Welcome to my new website and my new blog. I’ve wanted to update my website and start a new blog for some time now but I have this really awful habit of procrastinating on things that aren’t essential. I’m not sure what got me off my ass and made me finally do it, but I won’t question miracles.

I’m not really sure what kind of blog this will end up being. I think I’m just going to write about whatever is on my mind. Sometimes I’ll write about poker, sometimes about Magic and often just whatever I’m up to or anything interesting I’ve seen. I doubt there will be much poker strategy but I will write about anything interesting or unusual that comes up.

Right now I’m on a plane with Eric Froehlich head home to Vegas. We went to Providence for the weekend for a Magic the Gathering Grand Prix tournament. Eric had a great weekend (although substandard for him) finishing 22^nd out of over 1200 entries. I didn’t do so hot myself and finished in 159^th. I was a tad bit unlucky but was able to not let it bother me and continue to fight hard after each loss. Even though I didn’t do well, I think it showed me that I am in the right mindset and focused for all the poker coming up. There will be many situations where things you can’t control will go wrong at the tables this summer and you have to stay focused on the things you can control and continue to make good decisions. If you do that, the results will come.

The 2011 WSOP starts tomorrow and I’m more excited than ever. Last year I had my worst series ever, cashing only once! Coming into that WSOP I had just won the WPT Championship and I think that made it easy for me to have a bad series. I think I played well, but I didn’t have that fire since I had just tasted success and accepted failure too easily. That won’t be the case this year. I have lots of reasons for me to play my best and do well. Most importantly I just had a daughter, Liliana in February. She is such an amazing addition to my life that it makes me want to succeed at everything I do, so I can be a good example for her. Secondly, I just came close to defending my title at the WPT Champs, getting 14^th. I played great poker and was heartbroken when I was eliminated. I told myself that I am going to use that as a springboard and continue to bring that level of intensity every day to every event at the Rio this summer.

My first event is tomorrow, a new one and a tough one, 25k buyin heads up NL Holdem. I’m excited and can’t wait for that first walk into the Rio.

A native Texan, Williams grew up in a single-parent home and had to look after himself from an early age. He credits this for teaching him self-discipline, responsibility, and a strict bankroll management that have helped make him the successful player he is now. On a curious note, Williams’ mother Shirley often attends poker events with him, and she even outlasted him in the 2006 Main Event.

Williams was a top-ranking player of Magic: The Gathering when he was suspended from official tournaments for a year. During his suspension he started playing poker online much more seriously, and was mentored later on by Marcel Luske. He made a successful comeback into Magic after his suspension, but the poker bug had bit him, and he decided to pursue it further. Williams qualified online for the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event – his first important tournament – and he placed second, earning $3.5 million and the title of best ever Main Event finish for an African-American player.

After such a start, Williams had no difficulty in becoming a household name in poker: he became an official Bodog pro in 2004, won a WSOP bracelet in 2006, scored several World Poker Tour (WPT) final tables and got featured in the poker video game “Stacked” along with Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren and Jennifer Harman. In 2010, Williams won the WPT Championship for $1.5 million; he promptly parted ways with Bodog.

Williams found himself in the middle of a minor scandal when some claimed he had appeared in a home-made porn video, which he denied. But scandal and all, with his looks, brains, and great poker skills, Williams is set to become the icon of the internet poker generation.

David sat down with PokerLizard to discuss his evolution as a player.

Check Out All The Lizard Interviews

PokerLizard: How did you first become interested in Poker? When did you first become serious about playing?

David Williams: I played Magic The Gathering on the Professional Tour. One day I saw some of my friends playing Hold’em. I didn’t know anything about the game but wanted to learn. We played a little tournament, (limit Hold’em) and I won. I was hooked. I went home, found the underground games, and began going immediately.

PokerLizard: In the 2004 WSOP, you finished in 2nd place, winning $3.5 million. How has your life changed since the WSOP?

David Williams: I answer this question a lot. Besides the money and the small fame, it really hasn’t changed that much at all. I have less worries about my future, I was able to take care of my family and I know everyone will be ok financially. I still do the same thing each day. I sleep late, stay up all night and play poker every day.

PokerLizard: The ESPN broadcast played up your friendship with Marcel Luske, how did you two become friends? How has Marcel helped your poker?

