Chris Moneymaker has won his second tournament of the year, making 2024 a sort of redemption tour for the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. He took home the $179,770 first-place prize for winning the $1,650 buy-in $1 million guaranteed main event of the Enjoy Poker Tour at the Enjoy Punta del Este Casino in Uruguay yesterday.
It’s his fourth final table of the year for the 48-year-old. Some of the 657 entries of the Enjoy Poker Tour main event were secured through satellites on Americas Card Room, one of the series sponsors, and the online poker site that pays Moneymaker to be ambassador.
ACR is getting their money’s worth, as Moneymaker is starting to cash and win at the highest levels — something that alluded the WSOP champ since he made his improbable run in 2003. He won $2.5 million for becoming the Main Event Champ.
Twenty years later, in August of last year, Moneymaker nearly matched that booty by finishing fifth in $262,500 buy-in Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London Invitation for $2,030,000. It was his best score by $1.7 million since the WSOP Main Event.
Then May 2024 happened, where Moneymaker made two final tables at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. He first won $903,000 in the $26,500 event, which was his first Triton event victory. Three days later, he won another $311,000 in the $42,400 buy-in mystery bounty event for finishing third.
That means three of Moneymaker’s four highest scores came within the year. He now has more than $7.5 million in lifetime cashes.
Erik Seidel keeps on truckin’
If Moneymaker is running hot in 2024, Erik Seidel is a blazing star throwing plasma all over the tournament world.
Seidel won his third tournament since the New Year in the $10,000 Deep Stack event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. He added $179,953 to his lifetime mountain that towers at $46.9 million.
It’s just how it’s going for Seidel, who made his fifth cash of 2024 worth a quarter-milly after he took down the $10,500 high roller event at the Wynn Millions in March. Less than a month later, he won $145,000 by winning the $5,100 event U.S. Poker Open. Less than a week after that, he’d take another $110,400 out of the series by finishing third in a $10,100 event.
Those are just a handful of 23 cashes the 2010 Poker Hall of Fame inductee already made this year, according to the Hendon Mob.
The Deep Stack event at Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open brought in 69 entrants who built a $655,500 prize pool. Seidel and Clemen Deng, who is coming off a win in a $5,100 event at the PGT Texas Poker Open in Houston in April, made a deal when they reached heads-up play which gave Seidel the title and $706 extra.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erik Seidel | $179,953* |
| 2 | Clemen Deng | $179,247* |
| 3 | Nazar Buhaiov | $80,033 |
| 4 | Marcus Buhaiov | $80,300 |
| 5 | Matthew Lambrecht | $44,300 |
| 6 | Matthew Wantman | $34,400 |
| 7 | Sam Ganzfried | $29,500 |
| 8 | Faraz Jaka | $26,300 |
| 9 | Shannon Shorr | $24,100 |
