Chris Moneymaker Wins Moneymaker Main Event in Australia

Many consider him to be responsible for an explosion in poker's popularity after winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event for $2.5 million, after first winning his seat to the tournament via a $39 satellite.

Fast forward 19 years to the present and we find Moneymaker once again doing the improbable - winning an event that was named after him. It happened in the Land Down Under, the Nashville native topping a field of 337 players to win the Moneymaker Main Event.

The Check Raise Poker Championships at the Acacia Ridge Hotel in Queensland, Australia hosted a festival from Oct. 12-16 featuring the Moneymaker Main Event with an AUD $200 buy-in. Four Day 1 flights with one re-entry permitted each flight brought out the Aussies, many hoping to mix it up with the ACR Team Pro and event namesake.

While the prestige and prize pool couldn't compare with that of the WSOP Main Event, it was poker all the same. Moneymaker had a chip stack of 2 million when final table action began, 4th highest among the remaining nine players.

He parlayed that stack into a score of AUD $12,000, relegating Lachlan Crilly ( AUD $8,000) to runner-up status when Moneymaker's pocket jacks held up versus the A-10 offsuit of Crilly in head-up action.

Congrats to Chris for winning another tournament! Of course, the Americas Cardroom ambassador hasn't forgotten about the $5 million GTD Venom PKO.

Per his Twitter account, Moneymaker wasn't able to make Flight 1A on October 20th. But you'll find him online at ACR this weekend, aiming to bag a stack of chips for Day 2 and beyond!