Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Las Vegas poker team’s first aim is to draw fans

poker playing tips from the pros

Chris Moneymaker

The World Series of Poker won’t be the only game in town this summer drawing fanfare for pitting the world’s top players against one another.

The 47th annual WSOP, which opens Wednesday with the first of 68 tournaments through July, runs concurrently to the continued first season of the Global Poker League. The GPL is an international competition featuring 12 teams from America, Europe and Asia with six-man rosters that face off in three poker-playing arenas — live, in-studio and online.

Heads-up matches will be contested all summer from GPL’s local studio, and streamed live on gpl.tv and twitch.tv. All matches are aired through the websites, culminating with the November finals from London.

Chris Moneymaker, who turned a $39 satellite entry fee into a $2.5 million prize in the 2003 WSOP Main Event and helped revolutionize poker, is captain of the Las Vegas team.

Moneymaker plays for the team but also drafted four accomplished poker pros as well as the mandated wild card, required to be someone ranked outside of the Global Poker Index’s top 1,000 players.

The Sunday spoke to each team member to find out why they’re proud to represent Las Vegas and more.

Chris Moneymaker

Chris Moneymaker is the manager of the Las Vegas Moneymakers. He’s a Team PokerStars pro and has amassed more than $3.5 million in poker winnings.

I wanted to represent Vegas because I won the WSOP there in 2003; it would be hard to top that. I almost moved to Vegas with my family last year; it’s like an adult Disneyland.

I didn’t draft strictly for poker skills. There are players who are perceived to be better in terms of rankings, but I went for other qualities. I had two strategies in mind: one was drafting underdogs — newcomers nobody had heard of — who couldn’t afford to play a $10,000 buy-in. The other strategy was players with a large following, to give the GPL the exposure it needs to grow.

We want to win and we definitely can. I want us to be competitive but also to be active in making the league popular, to bring new players to the game. I’d like us to be the most influential team in the league. The first season is about drawing a fan base and growing the league so it picks up more teams. Then, we can win seasons 2 and 3.

Jonathan Duhamel

Jonathan Duhamel is a Canadian poker pro with three World Series of Poker bracelets and over $17 million in poker winnings.

Las Vegas is where my poker career started, when I won the Main Event of the WSOP in 2010. Last year, I won the WSOP High Roller and my second bracelet, so it’s the city where I’ve had the most success.

I have so much respect for Chris Moneymaker – he’s a nice guy who’s done a lot for poker, so I’m honored to be picked by him. I’m looking forward to doing the best I can to make him proud he selected me. Our team is dynamic — we’ve got fun people with good characters and great poker skills.

Anthony Zinno

Anthony Zinno is a WSOP bracelet winner with three World Poker Tour championships and over $5 million in poker winnings.

I was surprised to be a first pick because I burst onto the poker scene recently in 2013, and there were lots of draftable players who’d been around many years. I’ve looked up to Chris since he won the Main Event in 2003. I saw him on TV and thought, “Good for him.” He treats everyone with respect and welcomes players coming into the game.

I became a professional poker player to spend more time in Vegas. I’d watched the movie “Rounders” where Matt Damon’s goal is to acquire a bankroll and head to Vegas. I travel a lot, but I have an apartment here, so Vegas is officially home.

I love Las Vegas – it’s the center of poker and everybody’s happy.

Jonathan Little

Jonathan Little has more than $6 million in poker earnings. He’s the author of “Excelling at No Limit Hold’em” and the winner of two World Poker Tour Championships.

When I think of poker, I think of Las Vegas. It’s where I got my start playing live poker. I won my first World Poker Tour title at the Mirage. It’s still the World Poker Tour win I think of most.

I’ve been coming to Vegas since I was 21, and I lived there for six years — and I’d live there again. Vegas is a great city with a lot to offer, so I’m proud to represent it in the GPL and to be on the team with Chris, who got the whole poker boom started. I felt honored to be drafted.

Jake Cody

Jake Cody is a British WSOP bracelet winner, a World Poker Tour Champion and a European Poker Tour Champion. He’s a Team PokerStars pro with over $4 million in poker winnings.

Las Vegas feels like a second home to me. I’ve spent more time here than anywhere, except where I grew up. The WSOP has a special aura; people flock to it from all over the world. Las Vegas is the home of poker, so playing for the Las Vegas Moneymakers is like playing for the home team.

I want people to get behind us because we’ve got team spirit and we’re representing the home of poker.

Scott Ball

Scott Ball is the poker manager at Twitch and the wild card of the team. His total live-tournament earnings amount to less than $40,000.

People will be surprised by me being drafted. Most people know me for the work I do in the poker industry, but I actually play a ton of cash games. The first televised cash game I played was in Vegas. It was “Poker Night in America” on CBS Sports with legends like Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu.

I’m hoping people underestimate me. I look forward to that. A lot of these guys don’t know how I play. They don’t have as many hands with me as they do with each other, so I hope that will be an advantage.

My teammates are awesome. We’re a fun group of guys, so you should say hello if you see us anywhere.

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