‘Needs no introduction’ is an overused cliche, but when it comes to Chris Moneymaker and 21st century poker, is there anyone who doesn’t know his story?
Perhaps; if you don’t know the tale of the man who became poker’s world champion on the back of a cheap online satellite, we’re happy to give you a primer on Chris Moneymaker’s rise to poker fame.
The subject of this month’s episode of The Interview with Craig Tapscott, dropping next week, Moneymaker has recently come under extensive fire in his position as a representative of ACR Poker.
Criticism of poker ambassadors is nothing new, but has the use of AI-generated versions of real people crossed a line?
One recent post in particular (below), in which Moneymaker was shown in handcuffs, prison garb and running from the cops, has amassed hundreds of thousands of views. And perhaps the most shocking aspect was that the post came not from an annoyed player but from one of ACR Poker’s direct competitors.
Craig Tapscott asked Moneymaker his thoughts on this new direction in the online poker wars, and whether it's fair for ambassadors to bear the brunt of criticism invoked by their employers or colleagues.
Read on for Moneymaker’s take, and catch the full interview next week, at PokerOrg and wherever you get your podcasts.
‘I'm in a no-win situation’
Listen, this is the real world we live in; AI and people able to create videos like that and do things like that.
I've got a pretty thick skin. I've been in this world for 20-odd years. People have said so many things about me: I suck and I'm fat and I'm a one-hit wonder, you know, whatever it is, there's always online nameless trolls that constantly say stuff and it's never once bothered me. That's just part of the territory, I've always just let it kind of flow off my back.
I've always said for years that I'm in a no-win situation. If I win anything online it's because I'm a team pro. It was like that at PokerStars, the same way: I'm a team pro, it's rigged for me. But if I lose, then I suck, I'm just a terrible player.
So over time, you just learn to embrace it. You're just like, ‘Eh, whatever. It is what it is’. I would say, for a while in my career, I probably did search for a little validation of, ‘Hey, I'm still a good player. Treat me nice’. I've evolved to where I want people to assume I suck. Like, your best skill in poker is for people to think that you're terrible.
‘If it were anybody else, I would probably be laughing’
I will say that having a company like WPT, that has a brand like that, to do what they're doing makes no sense to me. I would never in a million years see another online site attack a competitor or attack the industry like that. I think it's very irresponsible.
I know who's behind it; the guy is a professional troll, he hates ACR, he has an agenda against ACR. And while I don't know him personally, obviously I don't think very highly of him.
I do think the videos are funny. I think he is very creative and if it were anybody else, I would probably be laughing at the videos.
The fact that I'm the lead character in the video... doesn't per se bother me. I fall back on the fact that I've been in this industry for 20+ years and I'm very confident that I try to always make the best decisions.
Now, while the memes [such as the one below] are funny and very unprofessional, they don't bother me to an extent where, you know, I'm going to reach out and give them anything. Because again, I know that me and the other players that are portrayed in it haven't done anything wrong.
And he's making videos for clicks. He's making videos to increase traction to his site. And again, I don't personally agree with that kind of marketing; I would never do that to someone else, that's just not my character. It's not who I am.
But I mean, this person's been doing this from day one. Everybody knows that's who he is. I've seen his videos done on other players and I find them funny. So I can't be a hypocrite and be like, ‘It's funny when it's done to someone else, but when it's done to me…’
It's, like, just roll with the punches. Take it. Whatever.
‘We catch strays based on what others have done’
It does suck for me, [Chris] Moorman, [Jeff] Boski, these guys that I know do things the right way, and we catch strays based on what other counterparts have done.
And what people don't understand is, your actions affect other people and what they did [ACR Poker pros Nacho Barbero and Ebony Kenney, who have both owned up to using GTOwizard during games] not only affects them, it affects us. And again, we're catching strays for no reason. We're being called cheaters, people will assume, like, if I win anything online, ‘Well yeah, he's a team pro, of course he's going to win’.
I can promise you I didn't lose any sleep over it. It doesn't bother me one bit. I know that what we're doing is trying to make the site better, trying to make the site safer and trying to do the right thing. And that's all we can really do.
The full episode of The Interview with Chris Moneymaker will be available next week. Watch the video at PokerOrg, or listen at Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
You can check out previous episodes right now - just click on one of the links below.
Images courtesy of WPT/Enrique Ivan Malfavon/Triton Poker.
