American professional poker player Chris Ferguson has an estimated net worth of $25 million. He was born Christopher Philip Ferguson on April 11, 1963 in Los Angeles, California to parents who both have doctoral degrees in mathematics. His father, Thomas Ferguson, teaches game theory and theoretical probability at University of California, Los Angeles. He attended UCLA where he earned a Ph.D. in computer science, focusing on virtual network algorithms, after five years as an undergraduate and 13 years as a graduate student in 1999. His advisor was Leonard KIeinrock.

Ferguson began playing at the age of ten. Known for his mathematical style of play, he has won five World Series of Poker events including the 2000 WSOP Main event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He is part of Tiltware, along with Howard Lederer and Ray Bitar, who launched the “Full Tilt Poker” online gambling site. On September 20, 2011, the U.S. Justice Department filed a motion to amend a civil complaint on Ferguson and three other directors of the site. According to the complaint, they were running a Ponzi scheme that paid out $444 million of customer money to themselves and the firm’s owners. He has interests that included his presidency of a swing dancing club at UCLA as well as his ability to throw playing cards fast enough to cut through bananas, carrots, and even melons.