying his time as a poker coach. The 2003 WSOP poker champion is not just focusing on teaching advanced poker pros but is quite happy to invest his time and coach amateur poker players or those just venturing into poker and wanting to learn the ropes.
Moneymaker Gives Advice To Poker Coaches
Moneymaker advises that poker coaches should begin by first asking their student about what kind of experience they have in the game and what exactly they know about poker. They should then move on to the basics and how a poker game works. This includes the hands, the blinds and antes, and the order of play. After that has been cleared up, running students through a few fake hands and a few rounds of face-up poker, where the players can see all the cards face up on the table.
The next step is to turn the cards face down and go into a basic game. This is when novices learn when they should play or fold their hands. This shows how difficult it is to make this decision as well as recognizing the strategy of knowing the hand that they are holding and their opponent’s hand. It can be intimidating to know this and this is a big hurdle that many people face. Overcoming that is an achievement and teachers that manage to help novices cross this hurdle can help their students become lifelong poker players and put them on a road to a successful poke career.
Moneymaker also advises those who want to break into poker playing, to start out playing online poker. They can take advantage of no deposit bonuses and also avoid the pressure of feeling embarrassed since they are playing out of the comfort of their home. However, Moneymaker says that the really important part of poker is the social factor, where players see each other face-to-face. Once a player is confident enough in their skills, they should be moving on to live games to enjoy the full poker experience.
Moneymaker Poker Hall Of Fame Nomination Questioned
Chris Moneymaker has been nominated to be a part of the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame (PHoF) but is yet to be shortlisted. The PHoF nominates just two individuals each year and there are some who believe that Moneymaker should not be inducted because apart from his 2003 WSOP Main Event win, he hasn’t had any significant accomplishments on the felt since then.
A member of Team PokerStars, Moneymaker has had won a little over $1.1 million during the last 14 years – an average of $80 thousand each year.  However, Moneymaker continues to give back to the game by coaching new poker players and being a brand ambassador for PokerStars and the game of poker. Should Moneymaker finally make it into the PHoF, it would be the icing on the cake for the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion.