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Chris Moneymaker (credit: Wikipedia)

The first online poker rooms began to appear in the mid-90s after the passage of the government of Antigua and Bermuda’s free trade and Processing Zone Act which allowed online casinos and sportsbooks to open up shop. Around this time, Microgaming and CryptoLogic were founded. They essentially created the software framework necessary to run an online poker room including the ability to accept real money wagers over the ‘net.

However, the internet poker boon didn’t reach its peak until the new millennium had launched. Two factors are often cited as the impetus for this. First, there was the increase of televised poker tournaments, due to the innovation of the lipstick camera. Now, viewers had the opportunity to play along with their favorite poker players. They had a bird’s eye view of people’s hole cards. In 2003, the launch of the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel brought the game into millions of homes each week…and it got people excited.

Later that year, a young accountant from Tennessee named Chris Moneymaker qualified for the World Series of Poker online at PokerStars. This unknown defeated the best players in the game to take the championship and prove to the world that online poker was no joke. Players could hone their game online and translate that to real-world success…and that they did in record numbers.

Moneymaker, like many of the new breed of poker players, was inspired by the 1998 film Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Ed Norton. The flick captured the world of high stakes poker and paid tribute to Johnny Chan’s impressive back-to-back WSOP Main Event wins in 1987 and 1988.

In the past few years, since the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), internet poker has changed somewhat. Younger players are making the transition from internet prodigy to live action superstar. Scandinavians have become a dominant force in the industry with players such as Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius and Annette Obrestad leading the way.

The launch of new tournament series in Asia, Latin America and Africa have made live action poker more accessible to players who had to turn to the internet for action before. As we approach the year 2010, internet poker, instead of competing with the brick & mortar variety of the game, is happily coexisting with it. Both brands have their place and the savvy poker player of today knows how to navigate the online and live action games seamlessly.

Watch Moneymaker knock Chan out of the 2003 WSOP Main Event:

Moneymaker earned his spot to the 2003 WSOP Main Event at PokerStars. Qualifiers to the 2008 WSOP Main Event are going on at this very moment. You can follow in his footsteps by heading over there ASAP!

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