Chris Ferguson Officially Named 2017 WSOP Player of the Year

Chris Ferguson may have failed to cash in at the last tournament of the 2017 WSOP Europe, the €10,300 Main Event, but so did his nearest rivals on the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard, John Racener and Ryan Hughes, officially securing the coveted title for the controversial player whose nickname is “Jesus”.

In 2011, Ferguson went from being one of the more respected and admired players in poker to one of the game’s more maligned following the Full Tilt Poker scandal in which Ferguson together with three other directors were accused of paying $444 million of customer money to themselves, ultimately resulting in the site becoming insolvent. While the case was eventually dismissed, Ferguson, unlike Howard Lederer, failed to issue any type of apology, which still rankles hard with the poker community.

That said, Chris Ferguson still continues to have his supporters, and people who believe that his part in the scandal was blown out of proportion, including Phil Hellmuth who last week was photographed with Ferguson welcoming him “back to the WSOP winners circle”.

Chris Ferguson locked up his WSOP Player of the Year title after recording 17 cashes at the WSOP in Las Vegas for $380,200, followed by 6 cashes at the WSOP Europe in the Czech Republic for a further $56,144. At one stage it was thought that Ferguson may have become the first person to capture the honor without winning at least one bracelet over the two Series stops, but right towards the end of the competition Ferguson overcame a field of 92 players at Event #7: €1,650 PLO to collect a sixth career WSOP bracelet, as well as first place prize of €39,289 ($45,677).

2017 WSOP POY Leaderboard

1: Chris Ferguson 1,178.53
2: John Racener 1,042.04
3: Ryan Hughes 994.35

John Racener managed 17 cashes at this summer’s WSOP, including winning Event #17: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed for $273,962, and a further 4 times at the WSOPE. Meanwhile, a third placed Ryan Hughes cashed 16 times in Vegas, including two 5th place finishes, and just three further cashes at the WSOPE in the Czech Republic.