Chris Ferguson and His Involvement in Black Friday

Chris Ferguson finally came out with a statement after 7 years of silence for the worst day in US poker history. In 2011 he faced civil charges and was blamed by the poker community for the theft of millions of dollars from the players of Full Tilt. Read about his part in the scandal, about the outcomes of it and the reaction that Ferguson unleashed with his apology.
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What Did Chris Ferguson Had to Apologise For?

Chris Ferguson, also known as ‘Jesus’, was one of the founders and a major shareholder in Full Tilt Poker, one of the companies involved in the huge poker scandal in the US, named ‘The Black Friday’ by the poker community.

Chris Fergusan – Facts
Name Christopher Phillip Ferguson
Nickname Jesus
Date of Birth April 11, 1963
Residence Pacific Palisades, California
Net Worth $80 Million
WSOP Bracelets 6
Career Titles 21
Career Cashes 253

For those of you who are not aware of the scandal, here is the brief story. In April 2011, the US Department of Justice seized the domains of the three biggest online poker operators in the States. And yes, Full Tilt was one of them. They were all charged for breaking the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

Millions of dollars were blocked, and players couldn’t get their money back. It was a big hit for the entire poker industry and a huge shock for every person that had an account in the websites of the operators. Now, where does Chris Ferguson stand in all of this Full Tilt scandal, you might ask. In the weeks of investigation in 2011, it was made clear that the company does not have the amount of money needed to pay back its players.

There were many theories on what went wrong with money handling in the company. Some were going all the way in a whirlwind of emotions and accusations, claiming that the shareholders stole all of the money and laundered them in offshore accounts God only knows where. If we look at the things realistically this is hardly possible. The more believable story, which is accepted as the real thing nowadays, is that Full Tilt had a very strange policy when it came to the players’ money. They were not kept safe, so in case of need, withdrawals can be made right away. They were constantly circulating in the form of loans to other players who lost their funds, with the sole purpose to keep them hooked for as long as possible.

Some stealing was involved anyway, with claims that Chris Jesus Ferguson and other three members of the board of Full Tilt were paid more than 400,000,000 dollars in the weeks and months after Black Friday. The players of the operator were paid only when PokerStars (another online poker operator) bought Full Tilt and started paying out. Since we are immersed in the topic, we thought that you might get inspired and want to play a bit of cards. To find the best operator, you can see our page about top online poker sites.

How Did ‘Jesus’ Went out Dry from the Water?

In September 2011, Chris Ferguson faced civil charges, related to the Black Friday scandal. Within the end of 2011, he reached a settlement with the Department of Justice. He did forfeit all funds on ‘Ferguson Account’, forgave 14 million dollars, that were owed to him by Full Tilt (according to his statement) and paid additional $2,300,000. Ferguson stated that he had no knowledge of the wrongdoings of the company and expressed the hope that the money from his funds will be used for paying the players of Full Tilt.

Official Order of Settlement in Regard to Chris Ferguson

And no matter how innocent he claimed to be, no one from the poker community had the same opinion. Chris Ferguson stayed away from any publicity for 5 years. In 2016, for everybody’s surprise, he appeared in the 2016 WSOP. Yet, no official statements were heard, no public speeches were witnessed. Since 2016 he appeared on many poker tournaments and became WSOP Player of the Year in 2017. Again, the reaction of the poker community was quite heated.

Still, the mute state of Chris Jesus Ferguson kept on two more years after his first appearance, when in 2018, days before the WSOP, he finally spilt the words. And while everybody expected a really, but really good Chris Ferguson apology after so many years, he decided to keep it way too simple, generic and somehow encrypted… And many were left with the thought that he should have kept silent forever.

Here are some highlights of the Chris Ferguson Black Friday statement:

‘Hi, it’s Chris Ferguson. …I deeply regret not being able to prevent Black Friday from happening. After Black Friday, I worked relentlessly to ensure that all players got paid back, and I sincerely apologise that it took as long as it did. …One day, the Full Tilt Poker story will be told, and like many of you, I look forward to that day.’

Have you ever read or heard something, which at the end left you with the feeling that empty sentences were written, nothing actually was said, and it all was just an act? This is the feeling that we have with Chris’ speech. It took him 7 years, and this was the best he came out with? We don’t buy it, Chris, sorry. And we are not the only ones. Social media was boiling after the video and some of the first to make a comment were Daniel Negreanu, Ian Steinman and Dan O’Brien, all professional poker players.

Reaction of Poker Community Against Ferguson’s apology

For the Next Time Let’s Put Some Feeling

We wouldn’t say that the fact he regrets his inability to ‘prevent Black Friday from happening’ is in any way satisfying. An apology was expected (and would’ve been in place) right after his and his partners’ plots were revealed. Right after the disappearing of so much money, belonging to the players of Full Tilt… And we really cannot agree with the fact that it was Ferguson to pay the money back, no matter how relentlessly he states to have worked for it. After all, it was PokerStars which agreed to a settlement of more than 700 million dollars.

We still have to pay attention to one of the last sentences in his statement – ‘One day, the Full Tilt Poker story will be told, and like many of you, I look forward to that day.’ This is the part that we thought to be quite cryptic. Is there something that we don’t know, or he is just bluffing his way out of the mass hate of poker players all over the States and even the world? We are definitely looking forward to another explanation of the situation of the Full Tilt scandal back in 2011. And, if we might add, we sincerely hope that the next Chris Ferguson Black Friday statement, the one that will reveal the conspiracy, will come sooner than 2022.

In the end, all we have to say is that the poker community was hardly patient and supportive towards Chris for the past years. And an apology, made in 2011-2012, would’ve had an entirely different meaning.

But now, after so many years of silence and the fact that the Chris Ferguson apology looked forced and emotionless, it did nothing but to enrage even more the ones who are not aware of the full truth, for which he hinted. So, everybody can form his own opinion about ‘Jesus’. We are on the pointy edge up to the moment that we see some new info coming to daylight for the Black Friday scandal and Chris’ involvement in it.

And for the next time when Chris Ferguson reaches out, we will be expecting a statement that is less forced, less rehearsed and with a bit more feeling. We really want to finish this article with a positive vibe, and what better way to do that but to help our readers. Or at least try to do so. If you are a lover of iGaming, you will be interested to see which are the top trusted casino sites which we gathered for your comfort.

FAQs

💰 How much is Chris Ferguson worth?

Chris Ferguson has an estimated net worth of nearly $80 million. His total winnings from poker tournaments are around $10 million, but he also has a lot of winnings from cash games. He is one of the most recognized professional poker players in the world and most of his profits are due to smart investments.

📍 Where is Chris Ferguson now?

Chris Ferguson currently lives in the Pacific Palisades, California, U.S. He travels a lot because he still plays poker professionally and constantly participates in famous poker tournaments around the world. One of his most recent tournament involvements was at the WPT LA Poker Classic.

📅 When did Chris Ferguson finally apologize?

After seven years of silence, Chris Ferguson finally apologized for his involvement in the fraud case known as the Black Friday. Just a few days before the start of the 2018 WSOP, Ferguson issued a cryptic apology, that wasn't received very good from the poker community.

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