David Williams: I met Marcel a few weeks before the main event last year through my friend Noah Boeken. I know him from playing on the Magic tour. Noah lives with Marcel, they met at the Holland Casino in Amsterdam, where they live. Noah introduced us, and I saw what a great player and person he was. I was fortunate enough to sit at his table on 4 different occasions at last years WSOP and after a hand, I would ask him what he had and why he did what he did in the hand. He is such a kind person, that he answered and that alone gave me lots of insight into a great player and ultimately helped me get to the finals.

PokerLizard: You followed up your success at the WSOP with a 2nd Place Finish at the WPT Borgata Open in Atlantic City and won the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. How satisfying was it to prove to the poker community and public that you have skills and weren’t just lucky at the WSOP?

David Williams: It was very satisfying. The Borgata runner up finish wasn’t quite enough in my eyes. I was proud, but felt that I still didn’t get far enough. I really felt that I played the best heads up, and made one mistake. Winning the Limit event at the Bellagio actually felt the best. I was so happy to finally have a 1st place. Nothing compares to being the last man standing in a tournament, no matter how small.

PokerLizard: Are you going to pursue Poker as your career or do you see it mostly as a hobby? What career do you think you would have pursued if not for your instant wealth?

David Williams: Poker is definitely my career. I wanted to eventually open my own business of some sort, and still do, but I have no idea what kind. I had been playing poker for a living for a few years already, and would have continued it even when I finished school.

PokerLizard: Which is your favorite Poker game to play and why (Tourney vs Cash Game/Hold’em vs Omaha etc…)?

David Williams: I really prefer tournaments over cash games. You can’t “win” a cash game. There is no ending to it, you just play until you are ready to stop. Because of this , I never stop which is bad for my results. There is an ultimate goal in tournaments, which is what I prefer. I know what I am shooting for exactly. My favorite tournament game is NL Hold’em, but for cash games, I love Stud Hi/lo. I am not sure why, I just have so much fun playing it.

PokerLizard: You qualified for the WSOP through an online tourney on Pokerstars.com, How difficult was it to qualify online? As a starving college student, did you ever consider selling your seat?

David Williams: It was very hard for me to win my seat online last year. I kept getting close, like one spot away, and “dropping the ball”. I think I was putting too much pressure on me. I was never a “starving” college student. I was going to pay the 10k last year and play whether I won a seat online or not.

PokerLizard: How often do you play online? Does your style of play vary significantly from your live action play? What do you like about the online game?

David Williams: With the WSOP going on currently, I don’t have much time at all to play online. When it is not going on, I play on www.bodog.com daily. I never seem to win online though, accept in tournaments. I think my brain doesn’t treat the money like it’s real, and I just give it away. I have to work on tightening up online.

PokerLizard: Which Poker Books/Software have you found to be the most beneficial?

David Williams: I am not a big fan/supporter of traditional poker books and software. Although I highly recommend Barry Greenstein’s new book Ace On The River. It is one of the best poker books I’ve seen.

PokerLizard: At the WSOP it seemed that you made your betting decisions much more quickly than other players, it reminds me of “speed” chess players who need to have all of their opponents moves thought out ahead of time and react quickly, is that an accurate analogy? And do you think this style helps to keep your opponents off balance?

David Williams: Acting fast is just something I do. I never though about it or even noticed it until I saw myself on TV. I have tried to slow down lately, because I think I may make more mistakes that way. Most of the time, I come to the same conclusion as I initially had, but I think I may catch something I might have missed otherwise.

PokerLizard: How strange is it to be recognized out in public now? Who gets recognized from the WSOP broadcasts more, You or your mom?

David Williams: I think it’s pretty cool. I kinda always wanted to be famous, and even though it’s not full blown celebrity status, it feels good to have people recognize you. I am not sure how much my mom gets recognized, I am sure it’s a lot, but when we are together, people really notice us.

PokerLizard: Other than becoming a millionaire, What is the coolest thing you’ve done as a result of your WSOP finish?

David Williams: Surprisingly, not much. I moved to Vegas, although I haven’t found a house yet. I play tournaments every week, so I haven’t really had time to do much yet.

PokerLizard: Has winning that kind of money created any problems for you? Anyone ask you to stake them yet?

David Williams:“Mo Money, Mo Problems”. That’s what Biggie said, and yes it’s true. A lot of people have changed since the WSOP, and have started to ask or hint at needing things. It’s really sad, but you learn who the true friends are rather quickly. I get the stake request a lot, but have a policy to be fair, and say no to everyone. You do it for one person, and everyone finds out, and thinks you have something against them if you say no to them.

