Katie Lindsay was a poker agent at the height of the poker boom, brokering million-dollar deals for her clients in the middle of the biggest rush to sign poker talent the gambling world had ever seen. Chris Moorman was part of that rush, one of the top online tournament players in the world.
They got married in July 2015.
Then, in the Fall of 2021, they became the first married couple to represent a poker site together when Americas Cardroom signed them both as Team Pros.
In January 2021, they went heads up for a WSOPC ring online. This week, Poker.org sat them down and go heads up in a very different format — interviewing each other about their poker journeys, their achievements, and their regrets.
Lindsay started them off.
Katie Lindsay: This is a good one to begin with. What interview question are you sick of answering?
Chris Moorman: Probably something like “Five tips for the average poker player." Done it hundreds of times. You want to give a different answer, but you feel like you’re repeating the same cliche things. I don’t have anything too different from the answer anyone’s given before. So it’s always a question you want to just get through without putting any hard work or thought into.
I’ll start off easy for you, seeing as you’re new to this stuff. Why do you love playing live poker so much?
KL: I love people. I wanna hang out with people. I wanna talk to people.
Online is easy because you don’t have to get all dressed up — but live poker is way more fun. I just love talking. I talk to everyone. You know me, we get in an Uber and I’m fast friends with the driver by the end of the ride. I love people.
Okay, what is your favorite memory about poker from before Black Friday?
CM: You are asking me to roll back the years! Probably when I final-tabled the Aussie Millions Main Event at the start of 2011. I’d gotten to the point of almost giving up on live poker as I’d had so little success with it and one of my good friends Toby Lewis had even turned me down for a swap pre-tournament.
He did give me a bet that I wouldn’t make day 2 though, so I took him up on it and used it as motivation to play my best, banking 12.5k of Toby's dollars in the process on top of my final table winnings. That pretty much kicked off my live poker career.
KL: That’s a good story.
CM: Thanks, what have I got for you? Can you remember the first time you felt like you had a knack for poker?
KL: Definitely my first win. That was huge for me. Before that, my deepest run was a day 3 in the Millionaire Maker. Obviously the traction of making day 3 in a WSOP event — any day 3 is like “wow.” But my first win definitely felt good, even if it was a bit of a crapshoot and no one knew how to play poker.
CM: But that’s even better because you can see that you’re playing a different game to the other players.
KL: It’s always a great time when you sit at a table and know you’re the best player and you actually are.
If you could change one massive thing in your poker career, what would it be?
CM: The obvious thing would be to say, not to back people. I lost a lot of money that way. But I’m not really someone who has regrets.
I would say — one year I was in contention for WSOP Player of the Year. I was gonna sell action for the 50k eight-game because the final table was all no-limit. So I figured I just have to learn the basics of the other games and then when I make the final table it’s all no-limit.
I was all planning to do it, but then I was up late hanging out with friends and getting drunk and missed the tournament. That was a rare opportunity to win player of the year because I don’t play mixed games.
Still, it is what it is. Tell me about being a poker agent ten/fifteen years ago?
KL: That was a crazy time. Right at the beginning of my agenting career, I was Tiffany Michelle’s agent and I was staying over at Liv Boeree’s condo and I was doing these deals — when Tiffany was going deep in the Main it was just insanity. I remember sleeping on the floor and Isai [Scheinberg], the owner of PokerStars, would call me — million-dollar deals while I was sleeping on the floor.
Other times I remember my phone ringing at two in the morning and wondering if it was an emergency and my client is on the line asking me where to buy a mattress. Crazy times, but more good memories than bad.
What is something that people would be surprised to know about you?
CM: I’m always questioning my level of play. I’m not sure if I’ve made the right play. Not always down on myself, but maybe not giving myself the credit I deserve. I could be having a three-month period where I’ve been doing really well and then a few bad weeks. In those bad weeks, I’ll be in my head like “Am I still playing well?” or “Am I still beating these games?” I just get into one of these funks, and I can’t get out.
KL: You know, I answered that for you and I put down, “You don’t give yourself credit for all you’ve accomplished.”
CM: Have you ever been nervous to meet someone in poker or intimidated playing live?
KL: I remember the first time I met the CEO of Silly Bandz. I was like, “He’s made this million-dollar company out of rubber bands.” There were actors there, celebrities there, but I remember that was the person I was excited to meet.
Is there something you feel you still want to accomplish still in poker?
CM: I wouldn’t still be playing if there wasn’t something I wanted to do or accomplish.
