“Things have been kinda crazy, yeah,” Williams says, rubbing his face. His glasses are off now. His short hair and tight beard make him look like a scale model of Tim Duncan. He hears that from people all the time, he says, even though he’d rather not hear it at all.
“The other day, this woman recognized me,” he says. “I’m just Judi Online walking along, and she says, ‘Hey, aren’t you that poker guy?’ And I say yeah, and she asks me how much I won. I say a few million. So she says, ‘I want you to meet my daughter.’ There may have been a pause in there, but that’s pretty much how it went.”
Brittany shoots him a little smirk and snuggles closer. They’ve been together for three years and share an uptown apartment. She knows Judi Online this is how things are going to be from now on. Her boyfriend is a celebrity, and there’s no going back. People are going to demand his time, shout his name, try to get close to him and take his millions.
More than a month ago, Williams went to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. It’s the end-all for card players, where amateurs can sit at the tables with professionals. Anyone who puts up the $10,000 entry fee or wins a qualifier tournament known as a satellite can participate. You’re as likely to be seated next to someone you’ve seen Judi Online making million-dollar decisions on television as you are to be plopped down next to Joe Nobody. Even before this year’s WSOP, Williams wasn’t a nobody at the tables. He wasn’t the guy who drops a few hundred at your local home game because he doesn’t know the difference between having balls and having the nuts. He played in the underground card rooms around Dallas and online–a highly skilled player who made more than he lost. Maybe he wasn’t a pro just yet, but he was good enough to build a serious bank roll and make people notice.
“Dallas players are some of the best in the world; all they need to do is get out there and show it,” says Dallas pro Clonie Gowen (see “Poker Face,” by Robert Wilonsky, April 1, 2004). “A lot of these players in Dallas make a good living from playing in the underground games. David is one of them. I remember seeing him pop up around town a lot, and he was faring well. You could tell he could play.
“There’s a reason they call it Texas hold ’em. David and so many of the young guys that play in the games around town are really good–good enough that I’m just happy more of them don’t make it to events on the pro circuit.”
