By John D. Thomas

Flops. Draws. Rivers. Calls.

The swank bars that rim the Bahamas' Atlantis resort were abuzz with poker lingo. In January, the vacation paradise played host to the second annual PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure, a high-stakes tournament with a $3.4 million purse. During breaks, players quaffed beers and chatted manically about the luck, or lack thereof, of their draws.

The tournament attracted more than 450 players to this laid-back sun-kissed isle. Among them was a 29-year-old Nashvillian with a preternaturally appropriate last name whose recent rise from humble, anonymous IT accountant to millionaire poker world champ is one of American pop culture's true 21st-century Cinderella sagas.

Chris Moneymaker, who began playing in earnest after watching the 1998 poker flick Rounders, bagged his place in the 2003 World Series of Poker after plunking down a measly $40 in a PokerStars.com online qualifier. Eventually, he would be the last man at the green felt table in Vegas, lording over a monstrous stack of chips worth two-and-a-half mil.

Since then, poker has exploded on television, and Moneymaker now seems to get more airtime than Peter Jennings. We flew to the Atlantis to find out what his life has been like since becoming one of the most well known players in the world's hottest sport. Intense and soft-spoken with a strongman grip, the champ chatted with Playboy.com in a giant empty ballroom, just after he had been knocked out of the tournament, placing about 180th out of 461. He spoke freely about poker nights with Spider-Man, his thoughts on gambling addictions, his overnight fame and much more.