How This Poker Star Destroyed His Reputation With One Bad Call
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
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At one time Chris Ferguson was on top of the poker world. But things all came crashing down for Chris Ferguson during the Full Tilt Poker Scandal. How did he let one decision destroy his legacy?
#poker #wsop #worldseriesofpoker #chrisferguson #controversy #jesus #fulltilt 
Развлечения
Good job of not explaining anything about his involvement with the Full Tilt lawsuit in any way! 😅
Ya it got repetitive in the second half about being a good person…and how being a bad person is wrong
It’s a trend. The title should read. My opinion of Jesus Ferguson
man I miss the 00's and the Poker boom...what a time it was.
It was the best
Yea good times when poker became mainstream. It's what made me start playing.
Now it's Bingo players and 🥶 rivers
You've got a few elements that are little bit off. For example, you say his "ascent in the poker world was nothing short of remarkable," although I would argue his rise was relatively (and admirably) gradual and measured. The Chris Ferguson Challenge was an exercise in bankroll management, as it captured his modest beginnings: play-money games, low-stakes tourneys, etc. At 3:56, the video jumps forward to 2017. The narration says "...Jesus, as many began to call him..." That moniker predated the 2017 return by almost two decades.
But those are more nitpicks, I'll admit. The sequence of this video implies that Ferguson's path from note to notoriety came after that 2017 WSOP/WSOPE year. In fact, Ferguson was already a pariah when he walked into the Rio that year. The six years after Black Friday hung a cloud over his entire 2017 WSOP performance, which would otherwise have been heralded but for the stink already attached to his name. Furthermore, it was not until after his 2017 success that Ferguson finally issued his half-assed apology that he has since removed from Vimeo.
No, perhaps the most interesting (or dubious) part of the Ferguson fall from grace is how his saga contrasted with Howard Lederer:
1. Lederer came out of hiding in 2012 to do a seven-part interview series, while Ferguson continued to remain silent. And sure, Lederer's interview was quite unsatisfying, but he did help clear up a few questions, which is more than Ferguson could say. Adding to the hate for Ferguson is that the interview suggests Chris was much more knowledgeable of the company's inner workings than Howard.
2. Lederer and Ferguson each agreed to settlements with the Southern District of New York, I want to say in the months following the Parvis interview. But Lederer's settlement included the forfeiture of his most valuable personal assets, including three homes and a 1965 Shelby Cobra. Ferguson surrendered more actual money, with the majority being allocations and receivables from Full Tilt Poker, yet did not have any personal assets named among the forfeitures. Neither became a sympathetic figure, of course, but the two settlements suggested that Ferguson was more loaded in cash - making him the less sympathetic of two scumbags, if you will.
3. Lederer largely kept a low profile in the poker world since then, save for a leaked appearance at Bobby's Room soon after the interview series. Ferguson went silent for six years after Black Friday, then showed up at the aforementioned 2017 WSOP as if nothing had happened. Sure, neither was received well, but Ferguson's behavior certainly struck everyone as far more brazen than Lederer's. That Ferguson set a then record for WSOP cashes, won a bracelet and captured the POY award only added proverbial salt to the wounds.
Make your own documentary Einstein 😂😂
Bro wrote a full screenplay. ✍️
You know no one is going to read that, right?
I did . It was great . And I say this as a positive HE SHOULD MAKE HIS OWN DOCUMENTARY since he has CLEARLY SUPERIOR INFORMATION than the maker of THIS documentary. @@OURTECHMEDIC
Guys writes an actually interesting comment and three online assholes write three typically stupid responses.
You should have mentioned his belated remorseless statement that he eventually released and that Daniel Negreanu critiqued.
They are all con artists, especially Daniel!
The narrator seems to suggest that justice was done. But the case against Ferguson was dismissed & he had made millions.
No evidence Chris did anything criminal, thus the case was dropped.
I really hope the poker yt community finds this channel. this is top notch quality. u just gotta find a way to promote it.
Yes! We have to get the word out
Its decent but the bum gotta do a little bit more research and it would help if he was part of the poker community
How do you know I'm not...
