Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
HEarning his “Jesus”
nickname from his long dark-brown hair, full beard, and
thin stature, it isn’t surprising that Chris Ferguson is
one of the most recognizable figures in tournament
poker. Usually sporting a black cowboy hat, equally dark
attire, dark sunglasses, and an unreadable face,
Ferguson looks like a throwback poker player from its
formative Wild West Saloon days. His unique image aside,
Chris Ferguson’s excellent major tournament record,
including 5 World Series of Poker bracelets, speaks for
itself.
Besides his obvious talent for poker, Ferguson is one of
those rare breeds (especially rare amongst high-stakes
poker players; most of whom jumpstarted their poker
career by dropping out of college) who enjoys being in
school. He spent 18 years at UCLA earning his Bachelor’s
Degree and PhD in Computer Science. He’s always been
especially intrigued by the artificial intelligence
aspect of computers and will still discuss the topic
with passion to reporters. If you want to go back to
real old school online poker, “Jesus” was there. In
1989, he played for play money on IRC for years before
the internet was even a mainstream phenomenon.
In 1994, Ferguson began to hit up the L.A. poker clubs
and focused on tournament play. In 1996, he began making
the yearly pilgrimage to the WSOP and had moderate
success. In 2000, he had his breakout year winning 2
bracelets including the Main Event in which he trounced
T.J. Cloutier thanks to some more than fortunate beats.
He has since won a total of 5 bracelets and millions of
total tournament prize money.
These days, you’ll find his computer expertise lending a
hand at
Full Tilt Poker as he was one of the founding
professional members. To me, Chris seems like a true
professional and is always friendly away from the table.
He has managed great success thanks in part to his
analytical mathematic mind that can work out
calculations away from the table and convert that to
practical gameplay at the table. Besides the sunglasses,
he looks straight out of the 19th century, which is just
neat if you ask me. While you are asking me, I say that
more poker players should have a unique yet classy look
at the table. When I make it to the WSOP Final Table,
I’ll be there lace cuffs, collar, and cravat at the
ready.
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