Dave Ulliott

Dave Ulliott
  • Name:
    Dave Ulliott
  • DOB:
    4th Apr 1954
  • Birth Place:
    Kingston upon Hull, Humberside
  • Sponsor:
    N/A
  • Screen Name:
    Devilfish

Biography

A former safecracker, who in his youth spent time in prison, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott would travel the north of England playing in private games, often carrying a gun. His wild days are chronicled in his superb memoir DEVILFISH: The Life & Times of a Poker Legend.

He earned the “Devilfish” moniker in 1997 from Stephen Au-Yeung, who ran a poker game in Birmingham which Ulliott frequented. Later that same year he made his first trip to Vegas and found himself heads-up against Men “The Master” in the Four Queens Poker Classic. One of Ulliott’s friends remembered the incident and began chanting “Go on, the Devilfish!” and the name stuck. That same year, Devilfish won his first and only WSOP bracelet in the $2k PLO event.

Now clad in sharp black suits and dark glasses, and wearing his famous Devilfish gold knuckledusters, Ulliott first came to the attention of the UK viewing public when he appeared on the cultish TV Show Late Night Poker, winning the first ever series. His fearsome image and, then relatively unusual, hyper-aggressive style caught the public’s imagination, and he remains the most recognisable poker player in the UK.

In 2003 Ulliott won the WPT Jack Binion World Poker Open for $589,175. As of January 2013, he has over £6m in prize-winnings and for a long time was the all-time highest earning British player before he was superceded by Sam Trickett in 2011.

Interview: Devilfish
Interview: Devilfish: The Life and Times of a Poker Legend

Greatest Hands


  • WPT 2003: Devilfish eliminates Ivey

  • Devilfish versus Hellmuth

  • Late Night Poker Series 1 Final

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