Renaissance continues for Chris Moneymaker with $179K win in Punta del Este

Chris Moneymaker continued his red-hot run in 2024 with a win on the southeastern coast of Uruguay in the Enjoy Poker Tour Main Event for $179,770. 

The Enjoy Poker Tour in Punte del Este, which runs until August 10, offered a flagship Main Event with a $1,000,000 guarantee and drew 657 entries with a $1,650 buy-in. Moneymaker took it down with several final table bustouts after he fought back from just three big blinds earlier on the final day. 

It's another victory in a stellar 2024 after Moneymaker won a $25K buy-in event in May at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro for $903,000 before he took third in the $40K Mystery Bounty for $311K at the same series. 

The Enjoy Poker Tour Main Event final table

'We're now on Plan B'

"Plan A was to play good, Plan B was to be lucky and get there," Moneymaker told Twitter/X after he fought back from just three big blinds to reach the final table. "We're now on Plan B."

Moneymaker entered the final table in third behind Oscar Alache and Gaspar Fernandez and he sat in the second spot when six players remained. Knockouts of Bartolo Belluscio in sixth, Fernandez in fifth, and Gonzalo Jose in third gave the champ the lead going into heads-up play against Francisco Benitez. 

After Moneymaker extended the lead in heads-up play, the big moment came when he held against the of Benitez. With a board showing , Benitez fired a bet with a pair of fives into a check-raise from Moneymaker. Benitez called and the rest of the chips went in on the river to give Moneymaker the victory with two pair. 

The win notches Moneymaker's lifetime earnings up near $7.7 million, according to the Hendon Mob. He will now head to Daytona Beach Racing and Card Club where the next stop on the Moneymaker Tour will take place from August 7-19. 

Enjoy Poker Tour Main Event final table results

^{Lead image courtesy of ACR Poker.}