Online poker and World
Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker held a press conference
at Jacksonville Landing last weekend to start his own poker supply
company.
Moneymaker, who parlayed his $10,000 World Series entrance fee into
$2.5 million in winnings launched Moneymaker Gaming which manufactures
everything poker, from high-end poker sets, gaming accessories, apparel
and licensed commemorative chips.
The company has license agreements with Death Row Records, Johnny Chan and FHM Hottie, Vida Guerra.
The interest in poker is so great, that the year after Moneymaker beat out 837 players to win the World Series of Poker's main event, the field tripled in size to 2,576. This year, organizers expect 5,000 people to pay the $10,000 World Series entry fee.
"After Moneymaker, poker hit a real critical mass," says Bhu Srinivasan, publisher of the new poker magazine, All In. "The growth was tremendous." With an estimated 70 million Americans now playing the game, media companies are betting big on poker.