TEAM BODOG PRO - David Williams 

Smart, cunning and a little reserved, David Anthony Williams seems cut out for poker. In four short years he’s gone from being relatively unknown to scooping lifetime winnings of more than $5.5 million at the age of only 26.

Perhaps his academic prowess helped – a student at Princeton University, he also studied economics at Southern Methodist University as well as the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science. If anyone was born to calculate the odds, it was David.

As a self-taught No Limit Texas Holdem player, he found a mentor in pro Marcel “Flying Dutchman” Lüske, with whom they both had a mutual friend in the Netherlands, Noah Boeken.

David rocketed to poker fame in 2004 at the World Series in Vegas. He made it to the final table of the Main Event and finished in second place against pro Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, the best placement ever by an African American. He also took home winnings of  $3.5 million and became a member of Team Bodog.

First place eluded him for a while, as he finished just behind Daniel Negreanu, taking fourth place at the 2005 Borgata Open World Poker Tour for $573,800. In March 2006, he took fourth again at a WPT final table, finishing for $280,000. Two months later he won another WPT fourth place. Turning his talents to TV, he also appeared on the game show King of Vegas, finishing third.

Then in 2006, David finally won his first WSOP* bracelet in the $1,500 7-Card Stud event when his Ks-3h-4c-Jd (6s-4s-Jh) defeated John Hoang's 4c-5s-9d-3c (Ad-8s-Js).

In 2007 David made four WSOP* finishes and took first place at the Bellagio Cup in Vegas, winning $129,120. In the 2008 World Series he took an impressive $177,265 in cashes.