Champion of Poker

The Devilfish Dave Ulliott is a tough character at the heart of the UK poker scene. He is arguably the most recognisable poker player who has been around the longest and he grew up and enjoyed most of his early career as a gambler from Hull, England. He started life as a petty criminal specialising in safe cracking and did some time in prison. Upon his release and meeting his first wife he decided to ditch the life of crime and found poker, where instead of taking money from peoples safes he won it from them at the tables.

During his 20’s he continued getting into fights and getting into trouble. One story that he admits is true is that he went into a bookmakers, lost £5000 and returned that night and robbed the money from the safe. The next day he went back into the bookmakers and lost it again the next day.

Devilfish, as he is known to the poker world, was travelling the poker tournament scene before it was stylish to do so. He was bankrolled by a selection of poker players and gambled up £500 into £70,000 and was subsequently banned from all William Hill betting shops due to his large winnings.

At the 1993 PLO tournament the Devilfish reduced Men “The Master” Nguyen to one chip and then beat him after an agonising one hour break. He recalls this event, according to his wikipedia page, as only significant because it was here he was given the nickname of the Devilfish. Before that he was known as Dave “The Clock” because he had once used a grandfather clock to buy-into a game. Dave won a WSOP bracelet in the 1990’s and by the time the year 2000 came around he was firmly known as one of the most feared PLO players in the world and a feared poker player in the UK.

Late Night Poker in 1999 featured 40 players and was the first to use hole-cam technology. It brought a ever-lasting new dimension to poker. Dave managed to win the event and the £40,000 first prize. He was a cult hero as poker boomed in the UK thanks to players loving the game now they could see the player’s hole cards. His natural charisma, bad boy attitude and excellent play made him an immediate winner in the eyes of the viewers.

In January 2003 Dave won $589,175 in outlasting 126 other players to claim a WPT title. He has come very close to winning a second WSOP title having come second in events in 1998, 2000, and twice in 2001. He has 27 cashes at the WSOP with winnings of $1.4 million. He has live tournament winnings of over $5.5 million in poker tournaments.

Still very active in the world of poker, Dave has seven children and resides in Kingston Upon Hull where he lives with his girlfriend, who is much younger than him. With her influence he now wears very modern clothing and sports a modern hairstyle that has drawn both admiration and criticism from the poker world. He runs his own poker site and regularly takes part in large cash games. In 2006 he was part of the live Sit and go poker tournament that featured Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey the eventual winner and John Juanda. At the time it was the first poker tournament to be shown in full and live and Dave managed to cash in the event having dominated play in the early stages. I still remember watching that tournament.

By Malcolm Clarke