The international appeal of poker began to be reflected in the Worlds Series of Poker champions when Vietnamese born Thuan (Scotty) Nguyen took down pokers top honour in 1998, followed by Irishman Noel Furlong in 1999.
The 2000 WSOP of poker main event saw a then record 512 competitors vie for the $1.5 million first place would bring. Among the players fighting it out that year was Jim McManus, who had been sent by Harpers Magazine to report on the tournament. Not satisfied to simply watch, McManus took the advance Harper's had given him and won a satellite, giving him a ticket to play in the big game himself. A lifelong amateur player, McManus went on a terrific run and made it all the way to the final table, finishing fifth and collecting $248,000. He then wrote a book about it; Positively Fifth Street. On a personal note, I read Positively Fifth Street and was captivated by it. It was this book that got me interested in poker and I'm sure it had a similar effect on hundreds, maybe thousands, of others.
The final two players that year were T. J. Cloutier and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. The contrast between the two men made this final showdown particularly dramatic. Cloutier was an almost perfect example of the old type of Texas road gambler; a sixty-one year old Texan who had honed his skills over decades of playing in the illegal backroom games in the American south west. A professional football player in his younger days, T.J. was physically intimidating as well. The "old school" of poker players could not have a better representative.
Chris Ferguson was everything Cloutier was not: A slim young Californian who had just completed his Ph.D in computer science. With his beard and long brown hair, he bore a striking resemblance to the popular image of Christ, hence his nickname. Ferguson had none of the swagger and intimidation of the "old school", but he had a deep understanding of the mathematics and game theory. In the end, Cloutier outplayed Ferguson. Ferguson later said he knew that he couldn't beat T.J. "straight-up" and that to win he would have to get lucky - and that's exactly what happened. With Ferguson holding a slight chip lead, he got into a showdown holding A9 against Cloutiers' AQ, but a miracle 9 came on the river and Chris Ferguson won. This victory seemed to spark new interest among average people. If an egghead (albiet an egghead that looks like Jesus) can beat a tough old Texan, then it seemed like any reasonably intellegent person might be able to do allright at this game.
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