World Series 2003 - Main Event Winner Chris Moneymaker

*WSOP and World Series of Poker (referred to from now on as the Main Event and/or World Series)

In an incredible final of the 2003 World Series $10,000 Main Event, Chris Moneymaker (money800 on PokerStars) took first place, $2.5 million in prize money and the coveted World Championship bracelet.

Chris came to the final table as the chip leader, which he maintained for several hours before losing a key hand to Sam Farha, well known high stakes player, giving up the chip lead for several hours. In a back-and-forth match, he and Sam eventually were in a virtual tie at about T3.5 million each, with former World Champion Dan Harrington the short stack at just over T1 million. But the two big stacks had difficulty eliminating Harrington, who repeatedly came back from under T500,000.

Chris finally took Harrington out when Harrington moved all-in with second pair against Chris' top pair, setting up a short heads-up match between Sam and Chris.

After a back-and-forth match lasting about 30 minutes, Sam bet out on a board of Js 5s 4c. Chris raised, Sam came back over the top all-in and Chris called with 54, having flopped two pair. Sam had flopped top pair. The turn and river brought no help for Sam's single pair, and Chris Moneymaker became the new World Champion of poker.

Chris won his seat in a satellite on PokerStars, and although he has played many tournaments on PokerStars, the Main Event is his first live tournament.

PokerStars is thrilled and proud to have helped Chris achieve the ultimate goal of all poker players. Congratulations from all of us on the PokerStars team!

PokerStars players have won a total of 37 seats in the 2003 World Series Main Event, making PokerStars the single largest source of players other than Binion's Horseshoe, the host of the World Series. Visit World Series 2003 Pages for their pics and bios.

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