Most top pros have a good poker face. You don’t reach the upper levels of poker by giving away your hand to your opponents. But there is one player who is more disciplined than any other when it comes to giving out information.
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson has a routine that he goes through every time it’s his turn to act. He will pause for an equal amount of time whenever it’s his turn, and he announces his actions with the same tone and speed each time.
With the addition of the big cowboy hat and sunglasses, it’s pretty much impossible to get a physical tell on him. After his turn, he sits still like a statue until it’s his turn to play again. The only way you’ll ever pick up a tell on Chris Ferguson would be through a betting pattern, and you would need to be lucky to discover it.
The Poker Players Alliance is a non-profit organization that was created to be one voice for the promotion, integrity and protection of poker players. Its initial issues were protecting professional players from companies profiting from their likeness without paying out royalties. Since the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act came into effect late last year, the organization has had a new primary cause.
The organization has grown to over 747,000 members and has hired former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato as its Chairman. Many big-name players are members, and Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Greg Raymer are on the Board of Directors. The organization works tirelessly to have the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act repealed, and recent developments indicate that they are making progress.
They were in full support last April when Rep. Barney Frank introduced a bill that would open up the U.S. market for gaming. The PPA also ran the successful “Write Your Congressman” day on June 15, 2006.
There are two three-time WSOP main event winners. Only Johnny Moss (1970, 1971 and 1974) and Stu Unger (1981, 1982 and 1997) were able to achieve that feat. They both won it twice in a row, as did Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988).
Other big-name winners include Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (2000), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Dan Harrington (1995), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Huck Seed (1996), Robert Varkonyi (2002) and Carlo Mortensen (2001).
Recent winners have won huge amounts, with the biggest winner being Jamie Gold ($12 million) in 2006. In 2007, Jerry Yang won $8.25 million and Joseph Hachem pocketed $7.5 million in 2005. Chris Moneymaker (2003) set the poker world afire when he won the main event, and $2.5 million, after winning his way into the tournament via an online satellite tournament. Greg Raymer was the other big main event winner, winning $5 million in 2004, and almost won it again the next year in 2005.
If you had to name the most recognizable poker player, a good candidate would be Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. Ferguson stands out in a crowd with his long brown hair, beard and black cowboy hat. According to Ferguson, his unusual appearance was designed to keep his opponents from knowing he was an academic when he first started playing poker.
Ferguson’s ruse must have paid off because looking at him you probably wouldn’t know he holds a PhD in Computer Science from UCLA. Ferguson’s typical garb also makes it a surprise to learn that he was the president of UCLA’s swing dancing club and he’s also an accomplished ballroom dancer. Could we possibly see “Jesus” parading around in his cowboy hat on Dancing with the Stars in the future?
What most poker fans do know about “Jesus” is that he won the World Series of Poker main event in 2005 and has four other WSOP bracelets in his collection. Anyone who’s seen Ferguson on ESPN’s WSOP televised events also knows how dangerous he is with a pack of playing cards. Not only can Ferguson use those cards to take your money at the poker tables, but he can also heave them with enough force to slice through a banana, carrot or even a melon.
Ferguson first began playing poker when he was only 10 years old, for nickels and dimes. His nickel-and-dime poker games continued through high school where he was a constant winner at the small stakes. He made his first-ever trip to Vegas not long after and found success there as well, losing money only twice in 22 trips to Sin City.
Ferguson found other interests away from the world of poker to occupy his time until he stumbled upon the IRC Poker Network. For the next two or three years Ferguson would dominate the play-money poker network, where he would reign at the top or at least in second place on the tournament leaderboard. After reenergizing his desire to be a winning poker player in IRC, Ferguson focused heavily on game theory and the mathematics of poker, and took his new skills to the WSOP. Five WSOP bracelets and more than a dozen cashes later, Ferguson is one the most well-known and feared poker players in the world.
