‘Family card games made me a millionaire’
British player tells how he gave up bridge to win fortune from poker
ONE of Britain’s most successful poker stars has told how playing bridge as a child with his parents led to his multimillion-pound career.
Chris Moorman started playing poker as a “broke student” at Essex University and has won $13,386,477( about £10 million) online. He is number nine on the list of England’s all-time winners, with total net earnings of about $4.1 million (£3.1 million) in his 11-year career.
The 31-year-old millionaire, who was brought up in Southend-on-Sea, said: “I first started playing card games as a kid with my parents. They taught me how to play bridge but then I rebelled and didn’t want to play an old person’s game any more.
“My friends and I were broke students and we got into poker to make some money.
“I am ultra-competitive, quite obsessive, and I got obsessed with the game. I’m pretty sure I have a photographic memory, which helps too.”
Moorman, who now lives in Canada with his wife, said professional poker did not live up to its glitzy image, adding: “Poker is not as glam as people think. People think it’s very Bond but in reality it’s not. You work all-night clubs and it’s long hours, plus you spend a lot of time in airports. You have to be resilient.”
Moorman was one of a handful of Bri t i sh pl ayers to compete at t he recent World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, where buy-into games cost up to $111,111 (about £83,000). Prize money for some games totalled $8 mil- lion (about £6 million). He said it was an achievement for him to be still competing.
“I am pleased to be still making money from it as a lot of players crash out young,” he added.
“Gambling in its nature is addictive so a lot of people have to walk away because of that.
“The key to my success has been longevity — I have outlasted a lot of others — and grit and determination. Also you have to be a good loser and not be frustrated by big losses.”
Moorman is also an ambassador for 888poker, the main sponsor of the World Series of Poker.