Poker mags put their foot down on David Williams "foot fetish" controversy
ESPN reports:
David Williams signed with Bodog.com whose owner, Calvin Ayers, appeared on the cover of Forbes, and was arrested in Costa Rica. (Bodog just signed Jamie Gold, winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event 2006.) Williams is said to be dating porn star Carmella Bing. She has David listed #9 in his friends list. David lists Carmella as one of his favorites. More. Carmella Bing writes on MySpace June 18:
Carmella's profile on The Erotic Review Jason writes: "I met David Williams in Hawaii during a celebrity poker tournament. I'm smart enough to know the difference between him and Brian Pumper. The man on the tape is without a doubt David Williams. He even uses his middle name "Tony" at the start of the tape to try and hide his identity. Little did he know he would finish 2nd in the WSOP (World Series of Poker) and be recognizble to damn near everyone." Spademan writes to NeverWinPoker.com:
I've never heard about David Williams (until I was emailed this information) and I had no idea that poker players could be celebrities. I know nothing about their world and nothing about the World Series of Poker. Texas Guy emails me 9/5/06:
Bryan Micon Of NeverWinPoker.com I call Bryan Tuesday morning, Sep 5, 2006. Luke: "You got a few minutes." Bryan: "Yeah, no problem. It's my favorite subject to talk about." Luke: "What does David Williams do on that video College Cock 8?" Bryan: "It is a fetish video produced in 7/28/03 by Janet Mason. Part one is a foot job. Part two is him licking her ass for 15 straight minutes. "That woman could not have sold that many of these. I got the last one before Dave Williams bought the master. I have four extremely secure copies. I bet there are 100 mobile homes in America with this DVD sitting on top of the DVD player and they have no clue who it is." Luke: "What is David Williams best known for? The World Series of Poker?" Bryan: "He came second in 2004 to Greg Raymer and won $3.5 million. The video was shot almost to the day one year before that. "The big question among my friends was whether he did it because he's a member of the site or whether he was paid." Luke: "He wasn't paid." Bryan: "I heard from some of his oldest friends that he had memberships to many different porn sites." Luke: "Is poker regarded in the general community as a vice like pornography?" Bryan: "Not anymore. I guess you really have not seen much poker. With all the ESPN coverage starting in 2003, it's turned into something special. They're regarded more as athletes, maybe degenerate athletes, than pornographers. Greg Raymer does nothing but sign autographs when he walks out in the hall. David Williams is one of the kings of Las Vegas. In any city, he can walk into a room, into a random sports bar, and a lot of people will know who he is. The chicks dig it because they know he has infinite money." Luke: "Is this going to hurt his poker career?" Bryan: "I don't believe so. I tried to get this story in every poker magazine ever. The major poker media refused to run the story. 'We don't want to piss off any pro poker players so they won't talk to us.' No publicity is bad publicity. "It will hurt his credibility because he has told so many real media that it wasn't him. Because it's embarrassing." Luke: "How would other poker players feel about this?" Bryan: "This breed really don't care. What are they going to do? Not deal him in." Luke: "Would they bust his balls?" Bryan: "For sure. One hundred percent. But that's it." Luke: "Would he lose friends over this?" Bryan: "I doubt it. I know a lot of his friends. He was involved in the game Magic the Gathering. It's a super nerd game, a strategy game. His magic friends are his old school friends. Most of them knew about this porno way before he entered the World Series." Luke: "Is he self-destructive?" Bryan: "He said that he didn't want his mom to know about it. That was his main reason for all the denials." Luke: "Don't hookers and poker go together like meat and milk?" Bryan: "They do. You can find degenerates in any sport but you are obviously pre-qualified playing in a $10,000 tournament. You have no respect for your money." Luke: "Have you known great poker players who've ruined their talents by pursuing hookers?" Bryan: "Hookers are usually the least of their problems. Usually their lives are destroyed between the craps table, the blackjack table and the drugs." "There are a lot of professional poker players who do have gambling problems. Sometimes it is more of a gambling solution so long as they stick to poker. Poker has certainly destroyed way more lives than