The Scoop -- David Williams

David Williams burst onto the poker scene when he finished runner-up in the 2004 World Series of Poker main event. Since then, he has had continued success, racking up almost $8 million in tournament cashes, winning a WSOP bracelet, and most recently taking down the 2010 World Poker Tour Championship. He stopped by The Scoop studio to discuss his mindset going into the final stages of that tournament.

Diego Cordovez: We are shooting this at the World Poker Tour Championship, which is down to 10 players, and you are one of the chip leaders. So, since this show is going to air after this tournament concludes, you can make your prediction on the record right now about victory.

David Williams: It’s going to be embarrassing if I say I’m going to win and you guys won’t show it if I don’t. It’s not something that’s common; I don’t sit here and feel like I am always going to win, but I have gotten a lot into learning how to be peaceful and meditating with my mindset coach, and I see myself winning this tournament. I have this vision of how it’s going to go down at the end, and me sitting there holding up the money in a cheesy pose. I have been seeing that when I go to sleep at night these past couple of days. I feel very confident.

Adam Schoenfeld: It is never cheesy when there are millions of dollars in your hands. That’s OK.

DC: But it’s not just that you are convincing yourself to visualize this, you actually really feel …

DW: It’s weird, I haven’t felt this way; I know that everybody should believe they are going to win it when they go in, but it is like I can predict the future. I see myself winning it, and every time that I lose a pot, it’s like it doesn’t matter, and sure enough, I climb right back up. Everything is breaking my way. I haven’t gotten coolered, it’s amazing.

AS: You were mentioning that you were feeling very calm, and that you haven’t had any tilt issues even when you have an upsetting hand.

DW: This is the most peaceful and calm that I have ever been in a tournament. It’s the most focused I’ve ever been. The weirdest part about it, as I was telling a friend last night, is that usually when I am in a tournament, my mind is in seven million different places. Most of my focus is on the tournament, but I’m thinking about bills to pay or what’s going on at home or what I am going to do that night. Other thoughts are running through my head. And it’s almost like I feel like a poker zombie in this tournament. When I am there, I don’t realize until the day is over that I didn’t have a thought other than poker. I put my phones away, and my mind is a hundred percent clear. It’s the most focused I think I have ever been in my life, and it’s really weird but it’s working, so hopefully I can keep it going from this tournament to the next.

DC: It’s interesting, because you are definitely known for having a life outside of poker. You enjoy going out and having fun, and besides that, you have other intellectual interests, as you still play Magic: The Gathering, and other stuff. Do you feel that in the past when you have been playing poker, you haven’t concentrated as much as you should?

DW: For sure, but who can’t say that? Everybody has off days, but overall, recently my focus hasn’t been a hundred percent. Poker was easier five years ago, to where I didn’t have to give a hundred percent to succeed. But now, everybody is getting better; the players are tougher and people are trickier. To stay up on it now, I have to give a hundred percent, and I have been. I am seeing things far more clearly, and it’s awesome.