| 2003 World Series of Poker at the 2003 World Series of Poker | |
|---|---|
| Location | Binion's Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Dates | April 15 – May 23 |
| Competitors | 839 |
| Total prize money | $7,802,700 |
| Champion | |
 Chris Moneymaker | |
The 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a poker tournament held at Binion's Horseshoe. The tournament is seen as a turning point in the history of competitive poker, as amateur Chris Moneymaker's victory in the main event despite no prior tournament experience was widely regarded as bringing with it a surge in public interest and popularity in the game, known as the Moneymaker effect, or the Poker boom.12 Moneymaker entered the tournament from a ticket won in an online PokerStars table.3
Events
There were 35 preliminary bracelet events at the 2003 World Series of Poker.4 Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth all tied Johnny Moss's career bracelet record with their ninth. Men Nguyen finished runner-up in two events in this World Series.
| # | Date | Event | Entries | Winner | Prize | Runner-up | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 15, 2003 | $500 Casino Employees Limit Hold'em | 208 | David Lukaszewski (1/1) | $35,800 | Paul Trieglaff | Results |
| 2 | April 16, 2003 | $2,000 Limit Hold'em | 422 | Mohammed Ibrahim (1/1) | $290,420 | Jon Brody | Results |
| 3 | April 17, 2003 | $1,500 Seven-card stud | 177 | Toto Leonidas (1/1) | $98,760 | Rallis Peter Tanagiotias | Results |
| 4 | April 18, 2003 | $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split | 175 | Chris Ferguson (1/4) | $123,680 | Barry Bindelglass | Results |
| 5 | April 19, 2003 | $2,000 No Limit Hold'em | 407 | Jim Meehan (1/1) | $280,100 | Guy Calvert | Results |
| 6 | April 20, 2003 | $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em | 212 | Prahlad Friedman (1/1) | $109,400 | Bernd Rygol | Results |
| 7 | April 21, 2003 | $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split | 190 | Minh Nguyen (1/1) | $106,020 | Bob Mangino | Results |
| 8 | April 22, 2003 | $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha | 117 | Erik Seidel (1/6) | $146,100 | Men Nguyen (0/4) | Results |
| 9 | April 23, 2003 | $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. | 113 | Doyle Brunson (1/9) | $84,080 | Brian Haveson | Results |
| 10 | April 24, 2003 | $2,000 1/2 Hold'em, 1/2 Seven Card Stud | 89 | Chris Ferguson (2/5) | $66,220 | Diego Cordovez (0/1) | Results |
| 11 | April 25, 2003 | $2,500 No Limit Hold'em | 259 | Phi Nguyen (1/1) | $222,800 | Jim Miller | Results |
| 12 | April 26, 2003 | $2,500 Limit Hold'em | 194 | Phil Hellmuth (1/8) | $171,400 | Young Phan | Results |
| 13 | April 27, 2003 | $2,500 Seven Card Stud | 103 | Michael Saltzburg (1/1) | $95,580 | Mimi Tran | Results |
| 14 | April 28, 2003 | $5,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw | 28 | O'Neil Longson (1/2) | $147,680 | Allen Cunningham (0/2) | Results |
| 15 | April 29, 2003 | $5,000 No Limit Hold'em | 127 | Johnny Chan (1/8) | $224,400 | Surinder Sunar | Results |
| 16 | April 30, 2003 | $1,500 Limit Omaha | 120 | Eddy Scharf (1/2) | $63,600 | Dave Colclough | Results |
| 17 | May 1, 2003 | $1,500 Limit Hold'em | 346 | John Arrage (1/1) | $178,600 | Kathy Liebert | Results |
| 18 | May 2, 2003 | $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split | 135 | Layne Flack (1/4) | $119,260 | Men Nguyen (0/4) | Results |
| 19 | May 3, 2003 | $2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em | 214 | Mickey Appleman (1/4) | $147,280 | Brian Plona | Results |
| 20 | May 4, 2003 | $1,000 Seniors' No Limit Hold'em | 378 | Ron Rose (1/1) | $130,060 | Ron McMillan | Results |
| 21 | May 5, 2003 | $2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split | 140 | John Juanda (1/2) | $130,200 | Shawn Sheikhan | Results |
| 22 | May 6, 2003 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 531 | Amir Vahedi (1/1) | $270,000 | Cleve Haley | Results |
| 23 | May 7, 2003 | $2,000 S.H.O.E. | 135 | Daniel Negreanu (1/2) | $100,440 | Jim Pechac | Results |
| 24 | May 8, 2003 | $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha | 85 | Johnny Chan (2/9) | $158,100 | Emmanuel Sebag | Results |
| 25 | May 9, 2003 | $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout | 220 | Layne Flack (2/5) | $120,000 | Annie Duke | Results |
| 26 | May 10, 2003 | $3,000 Limit Hold'em | 154 | Tom Jacobs (1/1) | $163,000 | Jan Sjavik | Results |
| 27 | May 11, 2003 | $5,000 Seven-Card Razz | 30 | Huck Seed (1/4) | $71,500 | Phil Ivey (0/4) | Results |
| 28 | May 11, 2003 | $1,000 Ladies' 1/2 Hold'em, 1/2 Stud | 112 | Barb Rugolo (1/1) | $40,700 | J. J. Liu | Results |
| 29 | May 12, 2003 | $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split | 259 | Frankie O'Dell (1/1) | $133,760 | Bill Schonsheck | Results |