Cause there’s interesting facts that u seem to neglect for what ever reason……. But other than that nice work
I am not going to bother watching this whole video. One bad call, what are you talking about ? He is a disgrace and deserves all the shame that he has gotten.
The court said there was no evidence of a crime. Get over it.
I had to jump through seemed like a he's a great guy let's forgive him vid..
@@bipolarpunt5721No it didn't. Fake news. They agreed not to prosecute if they agreed to pay back restitutions V which was all documented and stipulated to with the government and their legal representations. Had they not agreed, they would've been prosecuted.
so your saying you can buy your way out of a criminal charge?@@slimdodomaker
It sounds like the last three minutes of this video was the narrator simply cracking open fortune cookies and reading whatever came out. Listen again and see.
Love the scripts and edits. This channel really is shaping up well.
This means a lot. Thank you
the man was a absolute grinding machine, i remember he made 10k from playing freerolls on full tilt back in the day. He had bankroll managing strategy called the fergusson where you can only use 2% of your bankroll for a tourney and 5% for a cash game.
Ha I remember that being one of the first videos I ever watched and something I always followed to this day (albeit maybe should call it the 4% / 10% for me😂)
lol. "Bankroll strategy "
Strategy = Take money from player deposits, use as own.
@@chongli3007 thankfully I didn’t had millions on my account, I was just happy to be able to transfer it to pokerstar
MAN! I forgot about Chris. When i first started playing poker it was around the time Full Tilt was live and Poker After Dark was the thing, he was awesome! Sad what happened and it basically stopped online poker in a lot of states. Looking at Hendon Mob he hasnt played since 2020
My critique here is you glossed over his mistakes. What did he do wrong and why? I get that he said nothing about the Full Tilt scandal, but what did that entail and what should he have done?
I think that part needed a bit more explanation.
Appreciate this feedback. Part 2 coming soon.
he is just another crook that stole money at full tilt .he could not win the dough so he stole it .i cannot believe he is allowed to play .
Surprising to find moral vignettes from a poker channel, but I love it. Thank you.
Glad you liked the video! Thanks for being here!
Specifics would be nice. Other than be one of the more recognizable player/owners, how exactly did Chris Ferguson contribute to the fall of Full Tilt Poker?
He was in on the "super users" who had access to everyone's hole cards. I don't remember even hearing about it being a ponzi scheme tho, just the "super users" taking so many people's money. Didn't play on the site much, but remember multiple times of people sitting out, who would then pop back in, going allin with premium hands or to crack premium hands.
@@denisfolcik1373 I think you're thinking of Russ Hamilton and Ultimate Bet. I don't recall any superuser allegations with FTP.
@@habs798693 it's been almost 20 years, so I could definitely be remembering it wrong. Again, if remembering correctly, Ferguson put money up for it, and his name behind FTP but didn't actually run it. So thought he got most of the heat about the super user accounts. Either way tho, it was bad enough that he hasn't shown up in any major poker game since tho.
@@denisfolcik1373 It's been about 12 years
he was also on their Board of Directors
I remember seeing him on TV as a 10 year old visiting my cousins. Pretty wild story. Appreciate you.
Thanks for being here
You made an 8 minute video with 30 seconds worth of content. Congratulations.
This video is heavy on virtue but lacks details and specifics of his involvement. Can you share his operational role, ownership stake or what he specifically knew and when? That would be helpful to understanding any culpability.
This is shocking. He's the last person I ever thought would do this. He's lost all my respect.
It's definitely a crazy story
He was cleared.
@@ordinarypeteThrough an agreement with the government and his hired legal representative(s).
I remember back in the day he did an online challenge...goong from 0-$10,000 by cashing in freerolls then building up and he did it. He was a great player, shame that all went down.
Good conclusions regarding dealing with famous powerful people who are unethical or criminal.
The powerful and famous are who have to be looked at most carefully and dealt with most harshly…
Love this channel!
Love that you’re here!
I remember trying to withdraw funds from full tilt back in the day. This was before the downfall, but nonetheless, they made it incredibly difficult to get your money out.
Must’ve tilted you! 😉
@@EweCantHandletheTruth no just made me realize they were a shit company
Wasn't for me. Only iffy thing I remember was that they had to "mask" the company on the check as something besides full tilt. Some banks would turn them down. Mine gave no fks tho.
