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 Chris Ferguson, famously known as ‘‘Jesus’’, is one of the most distinct characters in the world of poker, as he can be recognized immediately for his traditional cowboy looks. The son of two doctorates in mathematics, Chris Ferguson is always seen with long hair, beard, mirrored shades and his traditional cowboy hats.
However, beyond his sunglasses and hats, there is an excellent academician who happens to be a doctorate in artificial intelligence. Born on the 11th of April, 1963 in Los Angeles, California, Chris studied from the UCLA. His deep understanding of the subject of mathematics, combined with the fact that his father is a teacher of game theory and probability theory helped him find a space in the world of poker at the age of ten!
Chris Ferguson was into tournaments in California in 1994 after honing his skills on IRC, where he played for money. He incorporated his knowledge of mathematics in the game, and in just a year, made it to his first ever “World Series of Poker”. Thereafter, there was no stopping for this genius, as he finally claimed the coveted title and the 1.5 million US dollars in 2000 by beating T.J.Cloutier. That marked the start of an extraordinary career; as he went on to win the 2000 James MacManus’ Positively Fifth Street, which was formerly known as the Championship Event. The same year, he got his second bracelet by winning the 7-Card Stud Event. The third bracelet was not far either as he won the Omaha Hi/Lo Split in the next year. By 2003, Chris was the proud owner of five bracelets, which is a true record!
He has been breaking records at a break-neck speed, as he has the most bracelets (5), most money finishes (42) and most table finishes (25) in the world, ever since he started his career at the World Series. The extraordinary achiever has amassed over 4,000,000 US dollars just from the winnings at the World Series of Poker and it’s circuit! In fact, he is the only player to win three World Series circuit events. 
Apart from playing poker and winning everything that comes in his way, Chris Ferguson has helped in revolutionizing the way the game of Internet Poker is played. Being a doctorate in computer science and a game theory specialist, he implemented his own ideas in launching “Full Tilt Poker” along with other professionals like Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman and Howard Lederer. It instantly became a hit among Poker players, as Chris ensured that his customers got the best games and interface to play.
There is an interesting story behind the launch of “Full Tilt Poker” website, which demonstrates the sheer talent and determination of Chris Ferguson. In order to prove his claim of converting 1 US dollars into 20,000 US dollars, he decided to collect 10,000 US dollars from nothing for the cause of his website! And, eventually, he kept his promise and went further to collect over 20,000 US dollars for the website.
The strategy of Chris Ferguson is extremely mathematical and includes concepts of game theory. Being a student of computer science, he is known to use software simulations for understanding the game. He is generally quiet and takes a motionless pose in order to expose very little information to his opponents. Moreover, the hat and the glasses, which has become his trademark, happen to be part of his plan of hiding the fact that he was a college student back in the nineties!
In his personal domain, Chris Ferguson is a very calm and quiet person. His looks gave him the nickname, “Jesus”, and he claims to be more than “only” a poker player. He has taken stock trading seriously, in order to complement his earnings, which is somewhere around $7,800,000 according to the estimates in 2009. He is a great ballroom dancer, and can perform some astonishing card tricks, which include cutting carrots, bananas and melons by just throwing playing cards at it. His ultimate aim is to be a teacher at UCLA, where he had spent 18 years of his life as a student.
He is certainly a great icon for all Poker players who want to make money out of this game. His success story is bound to attract more people to the world of game theory and simulations in order to excel in this game.
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Chris Ferguson
