World Poker Tour

David Williams

Birthplace
Arlington, TX

Birthday
June 9

Total Winnings
$1,311,853

Imagine maintaining a 4.0-grade-point-average in business at a major university like Southern Methodist and at the same time striving to become one of the world's top poker players. That's the dual life that David Williams, of Dallas, TX, has been living.

Williams started as a youngster playing Magic: The Gathering which shares with poker the element of multiple variables. There he honed his deductive reasoning and math skills, before realizing that poker might just be an easy transition. He began playing in underground games in the Dallas area, using his winnings to fund his college degree. Williams segued from there to online poker, where he plays several games at a time on multiple computers, when not on the road for tournaments. Known in tournament poker as a highly unpredictable, random player, he's kept his opponents off guard, including the experienced veterans.

Bright, charismatic, handsome, he was featured on the cover of Card Player Magazine and was profiled in Playboy Magazine. The 24-year-old stunned the poker world with a runner up-finish in the 2004 World Series of Poker, earning a cool $3.5 million toward his tuition. Shortly thereafter, he followed up that spectacular achievement with another second place finish in the World Poker Tour 's Borgata Poker Open in 2004. His payday for that was $573,000.

You can expect that it won't be long before his name starts appearing at the top of the column instead of number two. Williams, is becoming a star on the WPT and is often referred to as "The Future of Poker."