World Poker Tour

Dave Colclough “El Blondie“

Birthplace
Wales

Hometown
Birmingham, England

Birthday
March 3

Total Winnings
$140,457

David Colclough's poker career started, as so many do, at the kitchen table where his large family would play during get-together weekends. While he started with games such as Crazy Eights before the age of ten, he moved up to poker during his teenage years and played so much in high school that he was repeatedly disciplined by the school for playing on the grounds. Poker had a hold on David, but he straightened up in school and attended college in Stock-on-Trent, earning his first certificate by the time he was 17 in the computer technology field. He maintained a successful career as an Information Technology consultant that would extend for nearly 20 years.

During that time, Dave and a roommate decided to spend an evening at a casino rather than the local pub, and he took immediately to seven-card stud. More nights than not, he could be found in various tournaments at the casino, building a winning record. This went on for many years until he found that his day job was taking too much time away from poker. By the year 2000, when he came in second at the World Series of Poker pot-limit hold'em tournament for $89,000, it was time to officially quit his job and focus on poker full-time. And the game has been good to him ever since.

Dave landed a big win at the European Poker Classic in London later in 2000, then became known to the poker world at large through his appearances on the U.K. broadcasts of the Late Night Poker Series filmed in Cardiff. He steadily placed in major tournaments throughout the world, even being voted European Poker Player of the Year in 2003. Soon after, he found a spot at the 2004 final table at the Aviation Club during the WPT Grand Prix de Paris main event. Though he busted in sixth place, he took home over $100,000, and this came just after a huge victory at the European Poker Championship main event only weeks prior. He now trains upcoming poker pros, like WSOP bracelet winner Brian Wilson, and travels the world playing poker tournaments. To date, he has over $2 million in tournament earnings to his name.