Really? I use to make tons of money playing on full tilt back then. I was taking out a couple hundred every day for a long long time.
Yeah not sure why, but always took like a month to get my money and they would only mail a check. @@billj4525
Title suggests he cheated in a game or something, and then the ending is that he was never charged with doing anything wrong.
Thx for wasting our time.
I mean, online poker is illegal in most states, so you know straight off the bat that online poker companies are okay with bending/breaking the law. That should give you an idea how smart it is to gamble real money on their services.
Probably of All downfalls of poker players Ferguson's downfall IS the most surprising. He was alllll over poker world in the 2000s garnering Massive respect. You only live once. Instead of getting right with the Full Tilt scandal he chose Greed and a Wrecked for life reputation. The same thing mirrors the downfall of the "Professor" Howard Lederer.
But what did he do?
Please continue what you are doing. Awesome channel!
Thank you, really appreciate the support!
Nice video, I grew up watching this guy on poker after dark if I remember correctly. Then I saw him alot on ESPN during the wsop boom time after moneymaker effect.
Thanks for checking out the video!
Used to love Ferguson as a poker player, now him and Lederer make me want to vomit. As does that other one, Annie Duke…
Foggy Mountain breakdown pickin “n” grinning plays just like EARL!😮
23 cashes in one WSOP year is a great achievement, no matter what, guy can still play
100%. Can't argue that he's a great player
Ferguson obviously can play.
But it is not like he was playing with his own money, so he was basically freerolling in every tournament.
I don't know for certain that Ferguson was guilty as the charges were dismissed in 2013 after a deal was made where he paid out over $2,000,000. I was one of the players who lost over $100 at Full Tilt, but it was all free money as I didn't deposit any money myself, just played freerolls. I was out a lot of time, but it is what it is. I do wish he'd make an appearance again in poker. It's not like he cheated the game, but maybe there's more to it that makes it impossible for him to play with his peers? 👍😎✌🗽
He still plays some WSOP events.
@@timyoung4039 Yeah, I don't recall there being any bad blood between Chris, and the poker community at large. I did research a little, and evidently his sister in law died at some point which really put a hurt emotionally on the family, including Chris. That was given as one reason he shied away from the public eye. Happy he is still playing, and would love to see him in some big tourneys. 👍😎✌🗽
Americas Cardroom also seems to be a scam. My inability to withdraw winnings is an experience hundreds of people have reported on review sites. Very pathetic scam. Its hard for these websites to not scam their customers. Look at these poker companies withdrawal complaints carefully!
Thanks for sharing
If you are playing on Americas Cardroom & not playing in a legal online US gambling state playing US ran sites like Fan Duel, Draft Kings, MGM, Caesars, etc, then that's why you are being screwed by not getting withdrawals when you want them. It has no US regulation & is ran in Costa Rica. All the US sites I mentioned give me instant withdrawals.
@@deaconfrost6229 America's Cardroom is legal in many states including my own. There are lots of "legal" companies that scam people like Paypal. I wouldn't count on being legal meaning anything, that is too much faith.
Full disclosure: I used to play Full Tilt Poker with a free account for a short period, and I only played once in a blue moon on the free version of the game, which means that I avoided the drama that came from the scandal.
Great video man. Gambling just like the stock market will always attract thieves who will do anything they can to get ahead by robbing random people.
He kept a lot peoples money that should’ve been deposited back.
For sure
I had wondered what happened to Chris and Lederer. 😡
What's even more disgusting than anything in this video is the fact that most states, including mine, still don't allow online poker but if you wanna "click the mouse and lose your house" you can do all the sports betting you want. Even reload your account using a credit card.
It's a fucking joke.
This video could have been five minutes shorter and still have told the same story.
This is to be expected from a guy who wears a cowboy hat and comes from Los Angeles. ha ha.
Hello Kyle! How are you doing today 🙂?
Jamal! So great to see you here. How’d you find it??
@@PokerBoomYT It showed up in my recommendations feed so I thought I come and check it out, eh?
Love it! Thanks for being here!
this had such great beginnign but zero substance at the end...where is now, what did these alegstions do to him in the poker world. why is he not able to play in big money games anymore?
