Very often, professional players achieve success in other areas. There are plenty of successful investors, analysts, and even businessmen among poker players. However, for every success there is a story of failure – and sometimes both of these stories are combined in one person.
In this article, we talk about Chris Ferguson, a well-known former poker player and Full Tilt Poker professional who has six World Series of Poker bracelets to his credit.
Who is Chris Ferguson?
Chris was born in 1964 into a family of mathematicians, which could not but affect his future success. Ferguson followed in his parents' footsteps and not only completed his bachelor's degree at the University of California, but also continued his academic career, defending his PhD, while simultaneously teaching at the university. At the same time, he managed to combine studying mathematics with playing poker.
Facts and Details of Biography
Young Chris first encountered poker at the age of 10. There were no poker rooms back then. Ferguson watched adults play and was occasionally allowed to take part.
However, Chris came to offline poker at a fairly mature age, when he turned 30. He began to regularly play in local tournaments in California, and in 1995 he came to Las Vegas for the WSOP for the first time.
Over time, Ferguson managed to achieve outstanding results at the World Series:
- 2000 – Two bracelets, including a win in the WSOP Main Event;
- 2005 and 2006 – twice took second place in the heads-up tournament at the WSOP;
- 2008 – Finally wins the World Series heads-up tournament.
The History of Full Tilt and Black Friday
The turning point for Chris Ferguson's fate was 2004, when he became one of the co-founders of a new poker room – FullTilt Poker. On the Internet, you can find many photos of Chris, where he plays at the WSOP tables in FTP merch.
The room quickly gained popularity due to the attraction of famous professionals of the time. Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen stand out in this list.
Very soon, the most expensive cash game on the Internet was played at the pot-limit Omaha tables. The legendary Viktor Blom made a lot of noise , whose heads-ups with Patrik Antonius attracted thousands of spectators. It was in those sessions that a record bank was played, which remained the largest until 2022.
But the story of FullTilt ended in scandal – on "Black Friday" on April 15, 2011. At that time it became clear that Chris Ferguson and other owners of the room had withdrawn a fantastic sum of $443,860,529.89 from the company's accounts over the past 10 years. And everything would be fine, but the debt to the players amounted to $390 million.
Of course, this scandal was not well-received by the poker community and the reputations of all involved were affected. PokerStars eventually took over Full Tilt’s operations, closing the brand in 2021.
It seemed like that was the end of Chris Ferguson's story as a poker player. But it wasn't to be.
Return and WSOP Player of the Year
2017 was a phenomenal year for the player. Then Chris demonstrated that he understands poker no worse than the recognized stars included in the GipsyTeam Hall of Fame.
He deservedly won the title of WSOP Player of the Year, having cashed 17 (!) times. The previous record was 10 cashes less. Paradoxically, in terms of profit, this was far from the most successful streak for Ferguson. Only five cashes were over $5,000, and in 14 ITMs Chris did not even double the buy-in. But the honorary title and another bracelet are outstanding results.
- €1,650 PLO Hi/Lo 8 Better – 1st place – $45,677
- €2,200 PLO – 29th place – $3,734
- €550 The Colossus – 458th place – $994
- €1,650 NLHE 6-Handed – 26th place – $3,265
- €1,100 Super Turbo Bounty – 36th place – $1,531
- €550 PLO – 70th place – $942
- $1,111 Little One Drop – 96th place – $3,997
- $10,000 Seven Stud – 2nd place – $151,700
- $1,500 NLHE – 241st place – $2,494
- $888 NLHE Crazy Eights – 277th place – $3,611
- $1,500 NLHE – 9th-6th place – $3,410
- $10,000 PLO Hi/Lo – 4th place – $150,929
- $1,500 Monster Stack – 855th place – $2,496
- $10,000 Seven Stud Hi/Lo – 12th place – $22,396
- $10,000 NLHE 6-Handed – 43rd place – $15,516
- $1,500 Seven Stud Hi/Lo – 49th place – $2,795
- $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty – 135th place – $1,374
- $2,500 NLHE – 118th place – $4,068
- $3,000 NLHE 6-Handed – 117th place – $4,594
- $565 PLO – 87th place – $3,458
- $1,000 NLHE Tag Team – 81st place – $898
- $1,500 Dealers Choice – 44th place – $2,335
- $565 The Colossus III – 449th place – $4,129
Ferguson’s Achievements and Victories
At the time of writing, Ferguson has $9.5 million in prize money, though this is apparently only a smal chunk of his net worth. Impressively, some estimates place Chris Ferguson’s net worth at around $80 million.
Let's look back at three of the professional's most notable successes:
- May 15, 2000, $1.5 million. It's not hard to guess that the biggest prize of Ferguson's career was winning the main event of the World Series.
- February 27, 2005, $655,22 . Another title in the WSOP Circuit Championship Event Hold'em tournament.
- March 2, 2008, $500,000. Wins the National Heads-Up Championship.
You might also be interested in our other articles, such as how to learn to play poker and where is the best place to play poker for money.
If you are interested in auxiliary software for playing poker, we recommend that you study the range of our store. In it you will find such popular programs as Hand2Note or Holdem Manager 3.
How Can You Start a Poker Career?
It is not easy to repeat the success of Chris Ferguson, but everything is in your hands. Work hard and develop, improving not only the technical but also the psychological aspects of the game. At the same time, it is important not to forget about useful rest.
But the main secret of a plus poker player's success is regular practice in the game for money. You can get it without investments by playing one of the many freerolls that poker sites have every day. The prize pools range from around $50 but could reach several hundred dollars on some sites.
Partypoker is one of the leading freeroll poker rooms. They have “Round the Clock” tournaments which start every hour with absolutely no entry cost. However, if you see a better prize pool in our freeroll schedule, sign-up and go for that event too!
