Chris Ferguson Wins WSOP Circuit Championship in Las Vegas

After a long, four hour heads-up session that lasted as many hands as did the entire final table play leading up to it, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson emerged victorious at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Championship Friday night at Harrah’s Casino in Las Vegas. Ferguson pocketed $362,088 and a gold-and-diamond ring for his efforts.

As long as heads-up play was between Ferguson and Chad Layne, it was rather uneventful. Ferguson began the one-on-one competition with a 2.5-to-1 chip lead, $770,000 in chips to $300,000. Layne took a pot here and there, but never got much closer than that, as both players folded so many times, you would have thought it was an origami competition.

Seeing as neither man made any huge moves, aside from when Layne doubled-up after having lost half his stack, the key hand was the final one. Layne opened the betting with a raise to $24,000, Ferguson re-raised to over $200,000, and Layne pushed all-in. Ferguson did the same, having Layne covered by a mile. Layne had Ferguson dominated, A-K to A-J, but unfortunately for Layne, the flop produced another Jack and Ferguson was left with all the chips.

The consolation prize was quite nice, however, as Layne took home a check for $201,160.

This is Ferguson’s second WSOP Circuit Championship this year; he won at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego, California in February.

Complete Final Table Standings

(Place/Player/Prize Money)

1. Chris Ferguson -- $362,088
2. Chad Layne -- $201,160
3. Kevin Song -- $110,638
4. Tom Pniak -- $80,464
5. An Tran -- $70,406
6. Gregg Fund -- $60,348
7. Michael Fetter -- $50,290
8. Tom Foley -- $40,232
9. Jim McCrink -- $30,174