David Williams

David Williams Profile
	Nickname: D-Dub Bodog Username: David Williams Web: www.bodog.com Birthdate: June 9th 1980 Birthplace: Dallas, Texas Lives: Las Vegas, Nevada Tournaments Won: 4 WSOP Bracelets: 1 Total Winnings: $5,773,676

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. 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.

Williams had looked the epitome of cool at the final of the WSOP 2004 with a smart black shirt and designer shades and stubble but he is the first to admit that though he has always managed to disguise the fact, in truth, he is a ‘geek.’ He was born in 1980 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 airhostess mother was on the other side of the world through her work, 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 managed to get himself 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 his favoured game meant that Williams focused his time on his studies and online 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 there. He started entering small live poker tournaments in 2000 and 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 what was at the time the largest WSOP main event field should be considered an amazing achievement, Williams suffered a crisis of confidence. Luckily, it didn’t last too long and seven months later he won a Limit Hold’em World Poker Tour tournament and two years later managed his first WSOP bracelet at 7 card stud. Occasionally, he still enters ‘Magic: the Gathering’ tournaments but nowadays he says it is just for fun. He continues to play poker online and though this earns him a healthy income, he misses reading the body language of his opponents. And so this self-confessed nerd continues to play in local underground games and live tournaments and continues to make an impact, being regularly in the money. And he keeps this money in the family, having provided a bankroll for his mother, Shirley Williams, to start playing the game too.

Williams has been described as part of the new breed of poker player, young and 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. 

You can play online poker with David Williams at Bodog Poker.

David Williams WSOP Tournaments & Top Ten Finishes
	Event* Date Position Winnings Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic WPT Season 6 Dec 10th 2007 4th $87,810 38th Annual WSOP Event 52 – WSOP Jul 2nd 2007 15th $40,333 38th  Annual WSOP Event 33 – WSOP  Pot Limit Omaha Jun 20th 2007 24th $16,001 38th Annual WSOP Event 27 – WSOP Jun 16th 2007 50th $11,060 Bellagio Cup III Event 4 Jun 14th 2007 1st $129,120 38th Annual WSOP Event 16 – WSOP  H.O.R.S.E Jun 9th 2007 31st $6,923 Harrah's Rincon Poker Tournament WSOP Circuit Event 4 Feb 14th 2007 5th $3,463 37th Annual WSOP Event 38 – WSOP Deuce to Seven Lowball Jul 25th 2006 2nd $256,091 37th Annual WSOP Event 26 – WSOP Pot Limit Omaha Jul 17th 2006 19th $3,583 37th Annual WSOP Event 17 – WSOP  Jul 10th 2006 147th $3,157 37th Annual WSOP Event 10 – WSOP  7 Card Stud Jul 5th 2006 1st $163,189 Mirage Poker Showdown WPT Event Season 5 Championship May 17th 2006 4th $221,958 Caesars Las Vegas Poker Tournament WSOP Circuit Event Event 7 May 2nd 2006 1st $91,250 Shooting Star WPT Season 4 Mar 3rd 2006 4th $280,000 36th Annual WSOP Event 7 – WSOP Jun 8th 2005 34th $7,705 Stars and Stripes Limit 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Apr 15th 2005 10th $220 Harrahs Atlantic City Poker Tournament WSOP Circuit Event Event 6 Jan 12th 2005 7th $1,500 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic II WPT Event Season 3 Limit Hold'em Dec 2nd 2004 1st $121,057 Borgata Poker Open WPT Season 3 Sep 22nd 2004 2nd $573,800 35th Annual WSOP WSOP World Championship May 28th 2004 2nd $3,500,000 The Mini Series Event 18 – Pot Limit Hold'em May 2nd 2003 4th $770 Back Nine Limit 7 Card Stud Apr 2nd 2003 2nd $1,795 The Hustler Open Event 4 – Limit Hold'em Jan 21st 2003 7th $805 Nifty Fifty Weekend Event 3 Nov 10th 2002 7th $185 $40,000 Guaranteed Weekend Jan 26th 2002 7th $360 Big Poker Oktober Limit Hold'em Oct 4th 2001 8th $440 Sport of Kings Tournament Limit 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Mar 23rd 2000 6th $1,000

* All Events No Limit Hold'em except where stated.

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