By Kevin Felix | March 7, 2008

The third time was a charm for Chris “Jesus” Ferguson this past weekend at the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.After finishing second to Phil Hellmuth in 2005 and runner-up again to Ted Forrest in 2006, Ferguson finally got the monkey off of his back by winning the Championship two matches to one against fellow Full-Tilter Andy Bloch.

Ferguson had Bloch on the ropes in their first match, but after pulling into the lead when his flush beat Ferguson’s set, Bloch flopped trips on an A-9-9 board to win it, besting Ferguson’s A-K.The second match was almost a mirror image to the first, with Bloch taking a big lead and Ferguson climbing back to win.  

The rubber match ended on a coin flip.Not a 50/50 race of cards, but an actual coin flip.Chris Ferguson had pushed all-in with the board showing 10-7-3-7 and Andy Bloch, holding 10-4 (which four to a flush) and fewer chips than his opponent, didn’t know what to do.To finally force himself to make a decision, he flipped a coin.It came up heads, forcing Bloch to call.Ferguson held pocket Jacks, dodged Bloch’s outs, and won $500,000 for the victory.

In the quarterfinals matches, Bloch ended Orel Hershiser’s Cinderella run, Huck Seed beat David Benyamine, Phil Ivey defeated Gus Hansen, and Chris Ferguson eliminated Jonathan Little.Bloch advanced to the finals by taking out Seed, while Ferguson defeated Ivey.

Related posts:

1. Full Tilt Poker is offering NBC Heads-Up Championship Seats
   Full Tilt Poker has announced that they will be giving away free seats to the fifth annual NBC National Heads-Up...
2. Chris Ferguson Achieves $10,000 Goal
   It took him almost seventeen months, but poker pro Chris “Jesus” Ferguson finally accomplished his goal to make $10,000 on...
3. Chris Ferguson Files Several Motions in District Court
   Chris Ferguson filed a number of motions with the Southern District of New York Court through Jonathan Harris, his legal...
4. Annie Duke Wins 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship
   Annie Duke won the first and third matches in a best of three series against her good friend, Erik Seidel,...
5. 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Brackets Released
   Thursday night, the 64 players competing in the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship got together at Caesars in Las...