He still has a lot of money. He doesn’t play poker because he’s recognized easily, and people tell him off when he appears
Appreciate this feedback
It’s weird how you made it seem like he defrauded everyone through Full Tilt, but had no prior instances of fraud in the past. People like that don’t go from honest to criminal overnight. Without a pattern of behaviour, it’s hard to completely fault him for what happened. I’m not a Ferguson fan by any means, but I think you need more evidence before laying judgement. You lost a potential subscriber here
Still have my $10,000 visor smh
So much for that nickname.
So the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence of malice, yet we still continue to call it a "ponzi scheme" continuing to defame the player. Well done, PokerBoom!
You must be joking 🤣
Wasn't John Gotti "acquitted" numerous times? Believe it or not money can buy justice.
I get your point but his disappearance from the poker world really plays like an admission of guilt imo.
Ponzi didn’t realize what he was doing, either
@@MikeBeskthat’s so dumb.
Dude...this was simply part of the effort to take down online poker in the US. Case dismissed, dah... isn't it obvious?
3 heads up finals , let’s talk about skills sjeez he was some skilled player.
One of the best
@@PokerBoomYT Gotta be , heads up is one off the most skilled based tournaments iff u ask me . And I play a lot also 10Game poker etc etc but I never ever won a heads up tournament and I tried … 2-7 badugi u name it and I won some kind off tournament online off it but heads up I just never managed , did reach top ten few times but never final table
Heads up is a completely different game. Nowhere to hide
I saw ace and I think I win. If only this game works like that
Do one on Mike Matusow..
ruclips.net/video/1WqAIMsPjg0/видео.html
Interesting video summary... Subscribed... #490!
Thanks for the sub!
Never call someone who’s not Jesus Jesus. Jesus is just as good at poker as Ferguson.
I have to agree with most of the comments which point out that the case was dismissed and that he never admitted guilt, yet you spent the last two minutes of your video pointing out that his unethical behavior is common to all men. Maybe you know something that the rest of your viewers do not know. Also, I wish you would have let us know what he's up to now. Does he still play? Has he given it up? You cut off his mini biography at the point of his so-called Fall from Grace. What happened next and what is he up to today?
i loved watching him play and i hate it that he isn't online anymore. i am still having trouble believing he knew and actually did this, its just so unlike his perceived personality.
I suspect a deal was made with the feds. The Full Tilt people agreed to take the fall and be labeled as fraudsters in exchange for not being prosecuted. The feds claimed online poker was illegal and wanted to put people in jail (no one in the USA was getting a cut because the online poker sites were all overseas corporations). The govt. doesn't like it when they don't make money. I think the whole thing was fake. The feds (and the people running Vegas) wanted to convince you that online poker was dodgy. The Full Tilt situation gave them exactly what they wanted. It all seems a bit too convenient to me.
Haha I was about to write a long-winded response until I saw your screen name. Well played. :)
I’d be interested to know if he was at Doyle’s celebration of life gathering the other week. And if he was, if other notables were seen interacting with him. Seems it would’ve been a good time to patch things up with whomever needed patching up with.
I don't think he was there, but can't confirm
@@PokerBoomYT It was in Doyle's will: No Lederer or Ferguson! (LOL)
There's literally only like a minute and a half about the scandal in this video lol, its like four sentences. Should have focused on that more (the topic in the video title), rather than five minutes about his long hair and cowboy hat.
Moist criti call
Though I think your a bit long winded, If you got the point a little faster, this vid could be only 2-3 minutes long.
Always felt lederer was a shadeball but only felt that way about Ferguson after he got involved with full tilt.
Ray Bitar ran the day to day and was mostly responsible for the funds not being there, the site was allowing top pros to gamble with the player pools funds.
your ability to completely miss the point is amazing
@@slowery43 thxs tips
humble beginnings ??
Disagree?
I dont understand, if Prosecutors couldnt prove misappropriation of funds, and the case was dropped? Hes stood in front of the court. Whats the problem?
How many cautionary tales in one video?
too many words saying the same thing
Did he ever compensate the victims?
