More and more of the poker players I hang out with are taking on the Chris Ferguson Challenge. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson is a world champion poker player, having won five World Series of Poker bracelets and one WSOP Main Event title. He’s known for having a very mathematical style of play, that probably comes from his PhD in Computer Science. He’s also a very friendly pro, and able to throw playing cards with deadly precision (well, deadly to fruit anyway.)
The Challenge that he set up was playing on Full Tilt Poker, an online poker site where he is one of the featured pros. He cashed out all his money, and started from $0. At Full Tilt, there are plenty of free tournaments and play money cash games. At the highest levels of play money games, you can earn real money. So he worked his way up from freeroll games into real money games. The goal: reach $10,000. And though it has taken over 16 months, he has accomplished that goal, and is still building up his bankroll from there. What’s he going to do with all that money that he earned from nothing? Use it to buy into next year’s WSOP? Nope, he’s going to donate it to the Save the Children Foundation.
Chris’s system has nothing to do with the way he plays. Instead, it’s a way of managing his bankroll to account for the inevitable swings that come with playing lots of poker. From the site about it, here’s the rules he follows:
- He never buys into a cash game or a Sit & Go with more than 5 percent of his total bankroll (there is an exception for the lowest limits: he is allowed to buy into any game with a buy-in of $2.50 or less).
- He doesn’t buy into a multi-table tournament for more than 2 percent of his total bankroll, but he’s allowed to buy into any multi-table tournament that costs $1.
- If at any time during a No-Limit or Pot-Limit cash-game session the money on the table represents more than 10 percent of his total bankroll, he must leave the game when the blinds reach him.
Why does this excite so many of my poker playing friends? For one, it’s a number of good, easy to follow rules on what sort of games to get into. When deciding what level to play at, it’s easy to do some multiplication and figure out if a game is “too rich for my blood.” And, of course, it doesn’t cost anything to get started. If you like playing poker, all it takes is to download some software and sign up for an account. No money or credit cards or convoluted pay system required.
Though I’ll be starting with a little money, I’m going to be joining them in the challenge. Wish me luck!
It’s tough, but I’m still slowly going up!
This is cool! Chris Ferguson is one of my favorite players (though not even close to to my absolute favorite, Doyle Brunson), and he always seems so cool and collected.
And, that card throwing thing isn’t limited to fruits: I saw him (via TV, of course) slice through a carrot with a card. That was awesome.
And, his poker challenge is really cool, too. Good luck with joining! I might actually have to give it a try, too.
I would recommend that everyone try this challenge! There are several benefits to playing this way online.
1. You are never in position to lose a lot of money that you need to live.
2. You will always be playing within your bankroll limitations.
3. You will continue to improve your poker skills as you jump up levels.
This challenge might be the best way for new players to get into the world of online poker. Also, it is a great way for veterans who are frustrated with the suck-outs to get back into playing online.
If you try it Tami, good luck!
This is an amazing challenge to see and fills me with ambition. However I am not Chris Ferguson.
Another guy who is a relative nobody is doing a similar challenge his online name is Brokerstar.
I’m following him as if he can pull it off then t gives me more hope that I’ll be able to do it.
He is playing No Limit Holdem on a smaler european site that gives neary twice as much rakeback to make the challenge easier.
Here are his blog posts: http://www.tagpoker.co.uk/pages/zero-to-hero.html
Porky