By Neal Farran | August 16, 2007

It took him almost seventeen months, but poker pro Chris “Jesus” Ferguson finally accomplished his goal to make $10,000 on Full Tilt Poker, starting from nothing.

For Ferguson, it was both a challenge and a lesson in sound bankroll management. Once he actually had a few dollars from placing high in freeroll tournaments, Ferguson made himself follow a strict set of rules on how much money he could have at the table at any given time. The rules were as follows:

• He could not use more than 5 percent of his total bankroll for a Sit & Go, unless the buy-in was $2.50 or lower.
• He could not use more than 2 percent of his total bankroll for a multi-table tournament, unless the buy-in was $1.
• He could not have more than 10 percent of his total bankroll on the table in a pot-limit or no-limit cash game. If his stack went over that mark, he had to leave when the blinds reached him.

Chris Ferguson started his journey on March 22, 2006, and it took him almost the entire rest of that year to even get into double figures. In November, he finally made a “big” score, winning over $100 in a $1 multi-table tournament. It still took him until just last month to make it over $1,000, but there was no looking back once he cashed in that tournament. He had a big spike between July 20 and July 24, making over $3,000, then another between July 27 and August 3, when he made around $5,000.

He got over the hump this week, on August 14, aided by a 20th place finish in the FTOPS V event, for which he made $815. By the end of the day, Ferguson saw his bankroll hit $13,813.07.

Ferguson has pledged to donate his winnings to the Save the Children Foundation.

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