It doesn’t get much more intimidating than sitting across the table from Jesus.

In this case, “Jesus” is Chris Ferguson, and he’s as close to a religious figure as there is in poker (his favorite celebrities are Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King).

The 2000 World Series of Poker champion is, among other things, a Ph. D. graduate, a ballroom dancer, a day trader, and the head of a software development company.

He can also slice a carrot in half by throwing a playing card at it.

How does such a complex person end up a millionaire at a game that he admits isn’t at the top of his priority list?

Good genetics helps. Both of Ferguson’s parents hold doctorates in mathematics, passing down a photographic memory to their son. The Los Angeles native started playing poker for fun as a child, but with the advent of the Internet in the early ‘90s, Ferguson found himself playing for money at college on IRC.

His first WSOP appearance was in 1995, and since then Ferguson has earned five WSOP bracelets and over $3 million in prize money.

Rather than spend countless hours playing poker, Ferguson prefers to focus on tournaments, which gives him time to explore his vast array of interests. His doctorate (earned at UCLA in 1999) is in computer science, paying particular attention to artificial intelligence.

Ferguson was also president of the swing club at UCLA, and hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming a professor of game theory.