Give the Devilfish His Due

Dave Ulliott's reputation precedes him. Many people think they know just what he's about. A sharp suit, some flashy rings, a cocked eyebrow to match a similar attitude are what is expected from the "Devilfish." Rarely has another poker player received such a mixed reaction among enthusiasts; some love him, some hate him, but no one can deny what he's done for the game, especially on this side of the Atlantic. Card Player caught up with Devilfish to find out what was going on behind the dark shades and cool exterior during what has been an unusually busy year so far for the English legend.

Ulliott wrote openly about his unfortunate run of luck at this year's World Series on his new poker site DevilfishPoker.com. His blog revealed an inside look at the ups and downs of the industry, and the darker side of poker that many professionals fail to mention. He spoke candidly to Card Player about his recent experiences: "I thought I was going to play really good, and not party too much, keep my head together, and really try. Everything went wrong from the start. First of all, I was supposed to go over for the $10,000 pot-limit hold'em, because it's definitely one of my best games. I had a win and two seconds in it before in the World Series. There was a flight mix-up and I ended up missing it, so that was a bad start. Then I played in the $5,000 mixed hold'em, and I would have been the big chip leader at the end of day one if my aces had beaten kings. A guy even folded A-K, so there was only one king left in the deck, and he found it, so that was about as bad a start as you could get. I probably should have gone straight home then, actually."

Dealing With the Devil

Ulliott's confidence had taken a beating, but his luck was about to go from bad to worse. "I had so much bad stuff happen to me over there with dealers. I had one dealer who actually dealt a flop and didn't turn it over, and then he mucked it and dealt another flop quickly. Of course, then I got knocked out; I had kings against queens and he hit a queen on the turn. After 12 hours of playing, another dealer sat down, and the first words she said were, 'This is pot-limit Omaha, and I've never dealt Omaha before, so don't have a go at me if I make a mistake.' But there were only six tables left at this stage, so why they can't put six decent dealers on, I don't know. You play 12 hours in a tournament and you're playing your best game, and you get knocked out on a misdeal; it's pretty sickening, especially if it's the second time it has happened."

It seemed to Ulliott that bad dealers were following him from the tournaments to the cash games in the Rio. At this stage, there was no glimpse of that renowned light at the end of the tunnel, so how did the tough Brit get himself together? "Well, I didn't, really. I just kept slipping further and further behind. For instance, in the $5,000 Omaha with rebuys, you can buy in for $10,000 if you've got no chips left. At $10,000 a time and the first prize of $800,000, you're getting 80/1 on your money, and when you think that at least half the field can't really play the game, you're always getting the right price to rebuy. You can't say, 'Well, that's it, I've had enough,' so you keep going, and I think I did for about $70,000."

Juggling With Clowns

Despite his misfortune, Ulliott did not believe for one second that his World Series was over. Like a true champ, he dusted himself off and hopped back in the ring - this time to face the all-important main event. He says, "It was exactly the same in Tunica a few years ago. I never had any luck whatsoever, but managed to go into the main event and win it, so I thought maybe this was going to be the same case. But unfortunately I got on a table where there was a clown at one end with a bald shiny head and a red nose, and another at the other end. For instance, I bet x amount and a guy called x amount, and then another guy made it 4,000 because every time the cameras came over, they wanted to show off. Then they turn over the 10-7 of spades with three hearts on the board. Next year I'm definitely going to play the first day with a disguise on. I'm going to have a hood and glasses, I'm not going to speak to anyone, no cameras, and just see if I can get some chips together, because once you have chips together, you can take these idiots on. When you're playing with 20,000, it sounds like a lot of chips, but it's not when you're making it 700 and they're making it 4,000, because now all of a sudden you're putting 25 percent of your stack in."

Lost at Sea

The World Series was finally over, and Ulliott found himself in a place he had never been before. About a million dollars down from cash games and tournaments, he wrote home to his supporters saying it had been a long time since he was in such a deep hole. Ulliott recalls how he felt at the time: "I was feeling pretty rotten. What happens is, you end up playing cash games until late in the morning, and then you get up and try and play a tournament at 12 o'clock. If you get knocked out of the 12 o'clock, it's easy to end up jumping into the 5 o'clock. Once I get knocked out, I just usually go to my room, maybe sleep for an hour, and then I go out and drink, have a party, and get over it."

