The 34th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) ran from April 15 to May 23, 2003, at Binion’s Horseshoe in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 36-event schedule would be highlighted by the concluding $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship that attracted a record-breaking 839 entries that generated a $7.8 million prize pool. The final 63 players finished in-the-money as accountant Chris Moneymaker of Nashville, Tennessee, would turn his satellite entry into $2.5 million in prize money when he defeated Sammy Farha, of Houston, Texas, heads-up to kickstart what would eventually be known as the Moneymaker Effect.
The Moneymaker show is on display in the 2003 WSOP Main Event Top 5 Hands video on PokerGO as he appears in every hand on the countdown. The countdown begins with Moneymaker busting one of his idols and two-time WSOP Main Event winner Johnny Chan of Cerritos, California, before turning his attention to Humberto Brenes of San Jose, Costa Rica, when he delivers a bad beat on the turn.
One of the most famous hands in WSOP history is next with Moneymaker taking on Phil Ivey of Las Vegas, Nevada, on the final table bubble. Moneymaker flops trips but Ivey takes the lead on the turn before Moneymaker is saved on the river to give poker one of its biggest what if moments.
The final two hands are from the heads-up duel between Moneymaker and Farha. The penultimate hand is the iconic bluff Moneymaker pulled with king-high, while the final hand is the one that ignited the poker boom as Moneymaker was crowned the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion.
Watch PokerGO’s 2003 WSOP Main Event Top 5 Hands now to see each hand play out.
About the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than $3.29 billion in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2019, the event attracted 187,298 entrants from 118 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and awarded more than $293 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of WSOP Europe in 2007 and the WSOP Asia-Pacific in 2013 and the WSOP International Circuit Series in 2015. All WSOP events are subject to the then-current and applicable WSOP tournament rules. For more information, please visit www.lnmandiya.com.