Chris Ferguson 

Description:

Up until 1999, Chris Ferguson was what one could call a perennial student. He attended UCLA where he earned a doctorate in computer science specializing in virtual network algorithms. It took him eighteen years to get that degree! But as he was working through academia, Chris' mathematical mind wrapped around poker and he began to develop computer simulations to improve his own understanding of the game and all its nuances.

Some of Chris' hobbies have nothing to do with poker. He enjoys swing dancing and was once the president of one such club out of UCLA. He has also acquired the unique ability to slice and dice fruit and vegetables by throwing playing cards at them fast enough to slice through. One hobby that does include poker is learning how to turn $0.00 into $10,000.00 by playing online poker. He has done it twice now, once on an unnamed site and once on Full Tilt Poker where he plays exclusively.

Aggressiveness:

Have you ever seen a poker player who can sit as still as a statue during game play? Chris Ferguson can and does keeping his opponents from being able to read him during intense situations in the game. His mathematical skills make him calculating and difficult to play against. He is very level-headed and able to keep an open mind in any situation.

The wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses by the way has nothing to do with the way he plays. He adopted the look to disguise his identity as a college student during the early days of his poker playing and he has kept it all these years.

Experience:

Five World Series of Poker bracelets and two rings is a good indication as to how much poker playing experience Chris has. He actually started playing poker before he was ten years old, which means he's been playing for the better part of his 44 years. He actually played for money using IRC via a chat room in the early days of the Internet. He plays in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship each year and has the most wins of the four-years the competition has been played.

One of the founding members of the online poker site Full Tilt Poker, Chris' total live tournament winnings to date is approximately $6,600,000.00

Tournament Play:

Other than the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Chris' tournament playing is limited to the World Series of Poker tour and final tournament. His wins there have shown that he is one of the most enduring poker players in the world. Over the years he has had 51 money finishes in addition to the bracelets and rings.

While he has played on the World Poker Tour circuit, he has only made the final table once and earned seven money finishes.

Cash Play:

Chris Ferguson plays cash games as personal challenges to himself. This was the start of taking no money whatsoever and turning it into $10,000.00 or more by playing online poker free roll tournaments. He can be frequently found hanging out in his poker room at Full Tilt making - you guessed it - more money.

Winnings:

Chris has announced that he is going to back off the tournaments for awhile but that doesn't mean we can't take a look at what he has won so far.

• NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship - Poker Pages Ranking Heads Up - No Limit Hold'em NBC National Championships - 02/29/2008 - $500,000
• Harvey's Casino Poker Tournaments WSOP Circuit Event - Event #10 - WSOP Circuit No Limit Hold'em Championship - 11/18/2007 - $203,649
• Harrah's Las Vegas Poker Tournament - WSOP Circuit Event - Event #12 - WSOP Circuit Main Event - No Limit Hold'em - 09/16/2005 - $362,088
• Harrah's Rincon Poker Tournament - WSOP Circuit Event - Event #8 - WSOP Circuit Main Event - No Limit Hold'em - 03/02/2005 - $655,220
• Winning' O' the Green - Event #25 - No Limit Hold'em - 03/22/2004 - $144,000
• 34th Annual World Series of Poker - Event #10 - WSOP Limit Hold'em & 7 Card Stud -04/24/2003 - $66,220
• 34th Annual World Series of Poker - Event #4 - WSOP Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 04/18/2003 - $123,680
• California State Championship - Event #13 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 06/20/2001 - $22,570
• 32nd Annual World Series of Poker - Event #3 - WSOP Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 04/22/01 - $164,735
• 31st Annual World Series of Poker - Event #25 - WSOP World Championship - No Limit Hold'em - 05/18/2000 - $1,500,000
• 31st Annual World Series of Poker - Event #9 - WSOP Limit 7 Card Stud - 05/02/2000 - $151,000
  

When not at the felt or playing online, Chris can be found lecturing on game strategy at his old alma mater at UCLA.