What You Never Saw and Don’t Know About Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP Victory

This week marks the ten-year anniversary of Chris Moneymaker’s stunning victory at the 2003 World Series of Poker.  It was the spark that lit the fuse of what became known as “the poker boom.”

So much has already been written and said about Moneymaker’s rags to riches triumph, that his story now seems to be old news.

Or is it?  I beg to differ.

There’s a lot of background stuff no one knows.  Things that went on behind the scenes that very few people saw.  Events related to the decline and eventual demise of what was a Las Vegas landmark called Binion’s Horseshoe.  Whispered conversations off in the shadows about what some people in authority really thought.  Chaos at an exact moment of poker’s most celebrated moment.  Backroom developments related to the television broadcast during that first year of extended coverage.  Personal incidents and management blow-ups I was involved with that shaped own my career, and others, too.  Amazing stories that happened late nights inside the poker room, some of which involved members of the Binion family.

I plan to tell you about some of it.  However, a few details will have to wait until some people are long gone.

In my upcoming series of articles (the number and length of which is yet to be determined — probably as long as I feel like writing), I’ll remember back on that stupendous year in poker, probably the most monumental era in the history of the game.  At the time, I served as Media Director for the World Series of Poker (seasonal) as well as head of Public Relations for Binion’s Horseshoe (year-round).

This marks the first time I’ve ever written about these events.

COMING NEXT:  BEFORE THE STORM:  BINION’S HORSESHOE (2002)