Chris Ferguson made a nice comeback to the live poker scene after disappearing for several years. The 2000 WSOP Main Event champion kept a low profile after facing a US Department of Justice indictment back in 2011.
He made his official comeback to the world of live poker during last year’s edition of the WSOP and returned to the popular series this summer, when he almost scooped a gold bracelet in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, but eventually finished runner-up to Mike Wattel.
Ferguson may have failed to add a gold piece to his existing collection of five, but the player topped WSOP’s Player of the Year ranking after cashing in 17 events this summer. He thus accumulated 898.46 points. Ferguson’s total earnings this summer amounted to $380,200.
Leading the ranking after the end of the WSOP, Ferguson received an automatic entry into the WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event. The WSOP Europe is set to return this fall after a two-year hiatus.
The series will be held from October 19 through November 10 at what has become Europe’s largest poker room at King’s Casino Rozvadov. The poker festival will feature 11 gold bracelet events with different buy-ins and over €20 million in guaranteed money for the participants.
The WSOPE Main Event is scheduled to kick off on November 4 with two starting flights, played over two separate days. The event allows a single re-entry. Participants will have the chance to contend for a portion of the guaranteed prize pool of €4 million. Aside from the special champion’s bracelet and the largest share of the prize pool, the winner will also receive a seat into next year’s WSOP Main Event.
With live tournament earnings of more than $8.9 million, Ferguson is indisputably one of poker’s big names. However, his poker activities off the live felt surrounded him in great controversy several years ago.
Ferguson was one of the co-founders of online poker room Full Tilt Poker. The website went live in 2004 and quickly grew into one of the world’s most popular Internet poker hubs. In 2011, the US Department of Justice accused Ferguson and three other Full Tilt Poker directors of embezzling around $450 million from their players.
According to the DoJ’s complaint, the four indicted individuals were “blithely lying [to their players] about the safety and security”
