Premier League Poker Player Profiles

Lining for this years's star-studded Premier League Poker are:

Andy Black | Victoria Coren | Ian Frazer | Tony G | Kirill Gerasimov | Phil Hellmuth | Juha Helppi | Kenna James | Liz Lieu | Eddie Scharf | Dave Ulliott | Roland de Wolfe

Dave Ulliott

Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliottt was a minor figure in the Hull underworld, but went on to become a World Series of Poker bracelet-winner, and a mainstay of televised poker. At the poker table, he is known for wearing orange-tinted prescription sunglasses, a sharp suit (or leather jacket) and gold knuckleduster rings reading "Devil" and "Fish", which he made himself.

Ulliottt began playing poker with his parents as a young child and later learnt three card brag at the age of 16, after being introduced to Hull's Fifty-One Club casino. By the time he was married for the second time, Ulliottt was organising poker games in the back of his shop and dominating the home games of others to the extent that people stopped telling him where games were being held. At the end of 1990 he met Gary Whitaker, a cafe manager from Wakefield, in a Leeds casino. They traveled together to poker games 6 nights a week, and Whitaker placed bets for Ulliottt after he was banned from all of William Hill's betting shops for successfully gambling £4,000 up to £70,000.

Ulliottt first cashed in a noted poker tournament in 1993. Over the following years, Dave worked on his tournament game to the extent that during 1996 he won £100,000 in a two-week period at The Vic. His success at that time led to him and Whitaker going on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada for the first time.

The Devilfish arrived at the 1997 World Series of Poker (WSOP) where he reached heads-up against fellow Englishman Chris Truby. In the final hand, Ulliottt got all of his money in the pot with an open-ended straight draw and flush draw against Truby's pocket pair. Ulliottt won with a straight on the river to claim $180,310 and his only WSOP bracelet to date. After winning his bracelet, he had the nickname "Devilfish" engraved onto it.

In 1999, Ulliottt was one of 40 players to appear in the first series of the Late Night Poker television series, in which he is now a regular player. Dave went on to win the heads-up confrontation against Peter Evans, and the £40,000 first prize. He has since played in the World Poker Tour (WPT), numerous WSOP events where he has come close to winning a second coveted WSOP Bracelet, Poker Nations Cup, Intercontinental Poker Championship and thee inaugural British Poker Open.

As of July 2006, Dave's total live tournament winnings exceed $3,600,000, making him the highest-earning British poker player according to available records.

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