blonde poker forum

I've just heard he is very ill, with colon cancer.

It doesn't look good.

Hope he manages to pull through.

Love him or loathe him he's a great character in the game, wishing him a full recovery

This

Good Luck & Recovery Dave

Such sad news, if you ask anyone around my age (34) how they got into poker the answer usually involves Late Night Poker and to many he was Late Night Poker. Hope he pulls through.

Horrible disease :(

All the best to him!

Awful news but if anyone can beat this he can.

Best of luck Dave.

Really wishing the best of luck Dave.

Get well soon, Dave.

Run good Dave.

Totally agree Dino, he was a class above the LNP players back in the day.

Hope he pulls through.

loved watching him, good luck dave

This

Brysia wella Dave

Wow his Facebook page is quite a read. How many people he has touched, I hope for him and his family he can make it through this.

Best wishes to Dave, hoping things look up quickly

hope its ok to reproduce this from Simon

Simon Trumper

"All our thoughts go out to my pal of 20 years Dave 'the Devilfish' Ulliot.

Just got this message from Rob:

'Spoke to Devil, he hasn't been able to log on to see all well wishes. Going to see him in Hull tomorrow or Monday. Asked Devil how bad it was and he replied 'the doctor told me not to bother ordering a desert before a meal! Cheers Rob'

What a legend the fish is with his one liners.... "

Terrible news, if anyone can beat it, Dave can.

A sobering piece of news for someone who was born the day before Devilfish.

He was a blast on St Kitts and it's hard to imagine all that vitality being taken away.

Sincere good wishes to him.

Very sad news hope he pulls through.

Sorry to hear this, you have a lot of people rooting for you in this fight.

Someone just tweeted that Dave's gone.

I so hope that isn't true.

Really hope this isn't true. Cmon Dave!

Tony Booth ‏@TonyBooth70 3m3 minutes ago
My pal devilfish is not dead so can everyone please ignore the messages and think of his family first. Thanks

???

Reports, thankfully, are incorrect

Kerry Sherwood>‎David Ulliott
Just now · Liverpool ·

please remove RIP dad is still here !!!

Hand Report

Grim Reaper raises, Devilfish goes all in, Reaper folds. Devilfish shows the bluff.

Keep fighting Dave - chip and a chair and all that.

Fight on Dave

Very best wishes to the legend Devilfish...keep fighting.

Thoughs are with u and your family Devilfish, keep fighting the fight.

One time devilfish

Simon Aces Trumper @Dusk_Till_Dawn_  · 

The one & only DevilFish playing to a packed audience in Hull last night:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBVACkzW8AAMAfA.jpg:large)

From Bluff Europe......




News has emerged that one of UK's most popular players, Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott, has cancer.

The veteran pro is at home with his family in Hull and according to Dusk Till Dawn chief Rob Yong, who visited him over the weekend, remains in high spirits.
 
Yong's colleague, Simon Trumper, posted an update via Facebook.
 
“I have been literally inundated with messages about my pal David Ulliott . I am still in Thailand but Rob has been to catch up with him at his home in Hull and whilst it's important to completely respect Dave's privacy I got this message and photo from Rob who said it was fine for me to share.
 
“So I get the Devil's house and he is having a nap, waited a few hours and decided not to wake him up and I get half way back to Notts and his wife mails me that he has woke up and said 'tell that xxxx to turn the xxxx round and get back here', so I went back to Hull and The Fish entertained me and Numpty till 5am on the piano and guitar. He's spending some quality time with his family and is really touched by all of the wishes of support from everyone.”
 
A host of friends, colleagues and fans have offered their good wishes to one of the game's most colourful characters.
 

I knew the dog in that picture was Numpty.

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Poker-star-Devilfish-Dave-Ulliott-cancer-battle/story-26262452-detail/story.html

Massive respect to the Fish for showing such humility, bravery, determination and an amazing sense of humour in the face of all that.

The following message was posted a short time ago

David Ulliott

Unfortunately Dad, Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott lost his battle with cancer today and died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones. Thank you for all your support, love the family xxxxxxx

David "Devilfish" Ulliott who has died aged 61 from colon cancer lived life to the full.

He grew up in a small council house in a working class area of Hull where he had early introductions to gambling, a fledgling boxing career, was the wrong side of the tracks via crime as a Safecracker, two spells in jail, homelessness, setting up as a Pawnbroker and then, ultimately, discovering Poker.

In the poker world Devilfish started off in small games in hull, ventured out into cash games in Leeds and then onto the UK circuit. From there, having amassed a £100,000 bankroll (in 1997 money) reputedly over a two week period at the Vic, he went to Vegas and the World Series and experienced the extreme highs and lows of a relatively old school gambler meeting a Poker world moving out of the back rooms into respectability.