it has helped. Most of the pros restrain themselves to playing the poker." Luke: "Would you say that a higher proportion of pro poker players have drug problems when compared to the general public?" Bryan: "Yes." Luke: "Could you give me a psychological portrait of pro poker players?" Bryan: "ADD. Everyone's report card said, 'Smart but talked during class.' Class clown. Always had a problem with authority. It all leads to poker. Never wanted to work for the man. Always thought you were smarter than everyone else. Usually had a small gambling problem at some point which led to the pokr table, a gambling solution." "I run the number one poker website -- neverwinpoker.com. I guess poker is my profession. I won a few hundred thousand dollars at the World Series this year. I list my profession as 'professional degenerate.'" "I've been devoted to poker for about eight years. I was trading stocks in college. I made a ton of money. I thought I knew everything [and then came the crash of 2000 and 2001]. I tried to start a business teaching other people how to make money in the stock market but that was not the place to be in 2001." I ask Bryan about his photo. Bryan: "The white visor and the velour sweatsuit are our thing at neverwinpoker. The velour sweatsuit is the smoothest thing you can ever wear. Most casinos are cold. It keeps you warm." Luke: "Why do you hide your face?" Bryan: "You really are a poker novice. You always hide your face because it is a reduction of tells to other players. But let's not kid ourselves. You look cool. People take your picture. You look cool for the camera. There is a whole big thing with image that I won't get into, but the image that you project is how other people play you. "Look at me. I look like the punk kid. You don't want to get rolled by me because then you're just embarrassed. I talk a lot at the table. I use that. But tricks only work on the weaker players." Luke: "Why do you call yourself a degenerate?" Bryan: "Some words just crept into my speech. If you read my website, there are a handful of words that get pounded over and over. It's half a joke. Poker, yeah, it is a degenerate's sport in some people's eyes." Luke: "Do you party a lot?" Bryan: "No. I have a wife and a dog and a house." Luke: "How does your wife like you calling yourself a degenerate?" Bryan: "Remember, I work from the house and make a lot of money. I can spend a lot of time with her. She does not complain. She thinks it's cool what I do. Her whole family thinks it's cool. "You're Jewish, too? Her family are business owners and lawyers and doctors. It's not a source of conflict partially because I've been very successful for a while." Luke: "How do your parents feel about you constantly calling yourself a degenerate?" Bryan: "I don't talk to my parents that much but when I won a place at the final table of the World Series, I got a call, 'Why is everybody calling me? Where are you?' 'I'm in Vegas, mom. I've been here for a month.'" Luke: "Do they say, 'We're so proud that you're a degenerate.'" Bryan: "No. They're very much not proud. If they ever tell you they are, they're lying." Luke: "I can't imagine any parents being proud that their son calls himself a degenerate. It doesn't give them nachas." Bryan: "I got a phone call. Our rabbi is a good friend. He asked me to speak to his [Reform or Reconstructionist] synagogue. Poker is huge now." "I've been getting ready for this ESPN coverage tonight. I want to make sure the servers don't crash." Luke: "When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Bryan: "I only knew that I didn't want to get dressed up every day. My mother told me on a few occasions that I'd have to be a trash man." Bryan estimates that the median age for pro poker players is about 22. "The more you investigate poker, every Stein, Rosenthal, Bloom, they're all in poker. All the Jews are saying this is the easiest money to get now. I don't even go to synagogue any more but something in my brain told me to do it too." Luke: "How do you think your choice of profession has affected you?" Bryan: "I have a nice BMW and a $10,000 watch." "There are action junkies all over the poker world. You're always trying to get your poker high back." Luke: "I can't imagine that you'd make good decisions if you're high on cocaine." Bryan: "Cocaine, unfortunately, works very well on poker. If you need to stay up for two days... Cocaine has claimed the lives of a lot of poker champions including Steve Unger. He led the most degenerative life ever." "It sounds like you need to play a poker tournament." Luke: "No. I was a gambling addict in highschool and had to go cold turkey on any form of gambling." |