| 30 | May 13, 2003 | $3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em | 218 | Charles Keith Lehr (1/1) | $225,040 | Chris Ferguson (0/5) | Results |
| 31 | May 14, 2003 | $5,000 Seven Card Stud | 96 | Men Nguyen (1/5) | $178,560 | Mel Judah (0/2) | Results |
| 32 | May 15, 2003 | $3,000 No Limit Hold'em | 398 | Phil Hellmuth (2/9) | $410,860 | Daniel Negreanu (0/2) | Results |
| 33 | May 16, 2003 | $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha | 120 | John Juanda (2/3) | $203,840 | O'Neil Longson (0/2) | Results |
| 34 | May 17, 2003 | $5,000 Limit Hold'em | 143 | Carlos Mortensen (1/2) | $251,680 | Mark Gregorich | Results |
| 35 | May 18, 2003 | $1,500 Ace to Five Triple Draw Lowball | 78 | Men Nguyen (2/6) | $43,520 | Charles Keith Lehr (0/1) | Results |
| 36 | May 19, 2003 | $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event | 839 | Chris Moneymaker (1/1) | $2,500,000 | Sam Farha (0/1) | Results |
Main Event
There were 839 entrants to the main event.5 Each paid $10,000 to enter, with the top 63 players finishing in the money. It was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick and mortar casino at the time. Many entrants, including the overall winner Chris Moneymaker, won their seat in online poker tournaments.6 Moneymaker defeated professional Sam Farha heads-up with two pair, which improved to a full house on the river, over Farha's pair of jacks.7 The 2003 Main Event was the first tournament to pay out at least $2,500,000 to the winner. Dan Harrington made the final table and looked to win his second Main Event championship, but fell short in third place.8
Final table
| Name | Number of chips (percentage of total) |
WSOP Bracelets* |
WSOP Cashes* |
WSOP Earnings* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Moneymaker
|
2,344,000 (27.9%) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Amir Vahedi
|
1,407,000 (16.8%) | 1 | 4 | $314,950 |
| Sam Farha
|
999,000 (11.9%) | 1 | 2 | $193,140 |
| Tomer Benvenisti
|
922,000 (11.0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David Singer
|
750,000 (8.9%) | 0 | 8 | $93,115 |
| Jason Lester
|
695,000 (8.3%) | 0 | 11 | $128,200 |
| Dan Harrington
|
574,000 (6.8%) | 2 | 7 | $1,325,858 |
| Young Pak
|
360,000 (4.3%) | 0 | 4 | $33,819 |
| David Grey
|
338,000 (4.0%) | 1 | 7 | $306,664 |
*Career statistics prior to the beginning of the 2003 Main Event.
Final table results
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Chris Moneymaker | $2,500,000 |
| 2nd | Sam Farha | $1,300,000 |
| 3rd | Dan Harrington | $650,000 |
| 4th | Jason Lester | $440,000 |
| 5th | Tomer Benvenisti | $320,000 |
| 6th | Amir Vahedi | $250,000 |
| 7th | Young Pak | $200,000 |
| 8th | David Grey | $160,000 |
| 9th | David Singer | $120,000 |
In The Money Finishes
NB: This list is restricted to In The Money finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | Phil Ivey | $82,700 |
| 11th | Minh Nguyen | $80,000 |
| 12th | Dutch Boyd | $80,000 |
| 13th | Freddy Deeb | $65,000 |
| 14th | Marcel Lüske | $65,000 |
| 15th | Bruno Fitoussi | $65,000 |
| 18th | Scotty Nguyen | $55,000 |
| 19th | Howard Lederer | $45,000 |
| 23rd | Dennis Waterman | $45,000 |
| 25th | Men Nguyen | $45,000 |
| 27th | Phil Hellmuth | $45,000 |
| 29th | Victor Ramdin | $35,000 |
| 31st | Jeff Shulman | $35,000 |
| 34th | Ken Lennaárd | $35,000 |
| 41st | Humberto Brenes | $25,000 |
| 42nd | Kevin Song | $25,000 |
| 45th | Paul Darden | $25,000 |
| 47th | Annie Duke | $20,000 |
| 49th | Barry Greenstein | $20,000 |
| 54th | Julian Gardner | $20,000 |
| 55th | David Chiu | $15,000 |
| 56th | Julien Studley | $15,000 |
References
References
- Levy, Don Riddell, Glen (November 17, 2021). "The Moneymaker Effect: Meet the man who helped change the fortunes of poker overnight". CNN. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Pataskowski, Mark (August 2, 2023). "Chris Moneymaker After the Poker Boom: 20 Years Later". PokerTube. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
- "PokerStars Big 20 – 2003: Chris Moneymaker wins WSOP, sparks 'poker boom'". PokerStars.
- "2003 World Series of Poker Tournament Schedule". World Series of Poker. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- Berman, Marc (October 6, 2022). "Chris Moneymaker's Inspiring Story: From the 2003 WSOP to Now". Programming Insider. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
- Lee, Bernard (May 24, 2018). "The life and legacy of Chris Moneymaker, 15 years after his WSOP title changed poker". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- Wilgoren, Jodi (May 25, 2003). "A Player Called 'Money' Wins World Poker Title". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
- "Web players' success raises stakes on poker scene". Baltimore Sun. June 20, 2004. Retrieved March 7, 2025.