The story of Chris Moorman is a digs-to-riches story. The 32 year old, now the top online poker player in the world, started playing poker online as a student.
Chris Moorman has amassed a £13 million fortune from a hobby he started in his bedroom aged 21.
He won $50,000 playing Texas Hold ‘Em by himself and within 6 months his winnings increased to £100,000.
He kept his gambling a secret from his mother at first.
“Mum would have gone mad,” he said.
I was starting to win online but covered my tracks by saying I had a job in a supermarket.
“She had only seen poker in the movies and was worried someone was going to shoot me or something. She’d cut out job ads and include notes saying, ‘For when you’ve grown out of this phase’.”
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Understandably, Chris Moorman never finished his economics degree at the University of Essex.
It took him a while to transfer his online poker skills to real life tables. Although, he did eventually end up winning more than a million in prizes in Cannes 2011 and LA 2014.
“Winnings gradually increased over the years. It would have been nice to have a huge win early on but at the same time it kept me more level-headed.”
“When I came second at Cannes, it was a bit surreal to win so much. There was another tournament in Italy, so I got a taxi over the border with €1million in my backpack. That was scary.
“The money was easy to carry because euros come in 500 notes. I wouldn’t do it again but, luckily, I got away with it.
“I didn’t make my first final table for four years, even though I was ranked No1 online.
“I was giving away information with my face, I didn’t feel 100 per cent comfortable. But I built my confidence and have been pretty consistent since 2011.”
