Joe Cavaretta / AP file

Chris Moneymaker won his final hand of the 2003 World Series of Poker and became champion out of nowhere. Moneymaker was a young accountant who emerged from anonymity with his $40 dollar investment to beat 829 players on way to winning $2.5 million, becoming the ultimate moneymaker.

Those who have won the coveted championship bracelet are lucky and good, and for some the World Series has forever altered their lives. Moneymaker’s life has changed dramatically since he won in 2003.

He quit his job nine months after winning the World Series, then went through a divorce. “My wife didn’t marry a poker player,” he said. He fell in love with another woman and remarried. He bought a new house in Nashville, Tenn., and started two companies, Moneymaker Gaming, a chip company, and the Chan-Moneymaker Academy, a chain of poker schools with the former champion.

Now, at 29, Moneymaker says “there are days I wake up and I can’t believe what’s happened.”

The burly, 41-year-old Raymer, too, has seen his life shift in good and bad ways. He also left his day job behind to follow the poker trail, making a career out of what had been a semiprofessional passion.

“All the travel is the biggest change I feel on a daily basis,” he said. “I’m on the road 75 percent of the time, traveling from one major poker tournament to another, representing PokerStars.com, doing appearances at various charity and corporate events. I like everything except the time away from my family. I don’t get to see my wife and 8-year-old daughter as much as I would prefer.”

On the scarier side of fame and fortune, Raymer found himself the target of an attempted robbery at gunpoint at the Bellagio in Las Vegas last December.

“They grabbed me as I was entering my room and were trying to push me in,” he said. “They had duct tape, so they were presumably going to tie me up and rob me. The way it played out, I had no choice. I couldn’t cooperate. My whole decision was what was most likely to keep me alive.”

Like a true poker champion, he considered the odds of the bad hand he’d been dealt and decided to fight back until his assailants fled. Two suspects have since been arrested and are scheduled to go on trial in September.

That incident aside, the affable Raymer has enjoyed his sudden rock star-like status, signing autographs and chatting with fans wherever he goes.

The same could happen to any of the players, even those with no serious hopes of winning, such as Bill Barnett, the 64-year-old mayor of Naples, Fla. He also qualified on PokerStars.com, winning a $160 double shootout against 80 other players. His prize was a seat at the World Series, worth $10,000, plus $1,000 in his online account and hotel expenses for nine nights.

“It’s doubtful I’m going to make it through nine nights,” he said. “It’s just a thrill to be able to say, ’Hey, I was there and I got to play in it and I earned my seat.’ My kids and grandkids all think it’s hysterical.”