David Williams Poker

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• David Williams David Williams is one of the most feared poker players in the world. He was always a card player though poker was not always his game. Williams got his start in the world of cards, like many other poker players, in the Magic: The Gathering card game. He ventured into the world of poker when he saw an opening and never looked back.

WPT Career Highlights Value Rank; Career Earnings: $3,047,373: 28: Cashes: 17: 75: Final Tables: 4: 72: Titles: 1: 307. David Williams Not Ready to Leave Poker Behind Despite MasterChef Success July 14, 2016 Mo Nuwwarah 18 It takes a certain type of obsessive personality to succeed in poker, a hunger to continually.

For David Williams, success in the professional poker world came literally overnight. While playing online poker at Bodog, he won a seat into the WSOP Main Event in 2004 - an impressive feat, to be sure, but not that extraordinary. The extraordinary thing was that he finished 2^nd to Greg Raymer in that Main Event and pocketed a staggering $3.5 million. He was not, however, a 'one trick pony', and he set out to prove that he did in fact belong with the ‘big boys’. A few months later he placed second in the WPT Borgata Poker Open, and then finished out the year with a third place finish at the WPT Young Guns tournament and a first place finish at the Limit Hold'em Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas. David Williams has gone on the reach several final tables plus a WSOP bracelet, and he is one of the top money earners over the last few years with over $5 million in live tournaments.

David Williams was born in 1980 in Dallas Texas, and he credits his self-discipline and determination to his mother, who as a single parent managed to work and take care of him and his younger sister. His home environment caused him to grow up fast, and by the age of 12 he was taking care of himself, cooking meals and readying himself for school.

Professional Poker Player David Williams On His Career, Being ...

He excelled in math and science and was a 4.0 student at college. He admits to being kind of a geek (he plays the card game 'Magic: The Gathering' in his spare time, and has won tens of thousands in its World Championships), but hides it well in stylish clothes and a 'cool guy' image. He is noted for being an intelligent player (he scored a 1550 on his SATs) with an aggressive, random style which has certainly served him well. David Williams was an a regular at the tables of Bodog.com, where he was an official spokesman for the site.

David Williams Fun Facts and Finishes

• In 2006, placed 2^nd in the WSOP No-limit 2-7 Draw Lowball his prize $256k.
• In 2006, won his first WSOP gold bracelet in a WSOP 7 Card Stud tourney.
• In 2006, won the H.O.R.S.E. event of the WSOP Circuit Series at Caesars Las Vegas.
• In 2004, took 2^nd in the WPT Borgata Poker Open.
• In 2004, took 2^nd in the WSOP Main Event taking home a $3.5 million prize.
• He was a top-ranked player on the “Magic: The Gathering” card game circuit.
• Was a finalist on the US cooking show MasterChef.
  

World Series of Poker Bracelets

• Nickname: D-Dub
• Facebook: dwpoker
• Twitter: @dwpoker
• Website: www.davidwilliamspoker.com
• Birthdate: 9th June 1980
• Birthplace: Arlington, Texas
• Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
• WSOP Bracelets: 1
• Biggest Win: $3,500,000
• Total Winnings: $8,388,658
• Sponsored by: PokerStars
• Sponsor Site Username: dwilliams

David Williams looked the epitome of cool at the final of the WSOP 2004 with a smart black shirt, stubble and designer shades but, he is the first to admit that though he has always tried to disguise the fact, he is a ‘geek.’ From 2004 to early 2010 David was a Bodog Poker pro, since June 2010 he has been a member of the elite Team PokerStars.

He was born in 1980 in Texas and raised by his mother, Shirley, having never known his Iranian father. It was just the two of them, playing scrabble and video games together, until his sister, Tina, came along when David was eight. When his mother was on the other side of the world, through her work as an air hostess, the pair were shipped off to their grandparents though David was often bored there and by the age of twelve had started to stay home alone.

