Former poker champions fare well on first day of heads-up tourney

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, March 6, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Chris Moneymaker thinks he deserves more credit.

Sure, Moneymaker is often referred to as the cause of the worldwide poker boom after he qualified for the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event through an online satellite and went on to win the championship.

But Moneymaker hasn’t fared well in major tournaments since then and said he doesn’t receive the respect he should for his poker accomplishments.

“Poker players don’t respect my game at all,” Moneymaker said. “That’s fine. I could care less.”

Moneymaker could change that perception this weekend with a strong showing at the sixth annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He got off to a fast start Friday at Caesars Palace, where he knocked off revered cash game professional Patrick Antonius in less than 30 minutes to advance to the second round.

“I know going into this match, I was a huge underdog,” Moneymaker said. “In my mind, I wasn’t. I always feel like I’m a favorite when I play anybody.”

Moneymaker wasn’t the only former world champion of poker to make noise with his performance in the first round. Each of the last seven Main Event winners were invited to the National Heads-Up Championship and five of them won their first match in the single-elimination, bracket-style contest.

Right after Moneymaker made quick work of Antonius for the first elimination of the day, 2006 champion Jamie Gold upset Italian professional Dario Minieri.

Jamie Gold did it in his signature fashion. Gold, who became famous for his table talk during his World Series run, encouraged Minieri to a call a bet on the river of a sizable pot by flashing one of his hole cards.

Gold showed Minieri a seven after a four came on both the turn and the river, but kept his other card concealed. Minieri decided to call and Gold flipped over his other card, a four, for three of a kind to take a big lead.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be the best player, but I think I can out-talk anyone,” Gold said. “A lot of times, I think I can win by trying to use my wits.”

Gold will take on online qualifier Stephen Quinn in the second round Saturday, while Moneymaker will face Leo Wolpert, who won the 2009 World Series of Poker Heads-Up championship.

“This event is so cool,” Gold said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but I’m glad to be here.”

The tournament will play through two more rounds Saturday, with the final eight reconvening Sunday to determine a champion.

The other recent World Series champions who are still in field are Peter Eastgate, Jerry Yang and Joe Hachem.

Eastgate, who won the Main Event in 2008, knocked out Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier in the first round and Yang, who won in 2007, took out Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. Hachem, the 2005 champion, beat poker pro Shawn Rice.

Joe Cada, last year’s winner, couldn’t get past David Williams.