PokerLizard: How different is this years WSOP for you? Is there any sense of pressure to perform since you’re well known?

David Williams: The only pressure I feel is from myself. I think that is why my results haven’t been good at this years WSOP. I am in some weird “funk” and can’t get things going. I feel that I am playing well, but I am doing something wrong I am sure. There is no other explanation for my poor performance at this years WSOP.

PokerLizard: Do you enjoy playing in the made for TV events (Poker Royale etc…) or do you see them more as a marketing tool?

David Williams: Both. I enjoy them, but they are a marketing tool. I always try and have a lot of fun on those shows, and don’t really care as much about winning. As long as I come across good on TV, I am happy.

PokerLizard: Do you think the WSOP main event should stay at $10,000 or be increased to limit the field?

David Williams: I am happy either way. If not for the large field, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I like high buyin tournaments also. It doesn’t really matter to me.

PokerLizard: What advice would you give a young player interested in turning pro?

David Williams: Don’t. It’s not really something you decide to do, it just happens to you. You end up making more playing poker, than whatever else you have going on, and you phase the rest out. That’s how it happened to me.

PokerLizard: Do the online railbirds ever get on your nerves? When I played at your table on Bodog the trash talk was pretty much non-stop from people who never “sat down” at the table.

David Williams: Nah. I know how people get when they are behind a computer. I laugh at it mostly. I am pretty thankful to be where I am, and a few words can’t make me upset.

PokerLizard: You and Daniel Negreanu are “friends” or at least “friendly”, what did you think when he slow rolled those aces during the WPT Borgata? Has he apologized for “showing you up”, so to speak?

David Williams: We are definitely friends, and I don’t think he really slow rolled me, or intended to. I said it there, just to bust his chops, and he did take his time, but I think he was just being cautious, and was also surprised when he realized he was about to win. I don’t feel there is any apology necessary.

PokerLizard: Obligatory PokerLizard Question: If you were Matt Damon in “Rounders” how long would it have taken you to kick your girlfriend to the curb and get with Famke Janssen?

David Williams: Famke was way hotter, and seemed like she was “ready” , but I don’t know how long it would have taken me. I have a hard time dealing with problems, I just sorta let them sit there and sort themselves out. So I would probably want to kick the girlfriend to the curb, but just would slowroll myself.

Thanks for your time and we wish you continued success, see you at Bodog. You can find David playing $3/$6 No-Limit Hold’em at the David Williams table on Bodog.com. You can also check out his personal website DavidWilliamsPoker.com he has an excellent blog.

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FTOPS XVII was rounding out its whirlwind run on Sunday with its final tournaments, including the Main Event, and while that will be recorded in a separate article, it was the talk of the internet. However, it did cut into the regular Full Tilt Poker weekend offerings, as the Sunday Brawl and the $750K Guarantee were on a second week of hiatus to allow players to put their money towards the FTOPS tournaments.

David Williams was the big news of the Sunday regulars, as it was his first week playing the Sunday tournaments as a Team PokerStars Pro. And he came out swinging, grabbing a victory in the Sunday Second Chance event on PokerStars for nearly $58K. One might say that his PokerStars sponsorship has suited him well thus far.

Other stars of the night included Ansgar2000, who took home more than $136K for winning the Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars, as well as blumenkind53 for winning the Sunday Million title, though it was the second place finisher – RAZZER777 – who walked away with $168 and the most money due to a four-way chop at that final table. All in all, there were six players in those two tournaments who walked away with six-figure payouts. To take a look at all who final tabled this week and the statistics for those tournaments, it’s all listed below for your convenience.

PokerStars

Sunday Warm-Up
As always, the first tournament on the Sunday PokerStars roster of major events was the Warm-Up, and the $200 + $15 buy-in event drew 4,337 players to the tables with the lure of a $750K guarantee. The increase of nearly 100 players from the prior week was significant and pushed the prize pool up to $867,400, out of which the top 630 players were paid. And at the final table, the top two players were guaranteed six-figure payouts, which ended up going to Ansgar2000 and hierki. And it was Ansgar2000 who went on to win the tournament and grab more than $136K for the victory. PokerWorks Writer, Jeremy “Chipsteela” Menard made it to 9th place in this tourney, congratulations “endlessj.”