5:21 , the case was dismissed because his lawyer helped him make his case an issue of mismanaged money, instead of malice. That means that he spent the players money and made it seem like it was business expenses that drained the companies money, of course, during all this time, he was using the player’s money however he wanted
there was no crime, according to the courts.
Poker sites used most of players money to market to get new users. It’s the way poker sites work, it’s why u no one should waste their money on online poker
@@trainerred6582 Johnny Cochrane help him?
if the DOJ didn't freeze so much money FTP probably would have been fine. A lot of the mismanagement came from payment processors being cut off from online gambling. I always felt that calling it a Ponzi scheme was a bit harsh. Though ledera is/was a dickhead.
^ This.
So was he ever found guilty? Why was it dropped?
Probably settled out of court. Happens a lot when you have enough money and it is considered a "white collar" crime. White collar crime might destroy thousands or even millions of people, you can usually pay your way out. If you sell drugs to 2 people you will get 20 years for drug trafficking.
He and lederer stolen players money. Simply Just thiefs
He, The Professor, Anne Duke, and the God Father were the ones that got me started playing Poker until The Kid showed up; that is sad.
A lot of us grew up on those guys unfortunately
Chis is an Aries. The NEVER admit when theyre wrong.
He's a thief pure and simple. And an even more despicable thief being a millionaire and stealing from people who are not.
So basically he was the False Messiah or perhaps the anti christ of poker 😮
Well played
Try doing some research before you besmirch - Full Tilt was not a Ponzi scheme. Main villains were US Government and some evil payment processors, not Chris or other poker players involved in company.
LOLDA
I played with him all day im Costa Rica once, 11 hours side by side. The guy is an awesome guy, couldn’t be nicer
Before or after the controversy?
@@PokerBoomYT Way before, 2002
I was born april 26 1963 chris born on the 11 th of april 1963
Wow that is so not even a little interesting at all
Didn’t Chris do a “zero to $10,000” challenge on full tilt? He won some money in a free roll and spun it up to $10,000 in just a few months. I always knew something was fishy about that. Also seeing “Phil Ivey” playing at .25/.50 stakes. Bullshit! Online poker is such a fukn sham.
When you’re a poker pro, you’re already better than most players. When you don’t have to worry about money, playing poker as a pro makes it even easier to make $0 to $10,000 since you’re not stressed about what you’re going to do to pay your bills. You’re simply using the players money to find your life expenses and can focus on playing poker without a worry
sooooo the case against him was dismissed. sooooo the court found no malice on his part. soooo who was found guilty? someone that was hands on with the finances/payouts? It doesn't seem right that he is basically convicted on this video, when the case against him was dismissed. Luckily for the producers of this video they put the quick statement that it was dismissed in it. Otherwise could be a defamation case against them.
Spose the govt thought some got fully tilted?? It was dismissed.
glad hes gone, was boring af to watch
I'm shocked ! Had no clue!
Thanks for checking out the video. Hope you learned something.
His girlfriend taught me to dance. Vivacious, outgoing Colombiana, very unlikely couple. I met him once- shy, nice, obviously smart as heck.
no one cares taht his wife supposedly taught you to dance... this is not at all about you and dancing
He basically refused to give back the dividends he received after he found out that player funds were used to pay out those dividends. Is that right? Certainly not. But it's the exact same thing all the other pros like Phil Ivey did. It's just not human nature to give that money back-probably less than 1% of people would do that and even less in the gambling world.
If the case was dismissed then you can’t still just unanimously claim guilt
He still has alot of money ,he's no different then the government
If the lawsuit was dismissed, what does he have to apologize for???
Just because they couldn't prove a case does nto mean nothing happened and something did happen. He ruined his reputation with it despite not getting convicted. Guilty people get away with stuff all the time.
@@chriskay1449 a dismissal isn’t the same as a settlement where they simply agree to disagree for a price. It’s the rejection of legal proceedings before a trial begins typically when not enough evidence is available to for the prosecution to reasonably obtain a conviction. Yes, the prosecutors can refile charges before the statute of limitations expires, but it looks really bad when prosecutors file charges only to dismiss them later on. If you don’t have enough evidence to convict, that can mean lots of things, but rarely does ambiguity in evidence prove one’s guilt. There’s probably more there, but it’s either circumstantial or so flimsy that it wouldn’t stand up under cross-examination. Not saying he’s innocent - just asking why he needs to apologize just for being associated with a bad thing. If he was clearly guilty, the evidence would have shown that and he would have been convicted for sure.
