David Williams

David Anthony Williams (born June 9, 1980 in Arlington, Texas) is a professional poker and Magic: The Gathering player who is best known for finishing second at the World Series of Poker on May 28, 2004, winning US$3.5 million. He is currently a student at Southern Methodist University.

His initial foray into Magic's Pro Tour came in the late 1990's. He had already won over $30,000 playing Magic when he made the cutoff for the final day of competition of the 2001 World Championships in Toronto. However, he was disqualified without prize because a few of the cards in his deck were bent slightly. They were all copies of the same card, and the tournament judges were able to cut the deck to one of them every time they tried. Williams disputed this, saying that he had simply borrowed those cards and not noticed the bend. Williams was suspended by the DCI from sanctioned Magic: The Gathering tournaments for a period of one year.

During this suspension, Williams started to play high-stakes Texas Hold 'Em, especially on the Internet. He made a successful comeback after his suspension was finished, and won money at several more Magic events, though his focus was mainly on poker.

His success was capped at the 2004 World Series of Poker. Qualifying through an online poker site, he made to the finals, ultimately finishing second to Greg "Fossilman" Raymer. For this, he won $3.5 million.

Despite the fact that there is much more money that can be made in professional poker than professional Magic, Williams has said he will continue to play at the pro level in the game in which he first found success, although poker will take precedence.

External links

• Official Site of David Williams - bio, blog, poker tournament stats