Chris Ferguson

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson is not only one of the most respected professional poker players in the world by also one of the most recognizable. Chris sports long black shoulder length hair, a black beard, sunglasses and a wide rimmed black cowboy hat. His slender build, long black hair and black beard are what earned him the nickname “Jesus”.

Chris played in his first World Series of Poker main event in 1996, and has played every year since. He won his first WSOP bracelet in 2000 when he won a Seven-card Stud event and then later in the same month, he won the Main Event and became the 2000 World of Series of Poker Champion. Chris has won a total of 5 WSOP bracelets through 2003. These were for Seven-card Stud (2000), Omaha HiLo (2001 and 2003), and Half Limit Hold’em and Half Seven-card Stud (2003). As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $5,700,000.

Chris Ferguson would most likely attribute his outstanding poker skills to his parents and to his academic background. Both of his parents were professors at UCLA with doctorates in mathematics. His father taught game theory and statistics and frequently invited Chris to participate in new games he studied or created. This early exposure gave Chris a strong background in gamesmanship. Chris also spent several years in academia, ten of which involved the pursuit of a PhD in artificial intelligence.

Chris began playing poker with friends and, in college, competing for play money and taking road trips to Las Vegas. In 1994, he decided to concentrate solely on the tournament circuit in Southern California, incorporating his strong background in game theory. Two years later Chris played in his first World Series Maine Event. Chris also guest lectures at UCLA concerning game theory.