Fortunately, the poker industry has devised a simple and effective approach for bringing players with lower bankrolls into the largest tournaments: satellite qualifiers.

For those who are unfamiliar with the satellite setup, this is a well guarded secret. Before a huge competition, folks searching for cheap seats should attend a smaller event where the prize is a larger competition area rather than cash.

Mastering the game of poker, like anything else in life, requires a lot of effort, dedication, and patience. Many of today's well-known poker players did not have an easy path to where they are. Many people have drawn inspiration from their rags-to-riches stories.

Here are some of the world's most famous poker players, along with their poker stories from when they were just average poker players.

Sam Trickett Sam Trickett is the top cash game player in the world and ranks seventh all-time in tournament and event rankings. He also serves as a brand ambassador for Starpoker.in. Trickett is presently the 12th-highest earner in tournament history. However, his waking dream is not a fairy tale.

Poker was never Trickett's first love. He wanted to be a professional football player before anything else. Trickett briefly played for Hartlepool United before his ambitions were shattered by an ACL injury. He enjoyed playing poker as a hobby, but he tragically lost $50,000 in just six months!

Despite losing the heads-up match to Antonio Esfandiari, Trickett placed second in the $1 million buy-in Big One for Drop tournament at the 2010 WSOP and earned approximately $10 million in prize money! A true inspiration to many aspiring poker players!

Moneymaker, Chris In 2003, right before the start of the mid-year WSOP season in Las Vegas, a mysterious bookkeeper named Chris Moneymaker made a very common error.

Moneymaker signed up for a $86 "feeder" satellite by accident when visiting PokerStars' homepage in quest of a normal competition to compete in.

Despite being compelled to engage in a position he didn't want to be in, Moneymaker got right to work, stacking chips and eliminating opponents. Soon after, he "changed out" of the feeder satellite and won a seat in a $650 "ultra qualifier" satellite that provided three $10,000 WSOP Main Event slots.

Rather of allowing his chip stack to drain and die, Moneymaker ended up putting on a poker show for the ages. You can watch his most notable hits on YouTube, but for my money, the most important hand of the competition was Moneymaker against a young Ivey.

The competition was down to ten players, which meant that the next one to break would take over the authority at the last table. Ivey was by far the most talented player in the room, and the overwhelming favorite to win the World Championship of No Limit Texas Hold'em, but fate had other plans.

Moneymaker persuaded Ivey to call with only pocket 9s when his A-Q failed to hit trip Queens, only to have a 9 hit the turn. As soon as all of the chips were placed in the middle, the most important hand of the 2003 WSOP Main Event began. Moneymaker would need an Ace, Queen, or 6 to build his own full space, and wouldn't you know it, the merchant provided in spades.

Daniel Cates Daniel Cates is a former University of Maryland student studying economics who is also well-known on the online poker scene. He is one of the world's top heads-up No-Limit Texas Hold 'em players.

Daniel won the most money in poker that year, at almost $5,000,000. In 2014, Daniel earned over $11,000,000 in online cash games at PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Oh my God! Was it always this easy? Daniel disagrees.

He states that in his early days, he incurred considerable losses and was obliged to work odd jobs, such as at McDonald's, to support himself. However, he is currently one of the most well-known poker players, both in the world of online poker and in live poker events.