Team Bodog Member David Williams Wins WPT World Championship
by Bodog Poker | Apr 26 2010
Bodog Poker pro David Williams has won the Season VIII World Poker Tour World Championship, taking home $1.5 million.
For Williams, who is part of
Team Bodog with
Evelyn Ng, it is the first WPT win overall in his career. He has been runner-up at the Borgata Poker Open in Season III and finished in 4th place finishes at Bay 101 in Season IV and the Mirage Poker Showdown in Season V.
"It's pretty awesome to have my first one be the biggest one," Williams said. "I told all my friends in town and all my family to come down here."
"I told everyone I was going to win."
Williams has been known for reaching the final table but never being able to win it all. This year Williams came onto the final table of the WPT Championship tied for the chip lead with David Benyamine. He eventually took the chip lead on the 28th hand.
For the remaining 30 hands of the tournament Williams had control. When the final table was down to four players including Williams, he held over half the chips in play while the other three in the field were fighting for their survival.
With a short stack his opponents had to watch as Williams chipped away. Table rival Shawn Buchanan eventually climbed close to his total, but Williams was able to take him out when Buchanan moved all-in with pocket queens and he called with pocket nines. Buchanan had the best hand preflop, but a nine on the flop would give the hand to Williams and a nearly 4-1 chip lead going into heads-up play.
"I played well but I was also very fortunate," Williams said. "I got aces a few times, I got ace/king four times and got paid on three of them. I also hit the nine against the queens and on the last hand I won a coin flip."
On the final hand of the tourney, Eric Baldwin pushed all-in after a raise from Williams with ace/five and Williams called with pocket deuces. An ace on the flop gave the advantage to Baldwin, but a deuce on the turn sealed the victory for Williams, who was elated as his mother Shirley rushed the stage to celebrate with her son.
"I wasn't discouraged [with pocket deuces]," Williams said. "I actually felt I'm either gonna hit deuce and win it here, or I'll have a chip lead and we'll keep fighting and I'll win it anyway."
Williams, 29, rocketed to poker fame in 2004 at the World Series in Las Vegas. He made it to the final table of the Main Event and finished in second place against pro Greg “Fossilman” Raymer. In 2006, David finally won his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 7-Card Stud event.
The win cements Williams' status as one of the premier young poker pros on the tour, and proves that he can win the big one.
"All you can control is playing your best," Williams said of his big win. "I just hoped that [my best] would be good enough and hoped that luck would be with me also."
"When they match up together it's pretty hard to beat somebody."
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