Chris Moneymaker Ends PokerStars Partnership after 17 Years

Chris Moneymaker is bidding PokerStars a farewell after 17 years as an ambassador for the company, the company and player announced on Thursday.

Moneymaker Parts Ways with PokerStars

PokerStars has bid farewell to Chris Moneymaker, the man who helped build the competitive poker ecosystem. Announcing the news on Thursday, the company said that Moneymaker would no longer be a brand ambassador for the website, ending what has been a 17-year relationship.

Moneymaker made a name for himself when he entered the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003 through an $86 satellite event on PokerStars and topped a field of 839 players to take home $2.5 million.

After 17 years as a PokerStars Ambassador, today we say farewell to @CMONEYMAKER.
Thank you for everything you’ve done for PokerStars, the game of poker & the industry. Without you, who knows where we would all be today, we can’t thank you enough.
Farewell, but not goodbye. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/1EW9FOTWrJ

— PokerStars (@PokerStars) December 31, 2020

His success prompted PokerStars to immediately offer him a spot as a brand ambassador, with Moneymaker saying yes. Moneymaker has since been inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame, a distinction they rightly deserve.

Both Moneymaker and PokerStars seemed to part on amicable terms, with the card room releasing a short trailer about Moneymaker’s departure, and he himself, announcing in a Tweet that he was thankful and moving forward, he was going to explore slightly different endeavor, and play a little less poker.

Serving as Example for Others

Moneymaker’s career has been a string of successes, although he has never been high up the all-time earnings list, with just $3,908,482 earned from live events over the years.

PokerStars promoted Moneymaker’s success story in 2018 when they run a Moneymaker Tour with a $86 no-limit hold’em tournaments that awarded winners with $25,000 Platinum Passes for the upcoming at th time PokerStars Player Championships in the Caribbean.

Another professional to have recently bid farewell to PokerStars is Daniel Negreanu, who ended a 12-year relationship with the company and went to work with GGPoker, an emerging competitor. Liv Boeree became another famous professional to opt out of its working relationship with the world’s leading card room.

Yet, PokerStars has not been in full retreat from adding new ambassadors. In fact, PokerStars signed Neymar Jr. in December, making it the first time the company has decided to partner with the same ambassador for a second time.