Ulliott was only one of many running bad at the Series. The difference is, he isn't afraid to admit it. "Loads of kids were having a tough time. I don't think any of the Hendon Mob did any good over there, and they're all good poker players. I don't think Hellmuth had a particularly good time either; he got a third or fourth. It's difficult because there are a lot of runners, and a lot of tournaments, and you can easily get worn out if you play too many."

Oh Bobby, Where Art Thou?

Staying in Vegas despite his losses, Ulliott then took part in the Bellagio Cup. This alongside the cash game in Bobby's Room turned his trip upside down. "In the Bellagio Cup, my luck actually changed. I managed to get chips together, get to the third day, and then unfortunately I bluffed all my chips away against a guy from Sweden, believe it or not. He called me with ace high. It was a terrible call, but that's the way it goes. I was very lucky, as Bobby Baldwin, who's a good friend of mine, decided to have an Omaha game in Bobby's Room. He took a week off work and we made it no-limit hold'em and Omaha, so that we'd get a few of the young suckers in. I managed to win about $1.14 million in the game, so I finished in front about $140,000 or so."

Ulliott earned $19,990 for 70th place in the Bellagio Cup, but would his performance have been different without the draw of Bobby's room influencing his decisions? He says, "To be truthful, maybe the only reason I moved in on the third day was because of the big cash game in Bobby's Room that I had been winning in. In fact, I went and jumped straight into it after, and I won another $120,000 or so."

High-Rollin'

The well-revered and often mysterious Bobby's Room has seen large amounts of money exchange hands in the past. Spectators watch in awe outside glass windows that encase the pinnacle of any poker player's ambitions. Not many people know how the room works or what exactly goes on, but the Devilfish has seen and done it all, and lives to tell the story. "We make all the rules. The people in the game decide what they want to play and what level they want to play at. We actually changed the game to $500-$500 instead of $300-$600. It's more or less the same, but you put in $1,000 instead of $900 in the blinds, so you don't have to use the $100 chips. It's quite a good size Omaha game. I have actually played bigger blinds, but $300-$600 or $500-$500, that's about as big an Omaha game as you're going to find. I don't know about online, but it's a big cash game, as you can easily get a couple hundred grand in the pot each time. I mean, when we were playing $300-$600, a lot of people were putting the $1,200 straddle on, as well, so it makes the game a lot bigger."

One hand Ulliott took down in Bobby's Room was worth $350,000, the kind of money most have to work years to earn. "In one hand, I had them just about as dead as you can get. I reraised with aces in Omaha, and with two callers, the flop came down A-10-5. Sammy Farha had three fives, this other nice guy whose name I don't know had aces and tens and the middle-pin straight draw, and I had three aces, so it was a pretty good situation. I could only lose to four cards for the straight or the one 5 in the deck for Sammy, and that was it. I was in pretty good shape. It was a nice game. I wanted to stay a bit longer, really, because the game was so good, and Bobby asked me to stay, but to be truthful, I was a bit worn out."

Enough is Enough

Ulliott is known to be the kind of player who is at his best when he's down. It has been said by many that if he really wants something, he'll go after it like there's no tomorrow. This is exactly what he did before returning home to Hull in England. On the other hand, after years of experience, shouldn't a player of his stature know when to walk away? Ulliott thought he did, but something about this trip was different. For a man who doesn't like chasing, he managed to get himself in and out of an awful bind. He says, "It's not a good situation to get into. I think mentally, I'm a lot stronger now, where if I'm losing a few grand, I can just say, 'Thanks a lot,' and leave; but this time I seemed to go back about six years mentally and I just played like my ass was on fire."

Unlike a vast number of fellow professionals, Ulliott demonstrated some self-discipline by steering clear of the many prop bets going on during the Series. "The reason why I didn't get involved was because I had a prop bet with a guy at the last World Series. He asked me to have this bet with him, and I'm still waiting to get paid. To be truthful, winning the bet ain't the hard thing in my experience, it's collecting the money. A lot of people haven't got a lot of class, unfortunately. You've got to chase them around for the money, and I can't be bothered with that. If I lose, I'm gonna pay it straight away. I actually got a loan of $200,000 from Bobby Baldwin, and I couldn't wait to get to the bank the next day and race back to the casino to pay him, because I just hate owing anybody money. So, that's the only reason I don't like those bets."