Williams began to play the fantasy card game ‘Magic: the Gathering’ and found he was remarkably good at it. At the same time his mother discovered he was far brighter than his peers at school and enrolled him in a school for gifted children. He says that ‘he hung with the cool kids’ but would return home to watch the Science Channel, finish his homework and play his beloved ‘Magic.’ Soon he was starting to enter tournaments in the game around the world.

The ‘Magic’ circuit does tend to attract a more obsessive type of character to it and though overall he won over $40,000 at the game, he was banned for a year for using a pack that was slightly bent which cut to the same card each time the judges tried. Williams refutes the claim that he was trying to cheat, pointing out that the bent card was actually one of the weaker ones but the ban stood.

The lack of tournament play in ‘Magic: the Gathering’ meant that Williams focused his time on his studies and online Texas hold’em poker instead.

He got accepted into the highly rated Princetown University but found it cold on the East coast and feeling homesick, he returned to Dallas to continue his Economics degree at Southern Methodist University. He started entering small live poker tournaments in 2000, continued playing online, built up his bankroll and in 2004 won a seat in the WSOP through Bodog.com.

Though achieving a second place finish in 2004 in what was, at the time, the largest World Series Of Poker (WSOP) main event field should be considered an amazing achievement, Williams suffered a crisis of confidence. Luckily, it didn’t last too long and four months later he won a Limit Hold’em Borgata Open World Poker Tour (WPT) tournament and over $550K. Two years later in 2006 he managed his first WSOP bracelet at 7 card stud winning $163K. In 2009 playing under the name RugDoctor he won $107K in the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). In 2010 he won the World Poker Tour Championship taking home over 1.5 million dollars. Occasionally, he still enters ‘Magic: the Gathering’ tournaments but nowadays he says it is just for fun.

David Williams - Poker Player

David continues to play poker online and this earns him a healthy income. However, he misses reading the body language of his opponents so this self-confessed nerd plays in local underground games, live tournaments and continues to make an impact finishing regularly in the money. David keeps his winnings in the family having provided a bankroll for his mother, Shirley Williams, to start playing the game too. She even outlasted him in the WSOP main event in 2006.

David Williams - Poker

Williams has been described as part of the new breed of poker player who are young, intelligent (he has a SAT score of 1550) and who learnt the game playing on the internet. All this is true but he has still transferred his ability into the live arena, something a little bit of ‘Magic’ helped him to do.

WSOP 2004

David Williams had been short-stacked and looking favourite to be the last man eliminated before the final table seats were decided in the 2004 WSOP Texas Hold’em main event. It was his first time in the tournament and he was desperate to be amongst the select nine. He had been playing somewhat cagily but eventually doubled up after hitting an ace on the turn for a pair against a pair of pocket tens.

Later on the following day, it was just him and Greg Raymer left and Williams was no longer content with the final table finish. He wanted to win. He had been playing faster and looser than the previous day and this tactic had got him to this position. He was holding A♥ 4♠ and caught a middle pair when the flop came out 4♦ 2♦ 5♠. Raymer called and so Williams placed a $500,000 bet and was promptly re-raised. The turn was a 2♥ and William’s hand just kept on improving. Raymer announced a $2.5million bet and before he had even moved his chips in, Williams was stacking an equivalent amount for the pot. The river card was a 2♣ giving Williams a full house and causing the crowd to gasp.

DAVID WILLIAMS LAS VEGAS, NV, United States WSOP.com

Raymer turned to the dealer and said ‘All in.’ Williams, his hand covering his mouth, studied the board for some moments and called with the rest of his chips. He flipped his cards over, shrugged his shoulders and turned his palms to the sky in an expression of disappointment as he saw Raymer’s cards, 8♠ 8♦. Later he would say that he had felt Raymer had made his moves quicker than usual so he hadn’t expected him to be holding a middle pair and, despite being $3.5million dollars richer, he looked a dejected figure as he watched Raymer celebrate.

Last updated May 2013