Chris Ferguson Poker
Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson has become one of the most divisive poker professionals in the world, with fans of his obvious skills balanced by those who believe he was aware of and made millions from the goings on surrounding the Full Tilt poker scandal which cost players some $444million in funds.
Chris Ferguson was born on the 11th of April in the year 1963. He hails from Los Angeles, California. He is a professional poker player and one of the most eminent faces in the game. His parents were highly educated and he himself has a very high academic background. He has a Ph.D. in computer science from the UCLA and he specialized on virtual algorithms. It is a common observation that most successful poker players have had some mathematical background as it is very important in the game. He was introduced into the world of poker quite naturally as the game is quite popular in private clubs and even in weekend parties in the U.S. people generally unite over the weekend for a friendly game of poker but very few people have the necessary backing or the guts to take up the spot as a career.
Chris Ferguson is a popular professional online poker player, which is part of the Full Tilt Team. One of his major achievements was to turn $0 into $10,000 with his “from 0 to Hero online poker challenge” by playing poker at Full Tilt Poker. But while the majority of the poker community found Lederer's explanation unsatisfactory, there was more uproar about Chris Ferguson 's silence in the months after. The professional poker player. From poker prince to pariah and back to champion – so goes the card career journey of one Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. Jesus, (as he’s nicknamed due to his long locks), became one of the more well-known faces of poker, during the poker boom of the early to late 2000’s.
Chris Ferguson came from a very supportive family and his family backed him to pursue his dreams. He started playing at the amateur level and then participated in inter club tournaments that are organized locally with small stakes. Later on he went to make it really big in the world stage. He has won a World Series which is an incredible feat and the amount of money involved in unfathomable. He has been an icon in the United States with his trademark Cowboy hat and his easy laidback style.
Chris Ferguson is a very popular figure and he is a very colorful personality but during a game he has learned to portray a stone face not letting out any expression of emotion. He has won many important tournaments in America and has also made some great finishes in many World Series ties.
He is famous for his control over the playing card and he is known to be an expert with the cards. He has practiced many tricks with the card and he can throw a playing card in such a way that is can split a banana into two at the blink of an eye. He has a great amount of showmanship behind his game and this makes him a very popular icon. Chris Ferguson has also been known to split a melon into two by using playing cards only.
He was involved in an ugly scam with an online website that he co-owned. He had allegedly set up a ponzi scheme and misled many people into investing money on an online website.
Seven years ago, April 2011, Black Friday shook the poker world with poker's big three (PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Ultimate Bet) getting indicted. Subsequently, Full Tilt Poker's Alderney license got suspended, and a hornet's nest of fraud and malpractice was uncovered as Full Tilt Poker turned out not to have player and operational funds segregated and subsequently wasn't able to cash out its players.
In September of 2012, Howard Lederer gave a lengthy interview to PokerNews, dubbed 'The Lederer Files', explaining his side of things. That was followed by a lengthy interview on the 2+2 podcast. A third interview, this time with DiamondFlush, was to take place but Lederer backed out at the last minute.
The general reaction to Lederer's interviews was less than positive with both the poker community on 2+2 and some players lashing out.
But while the majority of the poker community found Lederer's explanation unsatisfactory, there was more uproar about Chris Ferguson's silence in the months after. The professional poker player known as 'Jesus,' was part of Full Tilt Poker's core management group, but he remained tight-lipped throughout the entire saga.
Poker players on Full Tilt Poker were eventually made whole as PokerStars bought Full Tilt Poker's assets and reimbursed the players. Full Tilt Poker's management faced limited consequences of the whole ordeal.
Ferguson and Lederer remained absent from poker's biggest stage in the years to come, but in 2016, they both returned to play the game in the biggest spotlight. At the 2016 World Series of Poker, Ferguson and Lederer played several events, but Ferguson had nothing more to say than 'I'm just here to play poker' when asked by reporters and players. According to Daniel Negreanu, he said 'What are you talking about?' when asked when he would apologize.
While Lederer wouldn't cash in a single event since his return, Chris Ferguson has done much better. At the 2016 WSOP, Ferguson cashed 10 times totaling $253,519, including a fourth-place finish in the $10,000 Six-Max for $183,989. Last year, at the 2017 WSOP, Ferguson one-upped himself cashing 15 times, totaling $380,200. That included a runner-up finish in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud for $151,700 and a fourth-place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $150,929.
Ferguson traveled to Rozvadov for the World Series of Poker Europe. He cashed six times, including his sixth bracelet in the €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for €39,289, and took down the 2017 WSOP Player of the Year title.
Now, after having taken down the WSOP Player of the Year ranking in 2017 and playing dozens of events total since 2016, Chris Ferguson has offered an apology via his Vimeo channel. The video, titled 'Chris Ferguson reaches out to the poker community,' was uploaded on May 23rd and has a duration of 42 seconds.
Hi, it's Chris Ferguson.
I'd like to take this brief opportunity to address the poker community which I love and have been part of for a long time. I deeply regret not being able to prevent Black Friday from happening. After Black Friday, I worked relentlessly to ensure that all players got paid back, and I sincerely apologize that it took as long as it did.
I also realize it has taken me a long time to make any sort of public statement and I appreciate my fans and the poker community as a whole for the patience and support. One day, the Full Tilt Poker story will be told, and like many of you, I look forward to that day.
I hope to see you all at the World Series of Poker this summer. Thank you and good luck.
While Ferguson says he expects the story of Full Tilt Poker to be told one day, and adds that he looks forward to that day, he refrains from explaining why he's not telling his side of the story himself at this time.
Some of the reactions to the video on Twitter:
It took all this time for Chris Ferguson to come up with THIS apology?
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)Chris Ferguson Poker
Here is a video from Chris Ferguson. It’s a shame that so many of the younger poker players have JUDGED Chris so h… https://t.co/o7kEdAcYS9
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)He was a face for a company that stole millions of dollars from its customers. Don’t you think he should’ve release… https://t.co/6EZfhCAm2L
— Dan O'Brien ? (@DanOBrienPoker)@RealKidPoker Despite this I actually kind of feel he isn't the bad guy and there's some sincerity somewhere there.… https://t.co/9SfJKxbo9c
— Patrick Leonard (@plenopads)Full Tilt Scandal
@RealKidPoker “I worked relentlessly to ensure all players got paid back, and I sincerely apologize it took as long… https://t.co/lGbGD1fBxi
— Mike Schneider (@schneidspoker)@RealKidPoker Man, I don't know. I didn't feel it was as heartfelt as you did! I guess it did effectively end my po… https://t.co/joaIX35rQk
— eric froehlich (@efropoker)
@RealKidPoker Seriously, wtf
Chris Ferguson Poker Scandal
— Joey Ingram (@Joeingram1)Imagine waiting 7 years to release this: https://t.co/u9fmm7mpp0
— Lance Bradley (@Lance_Bradley) @phil_hellmuth Not surprising you would defend this scumbag. Phil and Chris are two birds of a feather, players wh… https://t.co/zb2K8KbDGR
— David Bakes (@DMBakes)Chris Ferguson Poker Arrested
@TheTmay @phil_hellmuth Phil’s generation grew up scamming and treating each other like scum. They think our genera… https://t.co/SdEf9iSysj
Chris Ferguson Poker Twitter
— Carter King (@CKingLivePro)Chris Ferguson Poker Wife
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Chris FergusonHoward Lederer