Chris Ferguson

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Chris Ferguson

Ferguson at the 2006 World Series of Poker
Nickname(s) Jesus
Hometown Pacific Palisades, California
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s) 5
Money finishes 51 [1]
Highest ITM main
event finish
Winner, 2000
World Poker Tour
Titles None
Final tables 1
Money finishes 7

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (born Christopher Philip Ferguson April 11, 1963, in Los Angeles, California) is a professional poker player.

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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.[2] His Ph.D. advisor was Leonard Kleinrock. Ferguson's parents have doctoral degrees in mathematics and his father, Thomas Ferguson, teaches game theory and theoretical probability at UCLA. His style is highly mathematical, using a strong knowledge of game theory and developing computer simulations to improve his understanding of the game.

Ferguson was playing poker before age 10. In college he honed his skill on IRC playing poker for play money in chat rooms. In 1994, he began playing in tournaments in California and in 1995, he entered his first World Series of Poker. Ferguson beat T. J. Cloutier at the main event of the 2000 WSOP to win the $1.5 million prize.

In 2004, Ferguson helped launch the online poker site Full Tilt Poker.

Ferguson finished runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in the 2005 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He made the finals again in 2006, but again finished second, this time to Ted Forrest.

As of 2007, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,100,000.[3]

Year Tournament Prize (US$)
2000 $2,500 Seven Card Stud $151,000 [4]
2000 $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold 'em World Championship $1,500,000 [5]
2001 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better $164,735 [6]
2003 $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better $123,680 [7]
2003 $2,000 1/2 Limit Hold'em - 1/2 Seven Card Stud $66,220 [8]

In addition to these bracelets, Ferguson is the only player to have won three World Series of Poker circuit events.[9]

Ferguson is nicknamed "Jesus" because of his trademark long brown hair and beard.[10] He is a relatively quiet player who often adopts a similar motionless pose in situations where he could be "read". He adopted his trademark wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses consciously, trying to disguise the fact that he was a college student.[11]

On television, some interesting factlets about him have been revealed, including his presidency of a swing dancing club at UCLA, as well as his ability to throw playing cards fast enough to cut through bananas, carrots, and even melons. He claims to have painstakingly turned $1 into more than $20,000 on an online poker site over six months, as a personal challenge. Full Tilt Poker claims that he succeeded in a similar scheme on their site as well by turning $0 into $10,000 by first winning freeroll tournaments, and then playing with the prize money. [12]

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