David Williams

David Anthony Williams (born June 9, 1980) is a professional poker and Magic: The Gathering player who also competed on Season 7 of the FOX cooking show MasterChef, where he finished as co-runner-up.

Personal life Williams was born in Arlington, Texas. At 16, he attended the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, a two-year early college entrance program at the University of North Texas. Later, he briefly attended Princeton University before switching to study economics at Southern Methodist University. Williams currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Williams has one daughter, Liliana.

Poker career Williams's poker success was capped at the 2004 World Series of Poker. He won his buy-in through an online poker site and made it to the final table of the Main Event, ultimately finishing second to Greg Raymer, but still winning $3.5 million for the runner-up prize. Four months later, he finished second at the Borgata Open World Poker Tour, where he collected $573,800.

Live Tournaments As of 2026, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,500,000. $5,506,498 of his live winnings have come at the WSOP, and most of the rest has come from the WPT.

World Series of Poker Williams won his sole WSOP bracelet in 2006 in the $1,500 Seven-card stud event when his defeated John Hoang's . His mother, Shirley Williams, often attends his poker events, and even competed in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, outlasting her son in the process.

+ World Series of Poker bracelets Year Tournament Prize (US$) 2006 $1,500 Seven Card Stud $163,118

World Poker Tour In March 2006, Williams made a second WPT final table, finishing 4th for $280,000. Two months later, he made another WPT final table, again finishing 4th. In 2010, he won the WPT World Championship, defeating Eric Baldwin in heads-up play and winning over $1.5 million.

+ World Poker Tour Titles Year Tournament Prize (US$) 2010 $25,000 WPT World Championship $1,530,537

Online poker Following the 2004 World Series of Poker, David Williams became a member of Team Bodog. Williams parted ways with Bodog after the 2010 WPT World Championship. In June 2010, Williams joined Team PokerStars as a sponsored pro.

Tournaments World Championship of Online Poker In 2009, Williams, playing under the screen name "RugDoctor", defeated poker professional Alexander "joiso" Kostritsyn to capture Event #42 ($2,100 8-Game) of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).

+ World Championship of Online Poker Titles Year Event Tournament Prize (US$) 2009 Event 42 $2,100 8-Game $107,800

Magic: The Gathering MasterChef Williams competed as a contestant on the seventh season of the United States cooking competition MasterChef in 2016. He was one of three contestants to make it into the finals, ultimately losing to Shaun O'Neale and finishing as co-runner-up with Brandi Mudd. He had six total challenge wins during the season.