Poker Professional

Chris Ferguson

If you see him, you will instantly recognize that it's Chris Ferguson. Dressed as a cowboy with his hat, long beard, and hair down past his shoulders, he is widely known as "Jesus."

He is one of poker's most accomplished men. Ferguson spent 18 years at UCLA, five as an undergraduate and thirteen as a graduate student. Until he was awarded a Ph.D. in computer science and was told it was time to leave. His father is a professor of game theory and both parents have doctorates in mathematics so it is no wonder Ferguson has a statistical and analytical approach to the game.

Poker was a pastime for Chris Ferguson since the age of 10 and all through out high school. Later in college, he and his buddies would take trips down to Las Vegas. The more interesting fact is that he would play online poker through an IRC channel, and now he is one of the founders and designers of the high quality Full Tilt Poker room website.

He began his more serious poker career in 1994 when he began playing in some tournaments around the LA area, and in 1995 he entered his first World Series of Poker tournament. Despite it being only the beginning of his days of poker, he reached fifth at the final table in the Seven-Card Razz. Chris Ferguson has reached final tables and finished in the money in almost 100 tournaments. "Since he started playing in the World Series, he has won more bracelets (5), made more final tables (25), and had more money finishes (42) than any other player" (FullTiltPoker.com). He also has two rings from the WSOP.

• 2000 WSOP Championship Event 1st $1.5M
• 2000 WSOP 7-Card Stud 1st $151K
• 2001 WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo Split 1st $165K
• 2003 WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo 1st $124K
• 2003 WSOP Pot-Limit Hold’em 2nd $116K
• 2003 WSOP Limit Hold’em - 7-Card Stud 1st $66K
• 2005 WSOP Circuit Main Event 1st $655K
• 2005 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha 2nd $210K
• 2005 WSOP Circuit Main Event 1st $362K
• (Just to list a few)

In 2006 Ferguson beat out 64 contestants to reach the no.2 position in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship for a second consecutive year.

FUN FACTS:

• Can cut through carrots, bananas, pickles, watermelons and melons from 10 feet away with a single playing card
• Was a ballroom dancing instructor and president of swing dancing club at UCLA
• Has a photographic memory
• Accumulated $4,000,000 just from WSOP tournaments
• Total live poker tournament earnings $5,700,000.