Then why settle at all? If you feel you are being falsely accused or persecuted, then roll the dice in court and pay nothing. Only guilty people settle.
@@slimdodomaker Except you still pay even if you win and the court of public perception never goes away. So, your "only guilty people settle" is wrong and ignorant.
@@chriskay1449 Speaking of such perceived perceptions. Have you read and seen all the discovery pertaining to the case? I guarantee you that there was enough damning evidence within there which compelled them to settle to satisfy the government "dismissal". But don't mind my ignorance, just ask the charged, accused, and settlelers. You get an "E" for effort tho:P
how naive can you be if you think he cares about reputation. Or that he learned a lesson or some shit. He did what he did and became even more richer. Its as simple as that!
Jesus will be one of the best poker players ever, whether you people like it or not.
No debate that he's a great player
It would be hard to not regard him as one of the great poker players of all time I don't think anybody denies that
All charges were dropped. No crime committed. online poker was good until the politicians got involved.
your complete inability to understand law is on fulll display here Princess
If you ever met the dude in person, you would not have made this video
Explain
I came off sharper than I meant too, and I retracted my dislike, but you made a video about the guy, certainly meant to make him look like he did some bad, but I’m guessing you never even met him. I strongly believe if you had, you’d feel differently about him.
Thanks for clarifying. I really tried to make this video as fair as possible, and even in the conclusion stressed the importance of being able to see both sides of the situation. Never met him before, but was a huge fan of his growing up and was disappointed to see how he handled this
I truthfully and honestly wish we all knew more about the whole situation, but just from what I knew about him as a person, I always felt like he got railroaded by some of the other people involved. Whenever I see a video about him, I get defensive, and I am sorry. I was seeing red and did not give the end of your video a chance to be processed. I hope maybe as your channel grows, that you can interview him in person someday. I am confident you’ll feel the same way I do.
@@nickasta3400 "I felt like he got railroaded" Typical younger generation. It's always someone else's fault.
Click the mouse and lose your house. Anyone who gambles online gets EXACTLY what he or she deserves.
yeah. they act like the adults who gamble don't understand the concequences of their actions. the issue with gambling addiction isn't what you can lose it's that you're just one choice away from "getting it all back."
It can go both ways I made over 15 k and supplements income in 05, not much but helped and was fun it's gone..now I wouldn't trust online at all
I came to make the same comment, hahaha. What a ridiculous statement, but hilarious. I LOL'd irl
Kaaaaaaren. Drink another glass of wine, drunk
@@Bowling_Dude - No, the issue is that there are actually adults out there who don't know the difference between your and you're - can you believe it?
cf howard lederer annie duke and others were all in on it helping themselves to loads of cash. cf used to be my favorite pro player until this... him and lederer are nothing but thieves
Gus Hanson
Video on Gus coming soon!
@@PokerBoomYT How much did Eric Lindgren borrow from the FT coffers and never pay back?
I hate Chris Ferguson. He acts like he is so smart. There is an episode of Poker After Dark, one of the original series. He calls an all in with K-5 off suit. He had at least 20 big blinds and wasn’t in danger of getting blinded off. The opposition had A 8. He says he would have folded if he knew what the guy had. A8 isn’t even that great of a hand. What a donkey call.
no one cares who you hate, this isn't about you
The REAL story imo IS WHAT HAPPENED TO TED FORREST????
If someone allows themselves to be nicknamed JESUS , that should be all you need to know about them..
Terrible video. Doesn't tell anything about Chris. Dude was the programmer who developed the software for Fulltilt, he didn't do anything shady w any players money. Everyone got paid their deposits back. The whole scene was messy once Fulltilt started trying to bypass the ban on USA gambling. You could use western Union to deposit money in Peru n theyd put that money in your account. This is why shit they got shit down . Jesus didn't do anything nefarious he was just along for the ride and it was lederer who was the culprit
He is a nit
Nothing to learn from this player
DAMN!!!!
Is that you Ron Simmons?