Updated on 22 Feb 26 by
Barry carter
Poker Expert

Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson plays the WSOP

One of the most vilified, and certainly the most illusive, former Full Tilt owners made a controversial return to the Series over the weekend.

While Howard Lederer and Ray Bitar may have had the most anger directed towards them following the Full Tilt scandal, former owner Chris Ferguson was not far behind them, but did a good job of staying under the radar for the last five years. He literally has not been seen or made any public statements since the gravity of the former Full Tilt's financial situation was revealed. 

Until now, as he made his return to the World Series of Poker after more than five years, where he played in his infamous 'Jesus' hat. He bought in for the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, which he busted on Day 1. 

Is Howard next?

Howard Lederer at a poker tournament
Howard Lederer

Last month Howard Lederer made a public apology for what happened at Full Tilt, a move which many, including this writer, believed was simply a ploy to curry favour in order to return to the WSOP. Not many suspected that it would be the elusive Ferguson who would be the first to return to the tables. 

The former WSOP Main Event Champion was not playing ball with the media, and despite constant questioning from PokerNews, simply responded each time by saying "I'm just here to play poker".

Elsewhere in the Series there are five events underway. The aforementioned Stud Championship has reached the final table and most notably the $565 Colossus is on Day 2 and, as expected, attracted a staggering 21,613 entrants. 

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Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2, Poker Satellite Strategy, PKO Poker Strategy, Endgame Poker Strategy, GTO Poker Simplified, Mystery Bounty Poker Strategy and Beyond GTO. In 2025, he won the Global Poker Awards for Best Book and Twitter Personality of the Year.