2003 World Series of Poker


The 2003 World Series of Poker was a poker tournament held at Binion's Horseshoe. The tournament is seen as a turning point in the history of competitive poker, as amateur Chris Moneymaker's victory in the main event despite no prior tournament experience was widely regarded as bringing with it a surge in public interest and popularity in the game, known as the Moneymaker effect, or the Poker boom. Moneymaker entered the tournament from a ticket won in an online PokerStars table.

Events

There were 35 preliminary bracelet events at the 2003 World Series of Poker. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth all tied Johnny Moss's career bracelet record with their ninth. Men Nguyen finished runner-up in two events in this World Series.
#DateEventEntriesWinnerPrizeRunner-upResults
1April 15, 2003$500 Casino Employees Limit Hold'em208David Lukaszewski $35,800Paul Trieglaff
2April 16, 2003$2,000 Limit Hold'em422Mohammed Ibrahim $290,420Jon Brody
3April 17, 2003$1,500 Seven-card stud177Toto Leonidas $98,760Rallis Peter Tanagiotias
4April 18, 2003$2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split175Chris Ferguson $123,680Barry Bindelglass
5April 19, 2003$2,000 No Limit Hold'em407Jim Meehan $280,100Guy Calvert
6April 20, 2003$1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em212Prahlad Friedman $109,400Bernd Rygol
7April 21, 2003$1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split190Minh Nguyen $106,020Bob Mangino
8April 22, 2003$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha117Erik Seidel $146,100Men Nguyen
9April 23, 2003$2,000 H.O.R.S.E.113Doyle Brunson $84,080Brian Haveson
10April 24, 2003$2,000 1/2 Hold'em, 1/2 Seven Card Stud89Chris Ferguson $66,220Diego Cordovez
11April 25, 2003$2,500 No Limit Hold'em259Phi Nguyen $222,800Jim Miller
12April 26, 2003$2,500 Limit Hold'em194Phil Hellmuth $171,400Young Phan
13April 27, 2003$2,500 Seven Card Stud103Michael Saltzburg $95,580Mimi Tran
14April 28, 2003$5,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw28O'Neil Longson $147,680Allen Cunningham
15April 29, 2003$5,000 No Limit Hold'em127Johnny Chan $224,400Surinder Sunar
16April 30, 2003$1,500 Limit Omaha120Eddy Scharf $63,600Dave Colclough
17May 1, 2003$1,500 Limit Hold'em346John Arrage $178,600Kathy Liebert
18May 2, 2003$2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split135Layne Flack $119,260Men Nguyen
19May 3, 2003$2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em214Mickey Appleman $147,280Brian Plona
20May 4, 2003$1,000 Seniors' No Limit Hold'em378Ron Rose $130,060Ron McMillan
21May 5, 2003$2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split140John Juanda $130,200Shawn Sheikhan
22May 6, 2003$1,500 No Limit Hold'em531Amir Vahedi $270,000Cleve Haley
23May 7, 2003$2,000 S.H.O.E.135Daniel Negreanu $100,440Jim Pechac
24May 8, 2003$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha85Johnny Chan $158,100Emmanuel Sebag
25May 9, 2003$1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout220Layne Flack $120,000Annie Duke
26May 10, 2003$3,000 Limit Hold'em154Tom Jacobs $163,000Jan Sjavik
27May 11, 2003$5,000 Seven-Card Razz30Huck Seed $71,500Phil Ivey
28May 11, 2003$1,000 Ladies' 1/2 Hold'em, 1/2 Stud112Barb Rugolo $40,700J. J. Liu
29May 12, 2003$1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split259Frankie O'Dell $133,760Bill Schonsheck
30May 13, 2003$3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em218Charles Keith Lehr $225,040Chris Ferguson
31May 14, 2003$5,000 Seven Card Stud96Men Nguyen $178,560Mel Judah
32May 15, 2003$3,000 No Limit Hold'em398Phil Hellmuth $410,860Daniel Negreanu
33May 16, 2003$2,500 Pot Limit Omaha120John Juanda $203,840O'Neil Longson
34May 17, 2003$5,000 Limit Hold'em143Carlos Mortensen $251,680Mark Gregorich
35May 18, 2003$1,500 Ace to Five Triple Draw Lowball78Men Nguyen $43,520Charles Keith Lehr
36May 19, 2003$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event839Chris Moneymaker $2,500,000Sam Farha

Main Event

There were 839 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter, with the top 63 players finishing in the money. It was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick and mortar casino at the time. Many entrants, including the overall winner Chris Moneymaker, won their seat in online poker tournaments. Moneymaker defeated professional Sam Farha heads-up with two pair, which improved to a full house on the river, over Farha's pair of jacks. The 2003 Main Event was the first tournament to pay out at least $2,500,000 to the winner. Dan Harrington made the final table and looked to win his second Main Event championship, but fell short in third place.

Final table

In The Money Finishes

NB: This list is restricted to In The Money finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.
PlaceNamePrize
10thPhil Ivey$82,700
11thMinh Nguyen$80,000
12thDutch Boyd$80,000
13thFreddy Deeb$65,000
14thMarcel Lüske$65,000
15thBruno Fitoussi$65,000
16thOlof Thorson-
18thScotty Nguyen$55,000
19thHoward Lederer$45,000
23rdDennis Waterman$45,000
25thMen Nguyen$45,000
27thPhil Hellmuth$45,000
29thVictor Ramdin$35,000
31stJeff Shulman$35,000
34thKen Lennaárd$35,000
41stHumberto Brenes$25,000
42ndKevin Song$25,000
45thPaul Darden$25,000
47thAnnie Duke$20,000
49thBarry Greenstein$20,000
54thJulian Gardner$20,000
55thDavid Chiu$15,000
56thJulien Studley$15,000