1st place: Ansgar2000 ($136,079.62)
2nd place: hierki ($101,052.10)
3rd place: bigfr0g ($71,560.50)
4th place: Ramux ($49,008.10)
5th place: kittevajen ($36,864.50)
6th place: Al K. Holick ($28,190.50)
7th place: justpartime6 ($19,516.50)
8th place: Shamus888 ($10,842.50)
9th place: EndlessJ ($6,939.20)

Sunday 1/4 Million
Though it is the biggest tournament on the internet each week with tens of thousands of players, it is one of the fastest to wrap up. This week, the $250K guarantee set up for any player with the $10 + $1 buy-in was another big one, as there were 29,547 players willing to give it a shot in the Quarter Million tournament. That boosted the prize pool up to $295,470 and set aside five-figure prize amounts for the top four finishers, though a total of 4,500 players received some sort of payment for their poker play. When the event finally did get to its last stage, spectators witness nielsoogbal defeated The Borsh to win the tournament and take home well over $26K for the small initial investment.

1st place: nielsoogbal ($26,613.80)
2nd place: The Borsh ($18,289.59)
3rd place: AdarcoA ($13,296.15)
4th place: FeltFiend11 ($10,341.45)
5th place: PokerThun ($7,386.75)
6th place: NiGhtlyFever ($4,432.05)
7th place: pituabe ($2,954.70)
8th place: $onntagskind ($2,216.02)
9th place: bewin_13508 ($1,477.35)

D.N.G. Sunday Special
One of the cheaper ways to get in on the big guarantees each Sunday found its registration number fluctuating again, this time down about 50 players from the week before. For $50 + $5, players had the opportunity to get in on the $300K guarantee of the DNG Sunday Special, and there were 6,705 of them interested in doing so. That boosted the prize pool up to $335,250, out of which the top 990 finishers were paid. And when the tournament ended late into the night, DaCus3 defeated Reraiseallin to grab nearly $42K for the victory.

1st place: DaCus3 ($41,910.07)
2nd place: Reraiseallin ($28,429.20)
3rd place: Flotzka ($19,109.25)
4th place: Elia001 ($15,421.50)
5th place: Jottenn ($12,069.00)
6th place: SirSwish6 ($8,716.50)
7th place: 10IsTheYear ($5,866.87)
8th place: boboc791 ($3,855.37)
9th place: JaspudUF ($2,346.75)

Sunday Million
It is the father of all poker tournaments, and it absolutely rules the roost on Sunday nights. The Sunday Million boasts of a $1.5 million guarantee for the standard Sunday buy-in of $200 + $15, but recent registration numbers have been escalating the prize pools. This week was no different, as the 8,294-player field brought the prize pool up to $1,658,800, which was enough to pay out the top 1,260 players. During the final table madness, the final four players came to a chip-chop agreement for the remainder of the money, guaranteeing them all six-figure payouts. And in the end, though RAZZER777 took the most money for second place, blumenkind53 secured the victory and nearly $161K for it.

1st place: blumenkind53 ($160,781.86)
2nd place: RAZZER777 ($168,720.26)
3rd place: YouHave2outs ($151,081.10)
4th place: The Pot SWE ($149,101.66)
5th place: D0CKENFL0P ($66,352.00)
6th place: lolriverdnky ($49,764.00)
7th place: Charlie Ivey ($33,176.00)
8th place: legreat00 ($18,246.80)
9th place: bogg ($12,855.70)

Sunday 500
With its high-stakes nature, one would imagine the Sunday 500 wouldn’t be one of the most sought after each week on the Sunday schedule, but it is. This week experienced another slight increase in the number of players, as 1,150 of them bought in with $500 + $30 to take their shots at the $500K guarantee. And the final numbers pushed the prize pool to $575K and made it possible to pay out the final 171 finishers with close to $100K reserved for first place. And when the final table played itself out, it was Sirocko who beat out ice320 for that top prize.

1st place: Sirocko ($97,750.00)
2nd place: ice320 ($71,875.00)
3rd place: tbl4653 ($54,567.50)
4th place: yadio ($39,100.00)
5th place: pbdrunks ($28,462.50)
6th place: KaraSmith ($22,712.50)
7th place: basebal1b ($16,962.50)
8th place: df1986 ($11,212.50)
9th place: ScHnibL0r ($6,210.00)

Sunday 2nd Chance
So many players bust from their Sunday tournaments and seek that one last chance to take down a big one. PokerStars offers that in the form of the $200 + $15 buy-in Second Chance tournament each week. The $250K guarantee brings in a solid number of players, and this week that number rose to 1,628, prompting the prize pool to also rise, and it landed at $325,600. Solid five-figure payouts were the story of the final table, though a total of 198 places did get paid in all. But the big story of this tournament was the winner dwilliams, who is the latest big signing to Team PokerStars. And David Williams took home nearly $58K along with his latest online poker title.

