David Williams wins WPT World Championship at Bellagio

By Case Keefer (contact)

Sunday, April 25, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

World Poker Tour television commentator Mike Sexton said it best.

Sexton’s voice reverberated through the Fontana Bar at the Bellagio on Saturday near the beginning of the WPT World Championship final table after David Williams flopped a straight to eliminate a player.

“When you’re running good, you’re running good,” Sexton said. “And David Williams is on fire tonight.”

Williams never cooled off. He outlasted 194 competitors in the $25,000 buy-in tournament over the course of the week to win $1.53 million and the coveted title of World Poker Tour champion.

Williams, a Las Vegas pro, beat Eric Baldwin, another Las Vegas pro, in heads-up play when he called an all-in with pocket 2s. Baldwin had ace-5 of hearts and took an immediate lead when an ace hit the flop.

But Williams hit one of the two deuces left in the deck on the turn to win the tournament with three of a kind.

“I guess I can wipe my tears with seven figures,” joked Baldwin, who won more than $1 million for his second-place finish.

The last hand was far from the most dramatic of the night for Williams. With the tournament down to three players, Williams moved all in with pocket 9s before the flop after being re-raised by Canadian pro Shawn Buchanan.

Buchanan quickly called and turned over pocket queens. Despite being more than an 80 percent favorite to win the hand, Buchanan lost when a 9 hit the flop for Williams.

Williams said he made the risky play partly because of an erroneous tip his friend and fellow pro Josh Arieh gave him.

“This morning (Arieh) messaged me and was like, ‘I’ve got a tell on this Shawn guy. When Shawn tanks for a while and raises you, he’s trying to be creative and never has a hand,” Williams said.

“That hand (Buchanan) thought, thought, thought and made it 1.7 million,” Williams said. “So I was like, I’m going to go with what my read Josh gave me was.”

Prior to knocking out Buchanan in third place, Williams busted Poker Hall of Famer and 40-year veteran Billy Baxter in fifth.

Williams called Baxter’s all-in before the flop with King-10. Baxter had Ace-Jack.

The flop came Ace-Queen-Jack, giving Williams a straight and the pot.

“To be honest, I think I played really well,” Williams said. “But I was also very fortunate.”

French pro David Benyamine exited in fourth place, and Irish pro John O’Shea took sixth.

The victory served as the biggest payday for Williams since the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event, when he finished second to Greg Raymer and earned $3.5 million.

“Financially, it’s not as awesome,” Williams said. “But it feels a hell of a lot better. At that point, even though I won $3.5 million, I felt miserable. I felt like I got so close to something.”

This time, Williams finished. And he can’t think of a better feeling.

“When I saw that deuce come, it was amazing,” Williams said. “It was weird, as soon I saw it my mind was like I just won. I couldn’t speak for a while. It was awesome.”

Below is the final leader board and payouts.

1. David Williams- $1,530,537

2. Eric Baldwin- $1,034,715

3. Shawn Buchanan- $587,906

4. David Benyamine- $329,228

5. Billy Baxter- $246,921

6. John O'Shea- $199,888