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The WSOP continued to grow in the 2000. Still held at Binion's Horseshoe, the year 2000 marked the first WSOP where the winner of the final main event claimed $1,500,000.

More on the WSOP:

WSOP Satellites
New 2008 WSOP Events
2008 WSOP Schedule
WSOP Player Profiles
WSOP History
WSOP Winners
H.O.R.S.E.: The Player's Championship

Over 500 Players in the Main Event

This year's main event drew 512 participants, each paying $10,000 to enter. The big winner of 2000 was none other than Chris Ferguson, who defeated TJ Cloutier at the final table. Other prominent players finishing in the top 30 in 2000 included Annie Duke, Kathy Leibert, Hasan Habib, Tom Franklin, Jeff Shulman, and Mike Sexton.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson

Chris Ferguson is nicknamed "Jesus" because of his long and flowing hair. Ferguson earned a Ph.D in Computer Science from UCLA before becoming a full-time professional poker player.

Did he use his scientific brain to defeat Cloutier at the final table? T.J. Cloutier, a recent poker hall of fame inductee was no slouch. Let's look at the final hand.

Ferguson sat with an AS 9C.

Cloutier held an AD QC.

Both players had an ace in the belly. Who would make the first move? Cloutier saw that Ferguson did not look confident so he went all-in. Ferguson surprisingly called.

Lucky Nine on the River

The flop came 2H KC 4H. This did not help either player, but Cloutier looked strong with the Queen kicker. He looked even stronger when the turn yielded a KH. The only way Cloutier could lose was if a nine landed on the river. Unfortunately, poker is ultimately a game of luck, and that's exactly what happened as Chris "Jesus" Ferguson drew a 9H to make his small pair and walk away from the table with a whopping $1.5 million.

2000 WSOP Tournaments and Winners

Event	Winner	Prize	Entrants
$10,000 Championship Event	Chris Ferguson	$1,500,000	512
$500 Limit Hold'em Dealers Tournament	Dave Alizadeh	$21,800	109
$2,000 Limit Hold'em	Hieu Ngoc Ma	$367,040	496
$1,500 7-Card Stud	Jerri Thomas	$135,825	245
$1,500 Limit Omaha	Ivo Donev	$85,800	143
$1,500 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo	Randy Holland	$120,990	218
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys	Johnny Chan	$179,400	156 (143)
$1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo	Nat Koe	$160,950	290
$2,000 No-Limit Hold'em	Diego Cordovez	$293,040	396
$2,500 7-Card Stud	Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	$151,000	151
$2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em	Jimmy Athanas	$173,900	235
$3,000 Limit Hold'em	Chris Tsipralidis	$213,600	178
$5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw	Jennifer Harman	$146,250	30
$2,500 7-Card-Stud Hi-Lo	Joe Wynn	$129,000	129
$2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys	Phil Ivey	$195,000	100 (95)
$1,500 A-5 Lowball	Richard Dunberg	$76,200	127
$2,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo	Michael Sohayegh	$160,000	160
$1,500 Razz	Huck Seed	$77,400	129
$3,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em	Mike Carson	$222,000	200
$5,000 Seven-Card Stud	David Chiu	$202,000	101
$3,000 No-Limit Hold'em	Chris Bjorin	$334,110	301
$5,000 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo	Howard Lederer	$198,000	99
$5,000 Limit Hold'em	Jay Heimowitz	$284,000	142
$1,000 Women's Limit Hold'em/7-Card Stud	Nani Dollision	$53,200	133

WSOP Year By Year

2000's	1990's	1980's	1970's
2007 WSOP	1999 WSOP	1989 WSOP	1979 WSOP
2006 WSOP	1998 WSOP	1988 WSOP	1978 WSOP
2005 WSOP	1997 WSOP	1987 WSOP	1977 WSOP
2004 WSOP	1996 WSOP	1986 WSOP	1976 WSOP
2003 WSOP	1995 WSOP	1985 WSOP	1975 WSOP
2002 WSOP	1994 WSOP	1984 WSOP	1974 WSOP
2001 WSOP	1993 WSOP	1983 WSOP	1973 WSOP
2000 WSOP	1992 WSOP	1982 WSOP	1972 WSOP
	1991 WSOP	1981 WSOP	1971 WSOP
	1990 WSOP	1980 WSOP	1970 WSOP