As 2025 turns into 2026, we’re talking to some of the biggest names in the poker world and reflecting on the year’s most interesting stories and events.
Back in September Chris Moneymaker notched a unique achievement in the poker world, winning a $10K online tournament — all while commentating on it on a 30-minute delay!
Let’s face it, if there's one thing Chris Moneymaker is known for, it's winning poker tournaments.
If he hadn’t won the WSOP Main Event back in 2003 — famously off the back of a cheap online satellite — the poker world would likely look pretty different. So when it comes to surprising news, Moneymaker winning a tournament is hardly going to raise an eyebrow.
But then, in 2025, he did a couple of things that are a little more out of the ordinary. Firstly, in April, he won a tournament which carried his name: the mixed Omaha event at the Moneymaker Poker Tour at MGM National Harbor.
Then, in May, he went one better and won the Moneymaker Poker Tour Main Event at Palm Beach Kennel Club in Florida. And then another at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in July!
But for our money, his most surprising and unusual tournament win came online, at ACR Poker, where he won an event at the same time as commentating on it.
‘That would have been a spoiler’
The event was the $10,000 buy-in Phil’s Thrill tournament, a weekly Sunday Major at ACR Poker named in honor of the site’s CEO, Phil Nagy.
As one of the biggest weekly events available on the site, it is regularly streamed to viewers online, with a 30-minute delay to prevent live cards being exposed. On this occasion, Moneymaker and Rob Kuhn were on commentary duties, describing and discussing the action in the tournament to viewers in real-time.
Moneymaker, however, elected to play the tournament at the same time as commentating on it. Anyone who has snuck in some poker while at work — naming no names (TJ Reid!) — can surely relate.
For most, part of playing poker while working is making sure the right people don’t notice, and Moneymaker faced a unique challenge when he won the tournament and its $160K first prize: trying to maintain a poker face for the viewers watching the stream.
He not only had to focus on the intense action at the final table, but needed to discuss hands that were played 30 minutes ago, all at the same time, and without giving away the fact he was doing well or winning it.
Chris talked us through his unique achievement back in September, and the reason he was trying so hard to contain the news of his win.
“I didn't want to give away the fact that I was still in the tournament 30 minutes later, as that would have been a spoiler.
“I thought it was very important for the enjoyment of the stream and the people watching. I was trying to really be cautious about doing anything that would give away the fact that I was still in the tournament — even as far as saying I was playing a different tournament when, for example, I was actually focused on a 3-bet hand when we were three-handed.”
You can read Moneymaker’s full breakdown of the story, below.