In 1997 Devilfish won the Four Queens Omaha Classic on his second trip across, and cleared a six figure profit on his trip. A year later, he entered a WSOP event $260,000 in the hole including $60,000 to a bondsman he happened to have befriended on the trip. Pressure on, he won the last event he can enter with case borrowed money, got out of it and won a bracelet.

From the first trips to Vegas, Devilfish came into many of our lives via the seminal "Late Night Poker" series which took poker in the UK into the mainstream. In 1999, Ulliott was one of 40 players to appear in the first series of the Late Night Poker television series, the first poker show to use hole cam technology. Ulliott dominated the first final from the first hand and won the £40,000 first prize.

Ulliott's win was watched by over 1.5m people (a huge figure for the channel) and his character at the table was part of the reason for the renewal of the series, which went on to run for five more series, with Ulliott appearing in them all. Ulliott also made the final table in the second series. Dave was one of the main reasons a generation of players took up poker.

In January 2003, Ulliott won the World Poker Tour first season's Jack Binion World Poker Open. Ulliott outlasted a field of 160 players, beat Phil Ivey heads up and won $589,175. Mike Sexton has referred to his win as "still the most dominating performance in WPT history."

In the UK, Ulliott became such a household name that he was name-dropped in EastEnders, and in the inaugural edition of PokerPlayer magazine, Ulliott was not only on the front cover, but also voted No. 9 on their (worldwide) Top 10 Poker Legends List.

After his successes a decade or more ago there followed in poker terms some years in the wilderness and he no longer frequented UK tournaments but in the last three years he was back with a deep run in the EPT London main event and an EPT High-Roller final table too amongst a series of strong performances. He was at DTD regularly too and I would regularly watch and listen as recreational players spoke of their awe at being on the same table as Dave.

(http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/dave_ulliott_ept10_london_day3.jpg)

Aside from being back on the felt, his personality was as huge as ever with the wise-cracks at the table and the guitar at the tournament parties.

It was perhaps easy to forget when in the midst of his persona what a terrific poker player he was, and what a huge role he had to play in the growth of not just UK but global poker.

He was, simply, one of a kind.

He leaves his wife, Anpaktita who he married in November 2011 and eight children.

RIP devilfish.

Rip

Very sad news, thoughts are with his family and all his friends, what a great legacy he leaves behind. Will be truly missed from the poker world and can be truly called a hero for all his achievements in life.

Wherever you have gone Dave I hope you give them as much entertainment as you gave us. Sleep well Devilfish. X x x

Very sad news. Very much a marmite type of character but I was firmly in the "love him" camp.

RIP fella!!

Mr Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott. Sadly gone, but guaranteed never to be forgotten.

May he rest in peace.

Shared a birthday & a name but unfortunately not the skill
A sad loss for the poker world and of course his family RIP

Really glad he (and his family) got to see the enourmous public outpouring of best wishes over the last week. RIP

It all happened so quickly.

RIP Dave, & condolences to your family.

RIP Devilfish

You just have to call him a poker legend. Sad news.

A true legend of the game.

Rest in Peace, Devilfish.

The only English man with his photo in the old caesars palace tourney room
Introduced so many of us to the game 
R.I.P Dave

There was never a dull moment with The Devilfish around.

RIP Dave

Very sad news indeed.  An absolute legend and as Tight said I was in awe when I was lucky enough to share a table with the great man.

R.I.P.

RIP

100% confirmed legend of the game.

R.I.P.

R.I.P. Dave

RIP

RIP

RIP you legend! I remember a great poker player with natural charisma who I first met in gran canaria where he hosted a poker event on his then devil fish poker skin. never forgotten! RIP

RIP Devilfish

RIP Devilfish

thoughts with his family and close friends.

This

Really Poignant Words & Nice Send Off

So Sad......Rest in Peace Dave x

An absolute hero. RIP.

He was, simply, one of a kind.

so true

RIP

RIP- My thoughts are with your family

Very sad, a funny guy, who helped make late night poker.

RIP Devilfish, such sad news.

Really sad to hear this.

RIP.

Sad news.

RIP

Very sad news, RIP

R.I.P Devilfish

So sad like many people of my age I got into poker through late night poker if wasn't for people like him I might not be playing a now a great character of game has gone

RIP Devilfish

R.I.P Dave
Enjoyed so many great nights out with him and he will be missed. This was one guy who could  genuinely be called a poker legend. xx

Very sad news. Thoughts with his family.

A true legend that inspired a lot of people to play poker from the late night poker era, I was defiantly one of them drawn in by his charisma. He gave us a lot of entertainment that will always be remembered from the early shows of late night poker to the filthy nines of Phil hellmuth on premier league poker.

RIP Devilfish

Rip Dave

RIP

He was a true character of the game and he helped to take poker to where it is today.

RIP.

