Ten Years Later, Chris Ferguson Hopes to Repeat WSOP SuccessThe 2010 Main Event Begins Today |
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The wait is over as Day 1a of the main event begins today. Out of the thousands who compete this week, only one will walk away as champion. Ten years ago, that champion was Chris Ferguson.
The player better known as ‘Jesus’ by his fans sat down with Card Player to talk about his WSOP win and what’s changed because of it, as well as some basic Day 1 strategy for the main event.
Fame, Delayed
Ferguson smiles when asked how his life changed after his main-event win in 2000. While the money certainly made things more comfortable for Ferguson — the main event paid $1.5 million to the winner that year — he says his day-to-day life wasn’t really affected all that dramatically, simply because it was before poker’s explosion and most people still didn’t know who he was.
“Over the course of the next year, maybe like half a dozen people came up to me and recognized me outside the poker world,” said Ferguson. “When I was at Binion’s, sure, people knew who I was, but very few people outside of downtown would really recognize me.”
After the poker boom, however, everything was different. Ferguson, with his trademark look and friendly demeanor, quickly became one of the most famous poker players on the planet.
“When poker really took off, well after I won the World Series, then people started recognizing me in airports and wherever else I went,” said Ferguson.
The five-time bracelet winner says his past success certainly opened up doors for him once poker exploded, not least of all was his relationship with Full Tilt Poker as a member of Team Full Tilt.
His stature has also taken him to places like Washington, D.C., where he has been one of the leading voices in the fight to change the country’s poker laws.
“As slow as it is, there is intelligence behind the system we have,” Ferguson said about the federal government. “I do believe in the next couple years, poker will be expressly legal in the U.S.”
Ferguson declined to comment in depth about an alleged federal grand jury investigation against himself and Full Tilt, saying only, “I leave that to other people to worry about.”
Ferguson’s Day 1 Strategy
As the 2000 world champion sits down to play on his Day 1 this week, Ferguson shared his thoughts on how he approaches the first day of the main event.
“Most people like to play a lot of hands on Day 1. You have very deep stacks, so you can actually play deep stack poker these days. However, I think people might overdo it a bit,” said Ferguson. “I like to tighten it up a bit. I like to start with the best hand.”
Because of his fame in the poker world, Ferguson consistently faces opponents who are looking to bluff him out of pots.
“People are doing a lot bluffing, coming over the top of you,” said Ferguson. “It’s important to start with a good hand because if you have junk and they’re doing it to you, then you either have to do it back to them or you’re done.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Ferguson believes you should only play premium pairs. He just believes people are too active in the early going.
“In the early rounds, you’re playing against people who aren’t all that experienced, so there is something to be said of taking advantage of that because you can outplay them after the flop,” said Ferguson. “But people really tend to overdo it.”
Follow Ferguson’s progress, as well as all the major action at the Rio, as the main event kicks off with Card Player’s live updates.
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