David Williams

David Anthony Williams was born June 9, 1980 in Arlington, Texas. David was a student at Princeton University, studied Economics at Southern Methodist University and attended the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science.

Williams was self taught to play no-limit Texas Hold'em tournaments and was then mentored in poker by Marcel Lüske.

At the 2004 World Series of Poker David finished 2nd to Greg Raymer and won $3.5 million for the runner-up prize. His second-place finish is the best ever by an African American in a WSOP Main Event, besting Phil Ivey's 10th place finish a year earlier. David won his buy-in through an online poker site. After the 2004 World Series of Poker, Williams became a member of Team Bodog.

David finished 2nd at the Borgata Open World Poker Tour four months later, where he collected $573,800.

Williams then made a second WPT final table in March 2006, finishing 4th for $280,000. Two months later he made another WPT final table, again finishing 4th.

David won his first WSOP bracelet in 2006 in the $1,500 Seven-card stud event when he defeated John Hoang's.

Williams now has his own vlog that offers an inside look at his personal and professional life. The webisodes air weekly on the internet TV channel RawVegas.tv

David is also a Magic: The Gathering player, which he had already won over $30,000 playing Magic when he made the final day of competition at the 2001 World Championships in Toronto. Unfortunately for David, he was disqualified for marked cards because three of his four Accumulated Knowledge cards were bent more than the other cards in his deck.

Although there is way more money that can be made in professional poker than in professional Magic, Williams has said he will continue to play both games. He says he plays Magic to have fun, and poker to make money.

David's mother Shirley Williams often attends poker events in which he plays, and even competed in the 2006 WSOP main event, in which she outlasted David. She has also cashed in 465th place in the 2007 World Series of Poker main event.

Fun Facts:

• A top-ranked player on the Magic: The Gathering card game circuit prior to his poker career.
• Earned a 1550 SAT score and had a 4.0 grade point average in university.
• Appeared on the game show King of Vegas, finishing in third place.