GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 11 - January 2010

In2003, thedrive tobring standards and accountability to the industry continued with the foundingof thee-CommerceOn- line Gaming and Assurance (eCOGRA) association. At the time, eCOGRA’s mis- sionwas “to establish standards tomake online gambling safer for players everywhere.” Because there weren’t uni- form rules and regulations across jurisdictions, eCOGRA aimed to develop its own standards that could be ap- plied across the online gam- ing industry. Itbegan toaudit online casinos to ensure that its standardswerebeingmet, and that the sites were safe and fair forplayers. eCOGRA later expanded its “Safe and Fair” seal to affiliates and affiliate pro- grams.But themoveprovedcontroversial when eCOGRA initially declined to take actionagainstGrandPrivéwhen it ended its affiliate program but kept its casino open. In December of 2009, eCOGRA agreed to help mediate the dispute be- tween Grand Privé and its former affili- ates. The results of their efforts were not knownat press time. WhileeCOGRAwasbusy trying toensure online gaming siteswere on the level, the onlinepoker industry tookoff likea rock- et thanks to aman named ChrisMoney- maker. In 2003, Moneymaker was living in Ten- nessee, plying his trade as an accountant andoccasionallyplayingpokeron theside. One day, Moneymaker plopped down 39 bucks inPokerStars to try andwin an en- try into theprestigious$10,000WorldSe- ries of Poker Main Event. He won the satellite tournament and traveled to Las Vegas to play in his first live tourna- ment. The 2003 fieldhad839 players, includingmost of the greatest players in the world. And it was there that Chris Moneymaker authoreda story that Hollywoodwouldn’t dare dreamof. The27-year-old servednotice that he would be a force to be reckoned with when he tangled a few timeswith two-time championandpoker legendJohnnyChanandeventuallyelim- inated him. Moneymaker then knocked out poker shark Humberto Brenes on a terrible beat and sent Phil Ivey – the Ti- Online gambling was growing by leaps and bounds in 2002, and so were the amounts ofmoney beingwagered online. And as the amount wagered online went up, so did the progressive jackpots. And in 2002, the first real “big one” was hit. AtCaptainCooksCasino,one luckyplayer hit theMajorMillionsprogressive jackpot towin$1,594,000.Now,progressive jack- pots routinely top that figure. Poker players everywhere wanted to be Chris Moneymaker . . . the pokerplayerwhowon$2.5million and thepokerplayerwhoqualified for theWSOP ina$39onlinepoker tournament. 13 Online Gaming Stories of the Decade