Chasing Chris Ferguson

In October, 1999, this is what I had on PokerWorks (all three or four pages of it), that gave a background picture of me and poker:

“The following has always been my thought on poker. Very few people ever really sit down and dissect the art of the game and all of the factors that combine to make the game what it is. Most of the people that play, play for a variety of reasons and those reasons are not always because they REALLY thought they would win. So…..

Who understands the guy that walks in off the street and takes a seat in a friendly game of poker? Who wants him to be comfortable and enjoy his play? Who understands the gnarly, grouchy loser? Who knows that poker is a game you have to play by the seat of your pants, (if you’re good at it), and you’re playing against other people that have as much desire and need to win as you do?

ME, ME, ME, that’s who. No one loves the pure, basic art of poker more than I do.

I’ve ran my own legal games in Montana, dealt for most of 20 years, managed an establishment that ran poker games and played during those 20 years also. I’ve trained dealers and some players (that needed a ruler across their knuckles), ran tournaments, dealer schedules, shilled, staked players, loaned money, borrowed money, dealt major tournaments in Nevada, worked in Las Vegas and the Mississippi Coast and now work in Las Vegas at a major casino.

I’ve had so many hands beat and beat so many hands that I can barely remember the majority of them. I remember the truly extreme hands, the kind that are never supposed to happen. I’ve watched anger fade to happiness when a pot is won, watched players that are even angrier when they win than when they lose - wondered what compels some of them to sit at the table. Even wondered why I sat there.

I love poker in its truest sense: The humor of a certain situation, the comments, and the outburst of emotion at losing a hand. The people who make up the playing circle. The rush of winning or playing a hand to maximize the profit. The agony of having every hand you play crushed as if a herd of wild spades or clubs thundered through and left only trampled, broken aces in their path. The strength of will that it takes to come back and play through 3 or 4 months of running bad. The guy that plays for the first time and the guy that’s played every day for the last 50 years - what an incredible portrait!

SEE YOU THERE!”

Since those days, my poker history would fill 40 or so volumes.  Most of my bio is pretty much the same except that I’ve now been involved in both sides of the green felt for over 28 years, except that I no longer am employed by a casino in Vegas.  And I’m one of them thar TV poker dealers, and the dealer in most of Howard Lederer’s videos, and have managed to maintain some balance of insanity while withholding pieces of sanity from other people in my poker/life/people relationships.

There are several topics to throw out before I leave this page.  First, I’ve always wondered why people want to play against the top pros.  Who gives a damn if you beat them?  And what record book or hall of fame are you registered in when you do?  Why not play against people just like you - and give yourself the opportunity to win instead of beating your head into a block wall and trying to figure out why it hurts while your bankroll goes down the drain?

Second, who’s the enemy when you take a seat at the table?  In general, the enemy is you.  You have to move past your internal self - ego, emotions, etc. - if you want to play the game.  When you take a seat, what game are you playing?

Third, everyone is trying to win.  Why get upset or hatefully hurtful to someone when they take a bad hand and slap the hell out of your Big Duke (that’s any big poker hand - named after John Wayne)?  Just return the favor at the right time and it’s much more satisfying plus it will put more money in your bankroll.

Fourth, can I start with -0- and actually make money?  Do I have the discipline it takes?  Will I end up with the jaded, ugly thought, “That asshole can’t play worth a shit but they always beat me!” that so many people seem to fall prey to?

Time will iron out all the wrinkles and I am anxious to begin this year long journey.  Hope that damn Card Fairy is on a long trip around the moon!  See you there!