In March 2004, Chris Moneymaker came within one hand of winning a World Poker Tour title less than a year after his famous WSOP Main Event victory. He finished runner-up at the Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship for $200,000, losing heads-up to Phil Gordon. With the Bay 101 Shooting Star returning to San Jose this month, PokerNews' throwback has revived the story, and it is worth another look.
It is a tale of timing, variance and the poker boom's most iconic player.
The setting
The Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship of 2004 was the tournament's first year under the World Poker Tour brand. The field was striking: 243 runners created a $1.1 million prize pool, nearly double the size of previous editions. PokerNews attributes much of that jump to the surge of interest in poker after Moneymaker's 2003 WSOP win, in which he turned an online satellite into $2.5 million.
Twenty-seven players cashed in the event, including big names such as Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer and Prahlad Friedman. For a regional California tournament, it was a star-studded field, and it shows how quickly the poker boom transformed live events.
The path to heads-up
Moneymaker reached heads-up against Phil Gordon, a Full Tilt Poker pro and member of the Tiltboys. A WPT title would have given Moneymaker major championships in both the WSOP and WPT within ten months, a rare double that would have cemented him as more than a one-hit wonder.
The final stage was decided in a three-way all-in. Moneymaker held pocket jacks, third-place finisher Masoud Shojaei had ten-six, and Gordon held ace-seven, covering both opponents. An ace flopped, giving Gordon the dominant hand, and the runout favoured him. Gordon claimed the $360,000 first prize, while Moneymaker took home $200,000.
The maths of the hand
The hand is a good teaching example. Moneymaker's pocket jacks were a substantial favourite against ace-seven and ten-six in a three-way pot. But in a three-way all-in with pocket jacks against two lower-ranked hands, the jacks are favourites, but not overwhelmingly so; they still lose a meaningful share of the time. You can test equities on our poker odds calculator, and our equity explainer walks through why favourites lose so often.
For tournament players, the lesson is that even the best hands lose regularly, and that the correct decision does not guarantee the correct result. Our poker odds page has tables for common matchups.
Gordon's reflection
Gordon later spoke warmly about Moneymaker, saying: "Chris has been amazing in the poker world. None of us would be here today, no one would care about poker were it not for Chris." It is a generous statement from the man who beat him, and it captures Moneymaker's legacy. He did not just win a tournament; he sparked a global shift in how people saw poker.
Why the story still matters
It reminds us how the boom began. Moneymaker's win proved that an amateur could win poker's biggest prize after qualifying online. Online qualification remains a core feature of the game today, and sites still run satellites to major live events. Our tournaments page lists online qualification routes.
It shows how WPT shaped modern poker. The World Poker Tour's televised format, with hole-card cameras and charismatic hosts, helped make poker mainstream. Today, streaming and social media have replaced traditional TV for many viewers, but the WPT still operates. Our poker on TV page explains where to watch poker in 2026.
It highlights variance. Moneymaker was the most famous poker player in the world and still lost a coin-flip-style hand for a title. If it can happen to him, it can happen to you.
The 2026 return of Bay 101
The Bay 101 Shooting Star returns to San Jose from October 16 to November 1, with an 18-event festival and the $5,300 Championship running October 23 to 27, as we covered in our Bay 101 preview. The event has endured for more than two decades and remains a fixture of the California poker calendar.
The 2004 championship drew 243 players; modern Shooting Star fields are typically far bigger, a reflection of how the game has grown. But the core appeal of the event, a big-buy-in tournament with a recognisable brand, has not changed.
What this means for players
Study the hand. Reviewing historic hands can sharpen your instincts. Ask yourself whether you would make the same all-in decision with pocket jacks in a three-way pot. Our poker strategy hub helps you analyse similar spots.
Accept variance. Great players lose coin flips. The goal is not to avoid losses but to make +EV decisions repeatedly. Our bankroll management guide explains how to survive swings.
Appreciate the qualification path. If you dream of repeating Moneymaker's journey, online satellites remain a great way to turn a small stake into a big opportunity. Our US poker page outlines where Americans can play, and our beginner poker sites page is a good place to start.
A note on legacy
Moneymaker has remained an ambassador for poker for over two decades. Whether he is playing a WSOP event, hosting a live stream or promoting a poker festival, he continues to bring newcomers into the game. His near-win at Bay 101 does not detract from that legacy; it humanises it.
The story also underscores how little the fundamentals have changed. A three-way all-in with pocket jacks, an ace on the flop, a champion denied: poker today is played with solvers and streaming, but the drama is the same.
Bottom line
Moneymaker's 2004 near-miss is more than nostalgia. It is a reminder of poker's boom years, a lesson in variance and a preview of why the Bay 101 Shooting Star remains relevant. If you are in San Jose this month, you will be playing in the shadow of a story that helped define modern poker.