Happy Hump Day Obots!
Well Phil Ivey isn’t the only black man making BIG BUCKS in the world of professional poker. Meet his proteges.
Paul Darden, Jr. (born October 27, 1968) is an American professional poker player, rap music promoter, and night club owner from New Haven, Connecticut.
He was accused of murder at the age of 15, due to mistaken identity but was acquitted. Poker was Darden’s way of changing his life around, and he was helped in this by his mentor, Phil Ivey.
Before becoming a professional poker player, Paul was a partner in a nightclub in New Haven and promoted rap shows, hip-hop, R&B and some jazz. As a tournament player, apart from his great game he is known for wearing stylish hip-hop clothing and jewelry, which have helped make him tremendously popular amongst younger poker enthusiasts.
Paul started his more serious poker playing as an adult at Foxwoods, the large casino owned by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe of southeastern Connecticut. He later went to Atlantic City where he had a significant and divining encounter with Phil Ivey. Phil saw Paul’s natural talent and took it upon himself to mentor him. Up until that point, Paul had mainly been playing Seven-Card Stud; Phil tried to steer him in the direction of No-Limit Hold’em.
Unsure of how wise it would be to play a game in which he could lose everything in one bum hand, Paul first tried Limit Hold’em. Shortly after, he took his first trip to Las Vegas. As he remembers it: “I wasn’t doing very well on the first trip to Vegas. Phil told me again that I ought to play No-Limit, but I told him I couldn’t afford it; I didn’t have the money, so he loaned it to me! He told me I had to take the $10,000 shot at a million. I entered the big tournament and survived the first day.”
Originally, he was best known as a seven-card stud player, where he had several notable tournament finishes in 2000 prior to winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in 2001 for the $2,500 seven-card stud event, defeating Tom Franklin heads-up.
As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,100,000 with his 16 cashes at the WSOP accounting for $287,456 of those winnings.
Read a full interview with Paul here at Poker Pages.
David Williams
It is not easy to accuse one of the hottest, hippest young pros around of being a closet nerd, but we must do it. Behind David Williams’s good looks and sleek style lies an honor student who scored a 4.0 GPA and a 1550 SAT score, was admitted to Princeton and was among the world’s best players of the fantasy game “Magic: The Gathering.”
A native Texan, Williams grew up in a single-parent home (African-american mother, his father of Iranian descent) 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.
David attended Princeton, but life as a student on the east coast, however, was lonely and cold for the Texas native. Eventually he quit to attend Southern Methodist University in his hometown, where he earned a 4.0 GPA and is now only a few credits shy of a degree in economics.
Back in Dallas, Williams transferred his math and logic skills to playing poker. He competed in illicit cash games and started playing online. In 2004, while playing at the Bodog.com poker room, Williams won a seat at the World Series of Poker.
There the unknown player made it to the final table of the WSOP main event and caught the attention of the professional poker world by placing second to Greg “Fossilman” Raymer and winning $3.5 million. It was the best ever WSOP finish for an African-American player.
His confidence was shaken after the big win, however, when he failed to perform at several tournaments following his WSOP break out. But four months later, Williams proved he was no fluke by placing second at the World Poker Tour Borgata Open, winning an almost $600,000 pot.
As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $7,900,000. $4,317,983 of his live winnings have come at the WSOP, and most of the rest has come from the WPT.
Read more about David at Poker Listings.
The Grand-daddy of them all is Walter Smiley, the first African-american to win a WSOP bracelet in 1976.
Pops is still going strong today!