1st place: dwilliams ($57,728.88)
2nd place: deoxyribo ($42,328.00)
3rd place: nadalon ($32,560.00)
4th place: Karan Radia ($24,420.00)
5th place: -DrawingDad- ($17,094.00)
6th place: iowrus ($13,838.00)
7th place: sizzlinbetta ($10,582.00)
8th place: adametes ($7,326.00)
9th place: arodss3 ($4,558.40)

Full Tilt Poker

The Sunday Brawl
For the second week in a row, the Brawl was removed from the Sunday schedule to make room and allow players the opportunity to compete in the Full Tilt Online Poker Series. It was the final night for FTOPS XVII, and with one of the tournaments being the Main Event, organizers didn’t want players to be conflicted as to where to use their bankrolls. With much concentration on FTOPS, the Brawl was put on hiatus for the night but will be ready to return next week.

$750,000 Guarantee
The other Full Tilt tournament to sacrifice itself for the good of FTOPS XVII was the $750K Guarantee, as it took its second week off from its weekly schedule to give players the chance to compete for millions of dollars in the big semi-annual tournament series. But players needn’t fear, as the big guarantee will return to its regularly scheduled time slot next week.

The Sunday Mulligan
One of the two regular events on the Sunday schedule through FTOPS was the fan-favorite Mulligan. And it was the very last of the Sunday majors to wrap up. When it started in the afternoon hours, the $200 + $16 buy-in brought 1,610 players to the tables seeking pieces of the $200K prize pool. But the final numbers boosted the prize pool all the way to $322K and was sufficient enough to pay out the last 162 players standing. It was at the final table that oldschool043 and m_hawk_1 decided to solidify a financial arrangement, and oldschool043 went on to win the tournament and grab more than $59K for the victory.

1st place: oldschool043 ($59,424.43)
2nd place: m_hawk_1 ($53,597.57)
3rd place: kdj07 ($32,522.00)
4th place: becomelegendary ($25,760.00)
5th place: merlin231 ($19,320.00)
6th place: Thibavol ($13,846.00)
7th place: brin1285 ($9,016.00)
8th place: AD_84 ($6,440.00)
9th place: Yettiman ($4,508.00)

$200K Double Deuce
What seems to be an excellent bargain on Sundays hasn’t seemed to gain much traction with registration numbers lately. Full Tilt Poker offers a $200K guarantee for the low buy-in of only $20 + $2, and there has even been an overlay for the past several weeks, this one being no different. The 9,761-player field prompted Full Tilt to add a bit of cash to the prize pool to make it an even $200K, and that allowed 1,350 players to cash out. In the end, the top two players struck a payout agreement before FOBMPOS defeated LebanonJon to take the title and exactly $29K in prize money.

1st place: FOBMPOS ($29,000.00)
2nd place: LebanonJon ($23,000.00)
3rd place: Ur3OutsRGolden ($14,800.00)
4th place: M CORLEONE ($10,640.00)
5th place: A1degen ($7,800.00)
6th place: thatsme27 ($5,600.00)
7th place: FckMyLifeObv ($4,000.00)
8th place: smw85 ($2,860.00)
9th place: TheGrinders ($2,022.00)

UB Poker

$200K Guaranteed
The most popular offering on the UB Poker Sunday roster is always the $200K Guaranteed, and this week saw it maintain its solid numbers for another week. Though there were 40 fewer players than the week before, the $200 + $15 buy-in drew 1,053 this week, which hoisted the prize pool just over the guarantee to $210,600. It allowed payouts to be made to the final 99 players, and excitement built as the final table neared and UB-sponsored pro Billy Kopp was close to making it, though he ended up finishing in 11th place. When the tournament finally wrapped up, MARAHAJA1928 and RDCRSN seemed to make a deal before the former officially took first place and reportedly won over $47K.

