Party Poker Million Winner
Chris Hinchcliffe Profile
CHRIS HINCHCLIFFE WINNER THIRD PLACE IN PARTYPOKER.COM MILLION III AND HIGHEST FINISHING NON-PROFESSIONAL
There was a time when finishing third in a poker tournament alongside some of the nation’s top pros probably wouldn’t pay off much larger than a good steak dinner or even a new car. Certainly, it wasn’t a life changing experience. But those days are gone and Chris Hinchcliffe is the proof.
Finishing third in the PartyPoker.com Million III, Hinchcliffe, a construction worker from Olympia WA, took home $441,163. “I’m just a regular guy and I’ve struggled my whole life,” says Hinchcliffe. “This means I don’t have to always be looking over my shoulder. I really got lucky and this kind of money changes everything.”
An exultant Hinchcliffe, 32, plans to gift his mother with a car, bestow college funds on his nieces and nephews, treat some buddies to an elk hunting expedition and then put the rest away for a financial cushion. As a natural gas pipeline worker, he is often laid off for as many as four or five months a year in between jobs, going on unemployment during the lean times.
Hinchcliffe won his way into the tournament by playing a $25 single table satellite tournament on PartyPoker.com. With that victory in hand, he was automatically entered in a multi-table tournament of 1248 players, with the top 24 awarded an all-expense paid trip on the PartyPoker.com Million III cruise and given the tournament buy-in. Hinchcliffe finished eighth. More than 500 players competed in the tournament.
“My goal was initially just to get into the top 90 places where you could win some of the prize money,” said Hinchcliffe. “Then, when I did that, I just wanted to make the top 50 (the top 10%). But there I was on the third day, the chip leader. I couldn’t believe it. I’d made the final table. Then I set my goal to finish third…after all, I was at the same table with one of my poker heroes, Scotty Nguyen, and a group of really top pros. That way, I knew I couldn’t be disappointed if I finished third, but still achieved my goal.”
He finished behind Erick Lindgren, two-time winner on the World Poker Tour and Daniel Negreanu, youngster World Champion ever.
Hinchcliffe is a regular PartyPoker.com player. He started playing poker while in the Navy to kill time with fellow serviceman. He considers himself a recreational player, but also plays in casinos. A turning point came when he lost a whopping $12,000 playing low-stakes poker in Mesquite NV, while on the road to install a pipeline. An older veteran player saw potential, and took Hinchcliffe under his wing to teach him the finer points of the game. Hinchcliffe used what he learned in those sessions when he began playing online at PartyPoker.com in mid-2003.
“I love playing on PartyPoker.com,” he enthuses. “You can be so much more relaxed. You don’t have to get dressed up to go anywhere, just sit down at your desk. You can put on your own music and don’t have to listen to the bells and whistles from slot machines or inhale clouds of smoke.”
Hinchcliffe doesn’t plan to alter his lifestyle much, but the prize money will give him a security he’s never had. Raised by his mother in Olympia, he was a standout baseball player in high school, but an injury cut short his dreams of a college scholarship or professional baseball. He says he’ll continue playing softball, working out, fishing, and hunting. Oh yes…and looking for a girlfriend.
