Ferguson was born in Los Angeles, California. Both Ferguson's parents have doctoral degrees in mathematics and his father, Thomas S. Ferguson, teaches game theory and theoretical probability at UCLA. Ferguson attended UCLA, where he earned a Ph.D. in computer science in 1999 after five years as an undergraduate and 13 years as a graduate student. His Ph.D. advisor was Leonard Kleinrock. While at UCLA Ferguson appeared on the Ricky Jay Television Special "Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women" as an assistant.
Poker career
Ferguson began playing poker at the age of 10. In college, he honed his skill on IRC poker playing online for play money in chat rooms. In 1994, he began playing in tournaments in California and in 1995, he entered his first World Series of Poker. He is a relatively quiet player who often adopts a characteristic motionless pose to avoid providing information to his opponents. He adopted his trademark wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses consciously, to point towards a table image that does not display outright the fact that he was a college student. Ferguson is nicknamed "Jesus" because of his trademark long brown hair and beard. His style is highly mathematical, using a strong knowledge of game theory and developing computer simulations to improve his understanding of the game. In the 2000 WSOP Ferguson won his first bracelet in the $2,500 Seven-Card Stud event for $151,000. He followed this up by defeating T. J. Cloutier heads-up at the Main Event to win the $1.5 million prize. In 2004, he earned $120,000 in the Main Event for his 26th-place finish. Ferguson finished runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in the 2005 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He made the finals again in 2006, but again finished second, this time to Ted Forrest. In 2008, he made the finals for the third time, this time defeating Andy Bloch and winning the title. At the 2017 WSOP, Ferguson set a record with 23 cashes. He also won his sixth bracelet, and first in 14 years, at the WSOP Europe in the €1,650 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event. With these results Ferguson won the WSOP Player of the Year award. As of 2017, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,900,000. His 90 WSOP cashes account for over $6,000,000 of those winnings.
In 2004, Ferguson was one of the founders of the online poker site Full Tilt Poker. On September 20, 2011, the United States Department of Justice amended an existing civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker, an online poker company of which Chris Ferguson was a director. The amended complaint alleged that Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Rafe Furst "lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited.” A lawyer for Ferguson denied the allegations, suggesting that the issues may have been the result of mismanagement not malice. The case was dismissed February 19, 2013 yielding insofar that money be paid out by Ferguson and limitations placed on his website and the legality of online poker.
Personal life
His interests include his presidency of a swing dancing club at UCLA, as well as his ability to throw playing cards fast enough to cut through bananas, carrots, and even melons. His card throwing ability was showcased on a side cutaway, called "The Nuts", on the ESPN broadcast of the World Series of Poker.
