Chris Ferguson - Professional Poker Player

Chris Ferguson may look like a stereotypical poker player, but behind his cowboy hat and beard lurks a finely honed mathematical mind. He holds a PhD from UCLA in computer science and both his parents are involved in math - his father teaches statistics and his mother has a PhD in mathematics. So it is no wonder that Ferguson has always approached cards with an eye towards the probability of his winning.

He first started playing when he was in grade school, and has been ever since. When he was in high school, he was playing nickel and dime poker, and making two dollars an hour at it. This trend continued throughout trips to Las Vegas where he had only two losing trips, out of 22. Ferguson spent 13 years as a PhD candidate at UCLA, and this kept him quite busy and he was not playing cards as much. This changed in the mid 80’s when he discovered the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) Poker Network, where people played text only games of poker for play money - and prestige. When he stopped playing on IRC in 1994, he was ranked either #1 or #2 for a few years.

Quitting Internet poker allowed him to take his game to tournaments. At first, not wanting to get in over his head and waste his bankroll, he played in only low-limit games. In 1996, he won a satellite tournament into the World Series of Poker, and has played in it every year since. From then until 2000, he made the final table 7 times and finished in the money 12 times, but he never won. This changed in 2000, when he was heads up at the final table against T.J. Cloutier.

Ferguson was dealt A 9, while Cloutier had A Q. Cloutier moved all in before the flop, and was called by Ferguson. The flop was 2 K 4, which helped neither player. The turn, Kh also was of no help. Unless a 9 came on the river, Ferguson was going to lose. The final card was a 9, however, giving Ferguson two pair, kings and nines, along with his first victory in the World Series of Poker. 2000 proved to be a very good year for Ferguson, as he also won the 7 Card Stud event.

In 2002, Ferguson got back into on line poker, helping develop Full Tilt Poker. He hopes this site will allow all players a chance to develop their games and improve their strategies. After all, Ferguson says he plays for the competition, not the money. He wants to learn from everyone, and the best way to do that is to give everyone a chance to learn. Ferguson is a player to be reckoned with, because of his mathematical skills and his insatiable thirst for knowledge.