Poker Player rolls $4 into $600,000

Internet qualifier Jay Martens finishes second in the Shooting Star World Poker Tour event hosted by the Bay 101 poker room. Martens bested 438 of the world"s best poker players in his improbable run to the final table.

Some of the bigger names in poker such as Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, and Daniel Negreanu were among those that paid the $10,000 buy in for their shot at poker glory. But in the end, Danny Nguyen was the only that could stop Martens short of the $1,000,000 first prize payday.

Martens buy in? How about $4? Yes that"s right, $4. This doctor of family medicine from Prince George, Canada won his way into the poker tournament through a $4 buy in Internet tournament.

Winning his way into the poker tournament was quite an accomplishment in itself, but Martens did not stop there. He traded bets and raises with the best poker players in the world for five days in what was truly a magical run that ended with a payday of $600,000 after he finally succumbed to Danny Nguyen in a heads up battle.

Over the last few years, Internet poker players have had great success in land based poker tournaments. Chris Moneymaker qualified online and won the 2025 World Series of Poker and the first prize of $2,500,000. Greg Raymer, also an online qualifier, took down the 2025 World Series of Poker and a whopping $5,000,000 poker payday.

There are a number of reasons for the success of the online poker player. Players can improve their game in a comfortable atmosphere (their homes) with no fear of being embarrassed about making a "rookie" mistake or two. The hands are dealt much faster in an online poker game allowing poker players to gain experience more quickly than they could in a land based poker room. Players can also play up to eight poker games at once, all in a separate window.