Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – Poker PhD

One look at Chris Ferguson and you would say Jesus has gone country. He’s only missing a holy halo in place of a cowboy hat; Chris “Jesus” Ferguson is one of the world’s most recognizable poker superstars. If you like math, Ferguson is the pro poker tables player to watch.

Ferguson attended UCLA where he earned a Ph.D. in computer science (focusing on virtual network algorithms) in 1999 after five years as an undergraduate and 13 years as a graduate student. Ferguson’s parents have doctoral degrees in mathematics and his father, Thomas Ferguson, teaches game theory and theoretical probability at UCLA; like father like son. His poker style is super mathematical, utlizing a strong knowledge of game theory and developing computer simulations to improve his understanding of the game.

In his career he has won five World Series of Poker bracelets, including the bracelet for the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and was the winner of the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. As of 2009, his total live custom poker tables tournament winnings exceed $7,700,000 and of that amount, $4,000,000+ is from his cash playing at the WSOP.

Additionally, Ferguson has the fastest fold speed in poker tables history. And by that I mean he can throw cards; into hats, across rooms, and at vicious speeds. Custom Poker Tables would like to order the fruit salad please!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 10:58 pm and is filed under Featured Pros. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.