Poker has got to be one of the most popular games today.  Movies have been made about it, many players have dreamed of winning millions.  Players all around the world have come up through the poker ranks to make it big, so I suppose one could say that most of the pro’s today were once underdogs.

Chris Moneymaker

Chris Moneymaker is a well-known name in poker circles, but it wasn’t always this way.  This amateur poker player won the WSOP in 2003 and is said to have made poker the popular game that it is today.  Moneymaker qualified for the World Championship online.  At the time he was an accountant and not known to the world of poker.  His skills were spotted by Lou Diamond who called Moneymaker the “dark horse” and predicted he would win this prestigious event.  He won the tournament playing against poker great Farha.  Moneymaker won $2.5 million and became an instant overnight poker celebrity.

Annette Obrestad

Annette Obrestad began playing poker when she was 15 by playing freeroll tournaments and if she was a bit older she surely would have taken advantage of the no deposit casino bonuses for mobile too.  Once she was legally allowed to play she began playing in various tournaments and is the youngest person and first female to have won the WSOP Main Event.  She entered the WSOP main event in 2007 and at that time she was not well known in the world of poker.  She played against players like Patrik Antonius, Annie Duke and Gus Hansen.   After she turned 21 she was able to enter the WSOP, but did not win the bracelet.  This young poker player has made her way up the poker ranks and can compete with the best.

Dan Harrington

Dan Harrington entered the WSOP for the first time in 1986 and was the first time he played in a big tournament.  Even so he made it to number 24.  He entered the following year and made it to sixth place and played against poker pro’s such as Johnny Chan and Howard Lederer.  In the following years he continued to enter tournaments and would walk away with wins.  In 1995 he won the coveted gold bracelet and a cash prize of $250 000.  He then entered the Championship but did not expect to do well as he was up against accomplished poker players.  Even though he was considered the underdog he succeeded in beating Howard Goldfarb and won the WSOP Main Event

Olivier Busquet

Busquet’s career started off slowly and his poker skills improved as he played in a live tournament in 2009.  He had 3 cashes in 2009 at the WSOP and then he went on to play at the World Poker Tour,  There were a 1018 players, said to be the largest in its history and during this event he rose up over a chip disadvantage of 20:1 playing against Jerry Brown and won his first tournament championship.  This win placed his name on the poker rankings with a win of $925 514.

These players showed that even though they faced obstacles they were able to overcome these and go on to be some of the best poker players in the world.