I’d love to win an EPT, but that doesn’t feel as realistic as there just aren’t as many tournaments anymore. Obviously winning the WSOP Main Event would be the dream. I also would love to win a big online series like The Venom on ACR or the WCOOP Main Event. I’d really like to have a million-dollar win online.
KL: Have you come close? What’s your biggest online score?
CM: The bracelet event on GG for like 400k. Do you see yourself playing poker your whole life?
KL: Oh, god. I don’t even know what I’m doing next week.
I mean, I see myself doing anything for as long as I enjoy it. I mean probably, right. What else am I gonna be doing? Even today I’m having business meetings. I’m always doing something. You know me, I’m a hundred miles an hour. I’ll never be one-track-minded, so I’ll always be doing different things. As long as I enjoy it, I’ll always be playing poker.
Who is your favorite person to talk poker hands with and why?
CM: That’s a tough one. One of my good friends Tom Macdonald. He plays cash games in Macau, so I think we have quite different perspectives on poker, but obviously, we both know what we’re doing. If I bust a big hand I go over it with him. We have very different points of view, but that doesn’t mean we can’t converse and it's always eye-opening talking to a cash game player.
If you were to play in a six-handed celebrity tournament, who would you like to play with?
KL: (with zero hesitation) Jason Segel! He’s my celebrity crush.
Oh, andVince Vaughn. He’s the WSOP “master of ceremonies,” I think they’re calling it. I feel like he’d be funny. Let’s throw in Russell Brand, a good English guy, he’s really smart. And Joe Rogan, he’s an interesting guy.
I need a woman, I was going to say a woman then I went to Russell Brand because he has long hair.
CM: What about what’s-her-name from Sex in the City?
KL: Sarah Jessica Parker? Sure. That’s a good show. I like her. Let’s make it happen.
What tilts you the most?
CM: That’s an easy one. Whenever someone’s all-in against you and they say “good luck.” It makes no sense. You don’t mean it. I have friends that say it to me. You know, I’ll play online and they’ll text me before calling to say “good luck.” You just want to roll your eyes. That’s my number one.
What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a poker player?
KL: I think my biggest strength is that I am fearless. I’m not scared to go for the big bluffs. I’m not scared to play against anyone. When I sit down, I take the money out of it. I’m just there playing chips and cards and that’s it. I’m fortunate that I can think like that, but I also think what benefits me is thinking like that.
One of my weaknesses is that I really hate folding. Folding sucks. I love playing games and when I fold I don’t get to play the game anymore. But I’m getting better. I’m learning to fold.
How do you stay calm during a huge bluff, do you ever get nervous?
CM: Yeah, you get a little bit nervous. The worst one is when you make a bluff and you kind of instantly regret how you’ve played the hand. And you know the person is gonna call, and they might take a few minutes to work it out that this makes no sense and you’ve just made a bad play.
But when you’re at peace with the hand and you know you’ve put them to a tough decision and you’ve avoided them snap calling with the nuts… as long as you get a tank out of it, it’s fine. As long as you’re okay with the story you’ve been telling. I just stare at one place in the table if I’ve got it or not. I just think about something else and wait to see what happens. They can look at me all they want.
What moment in your poker career are you most proud of?
KL: Including being an agent? I don’t know if I have a most proud moment. I am proud of several milestones in my career. I’m proud of starting my agency out of nothing and making it successful and turning it from one client who asked for my help into thirty clients before Black Friday. Making million-dollar deals when I was the only female poker agent doing that.
Also, winning three live tournaments. In fact, winning live tournaments is really hard. So doing that three times. I am proud of that.
And being asked to be a sponsored pro on a site. I know how important that is. I never want it to be thought of as it’s just because I’m a female or something. And I feel like I got asked and then this year I put up the results. I didn’t win female player of the year, but I did come third.
I’m all about finding small things to celebrate. Anything to get a glass of Champagne and go celebrate, I’m there.
Last question. Is there one hand that still haunts you?
CM: Probably. I think in your career there might be one that haunted you at the time but you get over it. But I know the one. You asked the question and I immediately thought of how I lost all my chips in the Main Event this year. It’s the biggest tournament of the year.
When you have a hand you regret you have to get past it. Speak to a few people, laugh about it, and move on. Although sometimes that’s hard for me. Sometimes you have to play the tournament again to get over it. So it’ll probably be in the back of my mind till I play the WSOP Main Event again next year.
KL: You wanna go over the hand?
CM: (laughing) No.
Featured image source: Americas Cardroom
