Chris Ferguson

Christopher Philip Ferguson was born on April 11, 1963, in Los Angeles, California. Both of his parents hold doctoral degrees in mathematics; his father, Thomas S. Ferguson, teaches game theory and theoretical probability at UCLA. Ferguson attended UCLA, where he earned a Ph.D. in computer science (focusing on virtual network algorithms) in 1999 after five years as an undergraduate and 13 years as a graduate student. His Ph.D. advisor was Leonard Kleinrock. While at UCLA, Ferguson appeared on the Ricky Jay Television Special "Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women" as an assistant.

Ferguson started playing poker at age 10. In college, he honed his skills on IRC poker, playing online for play money in chat rooms. He began playing in California tournaments in 1994 and entered his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 1995. His first recorded cash came in March 1993, and his first six WSOP cashes were top-10 finishes in various formats, including Razz, A-5 Draw, and No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em. He regularly traveled around California to play poker tournaments.

Ferguson won his first WSOP bracelet in 2000 in the $2,500 Seven-Card Stud event for $151,000. Later that year, he defeated T. J. Cloutier heads-up to win the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship (Main Event), earning $1,500,000. The final table of the 2000 Main Event was immortalized in the 2004 book 'Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker' by Jim McManus. He went on to win four more bracelets: in 2001 ($1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better for $164,735), 2003 ($2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better for $123,680), 2003 ($2,000 1/2 Limit Hold'em – 1/2 Seven Card Stud for $66,220), and 2017 at WSOP Europe (€1,650 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better for €39,289). In 2004, he earned $120,000 for a 26th-place finish in the Main Event (out of 2,576 players). At the 2017 WSOP, Ferguson set a record with 23 cashes and won the WSOP Player of the Year award. As of September 2020, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,500,000, with 168 WSOP cashes accounting for over $6,800,000 of that total.

In 2008, Ferguson won the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, defeating Andy Bloch in the finals after finishing runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in 2005 and to Ted Forrest in 2006. He also has two World Poker Tour final tables and 11 WPT money finishes, though no WPT title. He has one European Poker Tour money finish.

Ferguson was a co-owner and director of the online poker site Full Tilt Poker. On April 15, 2011, known as Black Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker on charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling. Later that year, the complaint was amended to allege that Ferguson, along with Ray Bitar, Howard Lederer, and Rafe Furst, had defrauded players and that Full Tilt Poker was a "global Ponzi scheme" that paid out $444 million of customer money to the firm's owners. The DOJ detailed that approximately $390 million was owed to Full Tilt players worldwide, including about $150 million to American players. Ferguson denied the allegations through a lawyer. The case was ultimately dismissed after PokerStars bought Full Tilt and negotiated a plan with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay back players. The scandal significantly damaged Ferguson's reputation. He retreated from the poker limelight but returned in June 2016, entering the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship at the WSOP, stating, "I'm just here to play poker." In total, he cashed 10 times at the 2016 WSOP.

Ferguson is a relatively quiet player who often adopts a characteristic motionless pose to avoid giving information to opponents. His style is highly mathematical, using strong game theory knowledge and computer simulations to improve his understanding of the game. He adopted his trademark wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses consciously to project a table image that did not reveal his background as a college student. His nickname "Jesus" comes from his long brown hair and beard, and he was considered almost unreadable by opponents.

Despite the Full Tilt controversy, Ferguson remains a significant figure in poker history due to his Main Event victory, six WSOP bracelets, and contributions to poker strategy. His disciplined, math-based approach has influenced many players, and his 2017 WSOP Player of the Year award marked a notable comeback after the scandal. His story is also captured in the book 'Positively Fifth Street', which details the 2000 Main Event final table.