Chris Moneymaker Leads World Poker Open Championship Heading Into Final Table

Published on August 11th, 2009 6:49 am EST

The World Poker Open Championship is down to just nine players, and a very familiar name currently possesses the chip lead heading into the final day of play.

When the final table gets underway tomorrow afternoon, Chris Moneymaker will begin play as the dominant chip leader.

Moneymaker will enter the final table with roughly 1.03 million in chips, far ahead of the next closest competitor (fellow Pokerstars pro Chad Brown, who currently has around 433k in chips).

Five of the final table participants will begin play with less than 170k in chips, meaning that Moneymaker will have an exceptionally good chance of winning the tournament.

Chris Moneymaker burst onto the scene in 2003 when he won the World Series of Poker main event.

Moneymaker's victory in 2003 was a major catalyst for the "online poker boom", and he has since become one of the most recognizable faces in the poker world.

Despite a couple of close calls, Chris Moneymaker has never been able to win a second major "live" poker tournament.

Less than a year after winning the WSOP main event, Moneymaker took second in the $5k Bay 101 Shooting Stars main event for $200k.

The winner of the 2009 World Poker Open Championship will receive over $190k, as well as a seat to a WPT event in 2010.

All nine players are guaranteed at least $12,022 for making it to the final table.

All of you Moneymaker fans out there can follow his final table progress at Pokerpages.com.



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Filed Under: Tournament Results