Aviation Club, and an Interview With Chris Moneymaker

The Aviation Club de France in Paris will host the first tournament in the second season of the World Poker Tour. I still haven't been to the Aviation Club, but everyone says it is one of the most beautiful card clubs in the world. Check out Page 60 for more information, and enjoy Paris in the summer.

I had the pleasure of interviewing new World Champion Chris Moneymaker a few days after he won the "Big One." I must say, Chris is a class act. He qualified for the World Series of Poker championship by winning a $40 satellite on the Internet. In fact, he had never played a tournament in a casino. So, even if you haven't played in a brick and mortar casino, you can win. I played with Chris for a few hours on the third and fourth days of the tournament. The 27-year-old from Spring Hill, Tennessee, played with heart and had absolutely no fear. I was shocked at how good he was, considering that I had never seen him before. Congratulations, Chris.

Jeff Shulman: Wow, Chris, you are the world champion. It is funny that I had to go through your agent to get ahold of you. Is poker really that big?

Chris Moneymaker: I am getting so much attention because of the $40 investment and my last name. I received hundreds of phone calls from the press when I returned to Tennessee two days after the event ended. Even my dad and my friends were getting swarmed by the media. I was advised to get an agent, and I had to change my phone number. I knew that attention came with this, but I never expected anything of this caliber.

JS: I must admit, you do have the coolest last name. On the fourth day of the event, I remember saying to you that if I didn't win, I wanted you to because of your name. I joked around by saying, "Moneymaker wins $2.5 million." So, Chris, everyone wants to know if that is your real last name.

CM: (Laughing) It is hard to believe. To the best of my knowledge, and I have been researching this for a while, my ancestors were from Germany. At the time, people were named based on their professions. My family supposedly made silver and gold coins. Eventually, when coming to America, they took on the translation and that is how Moneymaker was derived.

JS: Chris, what do you do for a living?

CM: I have two jobs. I am the CFO of a local restaurant group, and I am an accountant.

JS: An accountant with the name Moneymaker! It sounds a little suspicious to me. Are you going to keep your jobs?

CM: A lot of people have asked me that. I am not going to quit my jobs or spend the money frivolously. I never thought I would have to do this, but I do have to spend money on security. It has been quite hectic here, and I do need a little peace and quiet because my wife and I have a 3-month-old baby. I will play in the World Series championship next year, and maybe two other events.

JS: Good for you! Did Internet poker prepare you for a real tournament?

CM: Yes, because it is practice, but the tells are much different. On the Internet, you must pay attention to how much a person bets, and how often. You can't get a read like you can in a casino, but there are other tells, like people pressing the automatic fold button.

JS: I assume that you picked up on visual tells at the World Series.

CM: At first it was tough. I knew people were nervous or had twitches, but I didn't know what it all meant. It took me until about the fourth day to figure out what some of them meant. I made a couple of big calls on the fourth day with virtually nothing, because I had a good feeling that they were bluffing. However, I relied mostly on betting patterns.

JS: What was your final-table strategy?

CM: I really had nothing to lose. I went in as the chip leader, and I needed fifth place to pay off my house. I was trying to move up the ladder without losing my lead, and eventually I realized that I was heads up with Sammy. I've played lots of heads-up matches on the Internet, so I knew which hands can win at heads-up play. I was lucky to flop two pair when Sammy had top pair on the final hand. I am still in shock.

JS: Was there a point in the tournament when you thought you had a chance to win?

CM: (Laughing) I thought I had a chance after we got all in on the last hand and I had two pair against Sammy's one pair. Yes, there was a point that I thought I could play with these guys. On the second day, Phil Ivey and Johnny Chan took turns slapping me around. I kept on thinking, how often do these guys have aces or flop sets? I was playing so scared that I decided to come back on the third day and not play the same way. After all, my chips went from $180,000 down to $100,000, and I needed to change my game plan. So, on the third day I knocked out Johnny Chan when I flopped top pair with the nut-flush draw, and at that moment, I thought I was good enough to at least be at the same table with these guys.

JS: Chris, I saw you bluff at a huge pot on the fourth day with most of your chips at stake, and then you showed it. Do you always show bluffs?

CM: I bluffed a lot and never got caught except when I tried to bluff Sammy off a set of aces. I was showing bluffs, and then I bluffed Scotty Nguyen and decided not to show it out of respect, and was worried that the players may pick up information on me. I wasn't sure if I had a monster tell or not, so I stopped showing my bluffs.

JS: What advice do you think can help beginners?

CM: Find a style that works for you. Mix it up and do what you are comfortable with. You don't need to bluff a lot if it makes you uncomfortable. Make sure you have a flexible game plan.

JS: Which players impressed you the most?

CM: Sammy was awesome and played a lot of hands. It was hard to figure out what he had. Also, Olaf from Sweden, who also qualified like me, played great poker, always putting people to the decision. I really thought Phil Ivey would win. He played very well and is so aggressive.

JS: Who were the most entertaining players?

CM: Marcel Luske from Amsterdam would stand up and sing when he moved all in. Also, Scotty Nguyen made a huge bluff before the flop when he reraised with an 8-3 and showed it to the cameras.

JS: Poker is getting very close to obtaining sponsorships. Was there any product that you used throughout the tournament? I think Scotty Nguyen may have gotten a beer sponsor from when he won.

CM: Damn, I should have had a few beers. I did wear Oakley sunglasses the entire time I played. I would love to get free sunglasses, because they are way too expensive.

JS: Chris, I know I am calling you while you are at work, so I will let you get back to business. Keep your head on straight, and enjoy this tremendous accomplishment.

CM: Thanks, Jeff. I still don't realize how big this is.