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Last year was a very good year in tournaments for Devilfish. In the $1,000 no-limit hold'em event at the Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica, he came first for $109,192, he took third in the WSOP $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event for $332,582, and then won a massive $674,500 for third place at the Doyle Brunson Five-Diamond World Poker Classic. This year it has been cash games that have earned him the most money so far, but he stands by tournaments as a good way to learn and make money. "The big money's in tournaments. In cash games, you have to put loads of money in, especially if you're playing at a big level, and you can still go 300,000 or 400,000 dollars behind. In tournaments, you have a bit more control; you might pay $2,000 for a no-limit hold'em freezeout and you mightn't win it, but you can only lose $2,000. Last year I managed to win Card Player's European Player of the Year, which was good. Everything's good about winning tournaments; the money's good, the publicity's good, and it's good for my site DevilfishPoker.com."

Devilfish is a well-known name and character across the poker world, but for someone of such notoriety, Ulliott manages to stay relatively low-key. "I change my appearance a lot. Actually, it's quite funny. I've seen them stopping Jesus (Chris Ferguson), who has always got his hat and leather coat, and Phil Hellmuth with the same hat and shades on. A lot of the time you don't really want to be stopped. I mean, I'm always polite to people, like when I got knocked out of the main event at the World Series and somebody tapped me on the shoulder for an autograph, I gave them one. I'm always polite to people, but sometimes it can be a bit frustrating when you've only got 15 minutes to run and get a coffee and get straight back to the table."

Deep-Sea Fishing

In describing the downfalls of being known at the poker table, Ulliott said, "It's definitely more difficult to win a tournament when they know you. It's different if you're a 'card rack' and you keep finding cards. I see a lot of the big names finding aces and kings, and they always hold up. It's not so bad then, because you get all these idiots taking you on and doubling you up. But I don't manage to find aces and kings too often, and when I do, I'm not very lucky with them. I've actually lost two gold bracelets heads up with aces, so for me, they're a good hand for going broke with. I'll give you an example of how difficult it is to win when you're known. I was in the Omaha tournament, and there was this idiot called Michael from Sweden who actually challenged me to a cash game afterward for $100,000 sit-down, but of course he never turned up, although I didn't really expect him to. Anyway, this guy wants to call me on the flop and on the turn, and at the end when I bet out, he wants to move 90 percent of his chips in and then turn his hand over. He never had anything on the flop, anything on the turn, and he still had nothing at the end. Unfortunately, a card came on the river and I had to fold, but this is the way they play against me; they're desperate to show a bluff so they can run home and tell their mother."

It might be suggested that some players do this because they think they know how he plays from television coverage, but Ulliott says, "I actually play tournaments a lot more passively than people think. You can get aggressive when you get down to the last few and you've loads of chips, but when you're starting out and you have only your starting stack, I'm as careful as anybody, really. Maybe these kids aren't smart enough to realise that yet." In the end, the Devilfish is a species that dominates and feeds on schools of fish, so it is only a matter of time before these players learn a lesson the hard way.

An All-Rounder

Among higher levels of the food chain, Ulliott has gained much respect over the years. He says, "I like to think that most poker players know that I can play poker. It's all right saying this kid is the biggest money winner online, and that kid has won so many tournaments, but I've been playing poker 34 years now, so that's when you know you can play. I play every single game of poker, even though I'm not a big lover of limit. It's not because I can't play the game, it's simply because there's not a lot of moves you can make, and basically, the best hand wins every time. To me, that's not true poker. I play stud poker, and seven-card and five-card strip deck. I played both those games for the first 20 years I played poker. The only reason I started playing hold'em and Omaha was because I got barred from the games. In fact, I won the British Open at the Victoria Casino in the stud tournament there. I used to go play dealer's choice all over England and Paris, so you have to be able to play every game they're dealing."

So, what games would Ulliott say he plays best, and would he admit to those he doesn't? "I would say I have the edge in no-limit and pot-limit games, whatever games they are, because you can make a lot of moves and force people out of the pot. If I could name my worst game - well, actually, it's not that I play it badly, but the game that I've had the worst luck in over the years would definitely be London lowball. We used to play pot-limit, and a lot of the time, all of the money would be in after four or five cards, so when you get the last two cards dealt to you, there's no more poker playing, no more strategy, it's just a matter of who catches the cards. You'd get people playing who were in with the worst hand every time, but they caught good and you caught bad in the last two cards and you lost your money."

Although he's confident in his own game and can be critical of others', there are no holds barred when it comes to appreciating people who are on the same level. He speaks well of his fellow professionals and poker room operators, giving credit where it's due. "I went down and played at Dusk Till Dawn, which is a very nice place in England. The owner's a gentleman and it's a really nice setting. I would advise any aspiring poker players to go down there and play the tournaments."

