Jesus not only saves, he wins too.

Top poker pro Chris “Jesus” Ferguson was the winner of the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, held last Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

For the big win, Ferguson, a Californian whose long black hair and beard make him resemble Christ, earned $500,000.

The event started with 64 top poker players, and like the NCAA basketball tournament, eliminated competitors in head-to-play until there was one player left.

All matches were one-and-done except for the Finals, where the two remaining players–Ferguson and Andy Bloch–engaged in a best-of-three match.

In that best-of-three, Bloch won the first game but Ferguson came back to win the next two, and the title.

It was the first National Heads-Up Poker Championship title for Ferguson, who had reached the Finals in two of the last three years of the four-year-old tournament, but could never close the deal until now.

Ferguson reached the Finals of this year’s event by beating Phil “Poison” Ivey in the Semi-Finals, while Bloch prevailed in Final Four play over Huck Seed.

Earlier in the competition, last year’s champ, Paul Wasicka, fell to Freddy Deeb, while Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth Jr., favored by many to win it all, was downed by unknown Tom Dwan.

Also earlier, actress Shannon Elizabeth, who is also a top poker player, also lost to Bloch, while baseball player-turned-poker player Orel Hershiser beat Ted Forrest, Allen Cunningham and Deeb before losing to Bloch.

“This has truly been the best year ever for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship,” said Jon Miller, Executive Vice-President of NBC Sports, which will televise the tourney, starting next month.

“The players were better than ever, Orel Hershiser provided a great deal of excitement and buzz,” Miller said. “We had a superb final four players and a genuinely exciting finale.”

Among those also participating in the event were Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Johnny “The Orient Express”=9D Chan, Chris Moneymaker, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, John Juanda, Howard “The Professor” Lederer, Don Cheadle, Jen Tilly, Gabe Kaplan, Jason Alexander, Gus Hansen, Clonie Gowen, Jamie Gold, Erik Seidel, Mike “The Mouth”=9D Matusow, Phil “Unabomber”=9D Laak, Sam Farha, Joe Hachem, T.J. Cloutier, Sam Grizzle, Kenny Tran, Todd “Son of Doyle”=9D Brunson, Jerry Yang and Scotty Nguyen.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.) =A0