"I don't fear anyone…Poker is all about finding the correct strategy to use against each particular opponent. Finding this strategy is like moulding a key to open up a treasure chest full of riches."
So says Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, who got his nickname because of his trademark long brown hair, and is certainly one of the more distinctive poker players with his trademark all black outfit and old west cowboy hat.
Winner of the World Series of Poker main event in 2000, Ferguson approaches poker from a purely intellectual viewpoint. With a PhD in Computer Science specializing in Artificial Intelligence from UCLA and parents who are both academic heavyweights.
He symbolises a coming of age for a new generation of technologically sophisticated players who are a growing presence in the poker world, players using their training in statistics and game theory to try to gain an edge in a game that, despite its outlaw past, is highly mathematical.
Clearly, Chris is far from the shoot from the hip, instinctive 'cowboy' poker player his image might convey. And that’s the way he likes it. If poker, like war, is largely about misinformation, then every last detail helps –as five World Series of Poker bracelets prove.
Not only this but Ferguson has reached the final table in no less than 27 WSOP events – an achievement only bettered by four other players.
As one of the founders and early stage investors in Full Tilt Poker, one of the most aggressive and successful poker brands around, he is certainly at poker's core.
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