1st place: MARAHAJA1928 ($47,026.98)
2nd place: RDCRSN ($28,115.10)
3rd place: ERIK WRIGHT ($19,059.30)
4th place: ESKOTEIRO ($13,583.70)
5th place: MACHIAVILIAN ($11,477.70)
6th place: MOSSIFIED84 ($9,371.70)
7th place: MISSOUKAJOE ($7,265.70)
8th place: FILKGB1181 ($5,159.70)
9th place: MCLEGEND ($3,580.20)

Bodog

$100K Guaranteed
It was another solid week for the big Sunday event on Bodog, though it didn’t match up to the previous week that surpassed its $100K guarantee. Even so, there were 635 players in the $150 + $12 tournament, which forced Bodog to contribute to the prize pool to make it $100K but also gave the players the overlay to which they’ve become accustomed. The full amount made it workable to pay the top 90 players, and the final table eventually brought Rataveli and FortKnoxx to heads-up action where the former beat the latter to take more than $23K in first place money.

1st place: Rataveli ($23,600.00)
2nd place: FortKnoxx ($13,600.00)
3rd place: graytambar ($9,100.00)
4th place: jagov21 ($7,000.00)
5th place: Kevin Blackwood ($5,700.00)
6th place: Big Daddy Rocks ($4,500.00)
7th place: kogoj ($3,300.00)
8th place: OGHowie ($2,200.00)
9th place: Husulah707 ($1,300.00)

Williams recently appeared on PokerStars.net Big Game, and the still young poker pro has always been one of the more popular poker players amongst the fans –despite his Magic the Gathering obsession.

Even though Williams is best known for his runner-up finish in the 2004 Main Event he has put together an impressive resume of poker wins with close to $8 million in career tournament winnings –$3.5 million of that coming from his WSOP Main Event runner-up finish.

* In April 2010 Williams was able to take down the $25k WPT Championship tournament, adding $1.5 million to his career winnings.
* Williams won the Poker After Dark episode Jam Up Week in 2008, which was good for $140k.
* In 2007 Williams won the $5k buy-in Bellagio Cup tournament, where 1st place was good for $129k.
* In 2006 Williams won his 1st WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 7-Card-Stud tournament, and also finished second in the $5,000 2-7 Lowball tournament.
* Williams also made two final tables in WPT events during 2006, finishing 4th both times: Williams won $221k at the Mirage Poker Showdown, and $280k at the Bay 101 Championship.

An official announcement from Pokerstars is expected to come on Thursday afternoon.

With these two signings, Pokerstars will add to an already stacked roster of sponsored pros that includes the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Barry Greenstein and Gavin Griffin.

David Williams has been a free agent ever since parting ways with Bodog earlier in the year. Williams has an extremely impressive poker resume that includes nearly $8 million in total lifetime tournament cashes, a second place finish in the WSOP main event (2004), a WPT title (2010 $25k WPT Championship) and a World Series of Poker bracelet ($1,500 7 Card Stud, 2006).

Vanessa Selbst (aka “fslexcduck”) is also an extremely accomplished poker player, having amassed nearly $1.7 million in total tournament cashes over the course of her career. This number is made even more impressive by the fact that Selbst has been attending Yale Law School over the past couple of years and hasn’t been able to play in many tournaments. Selbst, like Williams, owns a World Series of Poker bracelet (2008 $1,500 PLO). Vanessa also won the NAPT Mohegan Sun main event earlier this year for $750,000.

Vanessa Selbst is an instructor on Deucescracked.com, and will continue her affiliation with the site going forward.

A couple of very strong signings for Pokerstars..

Both sides have been extremely quiet on the split, especially the typically outspoken David Williams, who can normally be found updating his Twitter account throughout the day. After his massive win at the WPT Championship it’s highly likely Williams will land at one of the “Big Two” in online poker, PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker.

In a blog entry on CalvinAyre.com Bodog explained their move towards a “more retailed focus” has been the main reason why the male poker pros have not been renewed.

Bodog’s traffic numbers have been trending downward over the last 6 months according to pokerscout.com; the down-trend isn’t staggering, but could be a possible explanation for Bodog’s motives in dismissing Williams and Bonomo.Bodog’s decreasing numbers is also suprising as Bodog would be rated one of the Best Sites for Poker among players who play there. Their departure has left Bodog with a single legitimate sponsored player, Evelyn Ng.

Bodog recently signed a second female online player from their own ranks, Amanda Musemeci. Musemeci has nowhere near the success of Williams or Bonomo, but does have the fact that she is a cute, 25 year-old, female going for her!