The Humble Logger with a Forest of Chips

Darvin Moon may be more comfortable with a chainsaw in his hands and work boots on his feet, but the small-town logger from Oakland, Maryland has more than held his own at the 2009 WSOP main event. As play suspended for the November Nine, Moon had established himself as the overwhelming chip leader with nearly 59 million in chips — more than 24 million ahead of his closest competitor.

But don’t think for one second that his enormous chip lead has gotten to his head.

“There were 6,494 players in (the main event) this year, and there were probably 6,300 people in it who are better than I am,” said Moon.

In a time when many poker players proclaim their greatness and pat themselves on the pack for their play, Moon says that he is just on the run of his life.

How He Got Here

Moon isn’t your typical main-event entrant. He’s never had a lot of money to his name, and he genuinely doesn’t seem to care about earning any fame or notoriety. But the 45-year-old logger found himself with the opportunity to play in the biggest tournament of the year thanks to a satellite tournament he won in neighboring West Virginia.

He entered the $130 qualifier because he loves the competition of poker. Once he won it, he was faced with a decision. He could play or he could take the $10,000 buy-in and return home.

His family was split on his choice. His dad told him to take the money and run, his wife Wendy said to do what he wanted, and his brother encouraged him to play.

Moon was thinking about investing the $10,000 into his small, three-man logging business that also employed his brother and his brother-in-law.

“The timber industry is terrible right now,” said Moon. “I told my brother that I was just going to take the money because it’ll help us with the business.”

His brother’s response: “You’re a fool. Play. We don’t need that $10,000 in the business. We’ve never had it there, we don’t need it now.”

So, in the spirit of good competition, Moon decided to play. Two weeks later, he is guaranteed to win more than $1.26 million and with his immense lead, he will likely win much more. The winner of the 2009 main event will receive more than $8.5 million.

Incredibly, Moon seems almost indifferent to the sum of money and he’s expressed that sentiment throughout the main event.

“I’ve always been poor. I can be poor after this,” said Moon, who likely will never have to face that reality again.

Asked what he might buy with his new fortune, not too much comes to Moon’s mind.

“My wife wants a lawnmower, but we don’t need a lawnmower,” said Moon. “But I told my dad if I win, I’m buying him a new pink Cadillac.”

The mild-mannered and quiet-spoken Moon clearly has a sense of humor. The idea of watching his dad, who has been in the sawmill business for 45 years, drive around in a pink car makes him smile. So does the look on his friends’ faces, who are diehard NFL Pittsburgh Steelers fan, every time he sports his New Orleans Saints cap.

His Start in Poker

Moon first playing cards when he was just 12 years old.

“I played seven card stud with my granddad years ago,” said Moon, but he admits it wasn’t exactly a profitable or a successful hobby. “He beat me like a dog, and got mad if I ever won.”

But he only picked up Texas hold’em three years ago.

“Me, my oldest brother, and eight or ten other guys, we used to play softball all the time but we got a little too old for softball. We had to find something else to do,” said Moon. “We started playing at fire halls about two or three times a week with 60 or 70 people in every tournament. We raise money for the fire halls and for charities and stuff.”

Most of the time, the tournaments feature just a $30 buy-in. Moon has never played poker online, preferring the company of his local competitors.

“I’ve lived in Oakland, Maryland my whole life. It’s a real laid-back, small town. I know there are more rooms in this casino (the Rio) than in the city limits of Oakland,” said Moon.

His Chances in November

Moon has been telling anyone who interviews him that he is merely the product of an incredible run of cards. In a year in which skill and experience have shown their significance — players who identified themselves as “pros” or “semi-pros” won 46 of the 56 bracelets bestowed this summer — Moon is once again reminding everyone that anyone can win.

“It’s easy to play when you get pocket aces six times a day and flop [a set] three out of six times,” said Moon. “My run in this tournament is pure luck. I haven’t had to show no skill at all. I haven’t been down to the point where I had to fight to get my chip stack back up.”

But while he claims has simply been the luckiest player in Las Vegas, he remembers a hand he played with Antonio Esfandiari that might discredit his self-promoted “no-skill” reputation.

Esfandiari, perhaps the most well known pro besides Phil Ivey still left in the tournament at the time, was eliminated in 24th place.

Moon and Esfandiari tangled in a big pot on Day 7, where Moon took more than half of Esfandiari’s stack without ever showing his cards.

In this particular hand, Moon raised from the small blind to see Esfandiari call from the big blind. On a Q 3 3 flop, Moon checked, Esfandiari bet, Moon then check-raised, only to see Esfandiari fire yet another bet. Within a few seconds, Moon pushed all in, prompting Esfandiari to throw his cards into the muck.

The hand — with a pot of nearly 4.3 million — sent Moon’s stack up to 12 million, while it was a devastating blow for Esfandiari, as his stack dwindled to under 3 million at the time.

“I think he was trying to make a move on me and I made a move on him, and he had to lay it down,” said Moon. “You’ll see it on TV. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Don’t expect to see a whole lot of Moon in the months ahead, or even in the next year even if he wins the main event.

“If I win it, that’ll be the last day they you me until next year, when I come back and play again,” said Moon, explaining that’s why he has yet to sign a sponsorship deal with any poker site. “They wanted to tie me up for a year with them. So if they want me to go somewhere, I had to go…When I get done here, I’m going back to work in my little town and I’m going to get away from everybody.”

Clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight, he says the only reason he accepts interviews with the media is because he thought it’d be rude if he didn’t.

Still, Moon is thrilled that he decided to play the main event.

“This is something I’ll never forget, but something I’ll probably never go through again. I can’t imagine going on tour and doing this every day,” said Moon. “I mean, I envy those guys. Those guys are at a level 10 times above me, because they can handle all that mental stuff. I couldn’t mentally handle this all the time. If I had to play two more days, I’d go down.”

Although the four-month delay could end Moon’s hot streak, it’s obvious that the time off will help him recharge. In the months ahead, expect him to be back in the woods of Maryland, chainsaw in hand.

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