David Williams (card game player)

David Anthony Williams was born on June 9, 1980, in Arlington, Texas. At age 16, he attended the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, a two-year early college program at the University of North Texas. He briefly attended Princeton University before switching to study economics at Southern Methodist University.

Before poker, Williams was an accomplished Magic: The Gathering player. He earned over $30,000 playing Magic and made the Top 8 of eight Grand Prix events, including team event wins in Yokohama and Taipei in 2001. He also finished 7th at Pro Tour Tokyo 2001. However, at the 2001 World Championships in Toronto, he was disqualified for marked cards (three of his Accumulated Knowledge cards were bent), forfeiting his prize.

Breakthrough at the 2004 WSOP Main Event

Williams qualified for the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event through an online poker site. He made it to the final table and finished second to Greg Raymer, winning $3.5 million. Four months later, he finished second at the Borgata Open World Poker Tour, collecting $573,800.

WSOP Bracelet and WPT Success

In 2006, Williams won his first and only WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event, defeating John Hoang and earning $163,118. That same year, he made two WPT final tables, finishing 4th at the Bay 101 Shooting Star and 4th at the Mirage Poker Showdown. His biggest live win came in 2010 when he won the $25,000 WPT World Championship, defeating Eric Baldwin heads-up for $1,530,537.

Online Poker Accomplishments

Playing under the screen name "RugDoctor," Williams won Event #42 ($2,100 8-Game) of the 2009 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), taking $107,800 after defeating Alexander "joiso" Kostritsyn. He was a member of Team Bodog before joining Team PokerStars as a sponsored pro in June 2010.

Career Earnings and Stats

As of 2026, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9.5 million, with $5.5 million of that coming from the WSOP. He has 19 WSOP money finishes, one bracelet, one ring, 28 final tables, and 147 cashes according to WSOP.com. The Hendon Mob lists his total live earnings at $9,497,205 as of the latest update.

In 2014, Williams competed on Season 7 of the FOX cooking show MasterChef, where he finished as co-runner-up. He is also a poker strategy columnist for several websites.

Williams resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has a daughter named Liliana. His mother, Shirley Williams, often attends his poker events and even played in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, outlasting her son.