Speak of the Devil

This is a long way off the legendary table talk Ulliott is known for. Perhaps his cocky behaviour and provocative chit-chat is just part of his strategy when playing in an event, or maybe it comes naturally when he's in Devilfish mode, but he says, "I think table talk is fine as long as people have a sense of humour. I like to hear funny talk. I like to hear people saying funny things. I don't like to hear people screaming and shouting at the top of their voice, calling people donkey this and donkey that. The thing is, when people do this, the cameras come running over and they get themselves on TV. I mean, I couldn't scream and shout if I was on fire. I ain't got a really loud voice, but I speak the truth, and unfortunately, you're not allowed to speak the truth in this day and age, and that's why I've been barred from FOX TV in America. You have to be an arse-kisser, and you have to be, 'Yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir,' and that's not me."

Devilfish on the Rocks

It's not that Ulliott doesn't have any airs and graces, he just doesn't waste time pretending to be something he's not. He is passionate and believes in his own style of play and who he is, but in saying that, he's also humble enough to name players who he thinks were his best opponents in tournament play over the years: "I like Marcel (Luske), he plays aggressive poker; he rocks and rolls. I actually like playing Hellmuth, because there's a bit of banter and fun. I also like playing against Antonio (Esfandiari); he's a nice guy, he's aggressive, and he plays well. I used to love playing against Chip Reese; he was a great guy, he was a gentleman, and he was good to watch. When he was in the pot, he always had the best hand or the best draw; he was a great poker player. I love to play with Sammy Farha, too; he's very aggressive, and he got me out of trouble in Vegas in Bobby's Room, more or less."

Keeping Up Appearances

Even though the World Series is over (apart from Nov. 9), there's no rest for the wicked, so to speak. Ulliott is keeping busy starring as guest mentor in a new poker reality TV show called How to Become a Poker Millionaire, and proving himself as a savvy businessman with his recent endeavour, DevilfishPoker.com. Instead of getting a big sponsorship deal, which he could easily do, he's focusing his attention on making his site the next big thing. He says, "What I do, basically, is go out there and wear logos and hand cards to everybody, and explain to them how great the site is. I leave the mechanics to all the brain-boxes we've got working for us. I'm just praying and hoping that my site does really well and I can just, not call it a day, but it would be good to get a nice double-figure million in the bank and sit back, and say, 'Right, I've done it.' I mean, I'm very comfortably off now. I'm not skint. I've got a beautiful house, a beautiful apartment, and I drive a Ferrari and a Hummer truck. I've got a 21-year-old girlfriend, so I can't really complain, can I?"

Apart from his Devilfish Poker responsibilities, Ulliott is also looking forward to some upcoming tournaments. "I'll be playing some EPTs, but I don't know exactly when they are, because I'm useless at that sort of thing. I usually just look the day before and say, 'Oh Jesus, it's Barcelona tomorrow.' That's the way I am. I also won my first heat at the Poker Million, and the second heat is in December. I'd like to win the final of that, which is going to be on SKY. They had to tell me not to use the f-word about 14 times; I don't know why - it's on after 10 o'clock."

Better the Devil You Know

It's funny, because not once did he use the f-word the whole time Card Player spent with him; in fact, he was a true gent. His attitude is one that doesn't mean to cause offence but merely says, "Take me or leave me." In typical Devilfish fashion, he says, "I am who I am, and I still say what I think. I don't pull any punches even though I have my own site. That's how people want me to be, I think. I mean, anybody who's gonna come on my site and anybody who's liked me over the past 10 years, they're coming on there because they like someone who's a straight guy and says what he thinks - not someone who sucks up to everybody. A certain player once told me, 'You shouldn't say that, Devilfish, it won't do you any good.' Maybe it doesn't do me any good at that certain time, but I think it does me good in the long run. I stick by my guns and I say what I think."

Whether in business, at the poker table, or in his everyday life, Ulliott brings this refreshingly honest attitude to everything he does. It seems as if the Devilfish is either Ulliott's poker alter ego or a fabrication based on media coverage and online forums. The real "Dave" is soft-spoken and polite, spends time with his family, looks after his business, and makes time to drop down to his local casino for a chat and a cup of tea with some of his old friends. Always ready to add more notches to his belt, he has plenty more to offer and seems determined to continue his role in the history of the game.