Very sad indeed.
A great character, who inspired so many of many a generation to get into our beloved game.

RIP Devilfish.

Sleep well Devilfish. X

What a legend.  I remember playing some PLO side event with him at an Irish Open several years ago.  Someone took away Mickey Wernick's bacon roll before he had finished it and all hell broke loose at the "theft".  Poker was more fun in those days!

really sad news,

was def the big cheese when i started off,

rip dave

RIP, I'll always remember the way he owned Tom Middleton on Late Night Poker

Just found and watched this

"The double vodka's are saying call"

Someone tweeted this and it pretty much summed up my feelings:

I never really liked Devilfish. But God will I miss him. RIP.

Link?

I bought Dave's book today. Devilfish. The life and times of a poker legend.

It's a great read.

12 minutes into this Keith

https://www.pokertube.com/videos/fulltilt-late-night-poker-s02-e05-22

The Mrs bought it me for Christmas a year or 2 ago, I remember I finished it well before NY. 

Good for a second read too.

He's certainly striding now, away from the table

 Aspades

A good friend,   and THE Man who did more to popularise the British  poker scene than anyone else before him......and so far ...anyone yet to follow.

RIP Dave.

Poker players owe you Devilfish.

Miss you very much.

Bandit.

Some of this is bang out of order IMO.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/dave-ulliott-card-player-known-as-the-devilfish-who-emerged-from-a-life-of-crime-to-win-millions-at-the-poker-table-10160843.html

Disappointed in Des Wilson to be honest.

Yea, without knowing all the facts it did come across as a very blunt, assumptive article.

The Des Wilson piece looks mean spirited at best.

This is a little better
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11520059/Dave-Ulliott-poker-champion-obituary.html


Who'd have thought that Dave Ulliott would get obituaries in the broadsheets though? I bet he'd be laughing his head off at the idea.
I suspect he'd have preferred to be mentioned in the NME though.

The Devilfish Obit in The Times was, far & away, the most balanced of them all, imo. Unforch, I can't link to it, as it is behind a paywall.

For balance, Des Wilson (who, I have to add, is a friend of mine) has written two books about Devilfish, so he knows him better than many of us do.


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fT%2BPLIv2L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41doBH5OXaL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Des is also a quite remarkable man, one of the most remarkable people ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Wilson

Some of it did seem a bit mean, I agree. We should always try to be respectful to those who have passed away, especially if before their time, or had a family, both of which apply here.

Some of what Des wrote was simply untrue, but I doubt he did it for any other reason than try & provide a fair & balanced Obit. Dave was not an angel, & would not like to be so described. He was a great, great, poker player though, & he, unintentionally, very much helped advance the cause of poker in in these parts.

It's always interesting reading how heroic a Squadron Leader was, without a whiff of a question being asked of the morality.

Though he did not enjoy the business of killing, he recalled: “You had to. And because of the way the Japanese treated our people, I was really kind of glad to do it.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11479786/Squadron-Leader-Bob-Johnson-Hurricane-pilot-obituary.html

The Devilfish obituary is closer to that of Ronnie Biggs:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10524589/Ronnie-Biggs-Obituary.html

No obituary of the Devilfish should paint him as a saint or a great nobleman. But he was to a lot of people a symbol of aspiration within a legitimising game. He was the embodiment of the sexy, seedy side of poker; the smoky, back room of a snooker hall, with bald headed men in suits and full length coats minding the door. The bad boy going straight, but careful how you get your money, son, cos shouting your mouth off is a bad idea.

There's an odd allure to the smalltime gangster image in poker and - and this is the twisted romantic in me - the game is better for it. What a terrible film The Cincinnati Kid would be if Clancy didn't have that power? Matt Damon had to face off against Teddy KGB; not Teddy Tiltsischipsov.

I first saw him on Late Night Poker and, to be quite honest, he was the only one I remember from that first episode I saw. I was hooked.

I never had the chance to meet him but the beauty of these characters in poker is that they have given far more to the game than all the money they've taken out of it.

RIP

Agree with Tal Bloke.

One thing I ought to add, in case someone wants to twist my words.

I've never seen Devilfish pull any strokes or angle shoots at the poker table, & as far as I know, he never failed to pay his poker debts. He was a proper bloke at the poker table, even though he liked a moan when he ran bad.

I've seen kids on blonde who are wet behind the ears boast about angle shooting & pulling strokes at the Table, because they want to win at any cost. Dave won & lost properly.

How can you write untruths and say it's to be fair and balanced?

Factual errors & "untruths" are different.

Stories sort of get embellished over time.

I'd bet good money that Des intended it to be fair & balanced. Whether he achieved that, of course, is another matter.

I've met Des on a few occasions and had dinner with him once in the company of Tom and Lucy at The Vic when he was researching the first Devilfish book.

He spilled a full glass of wine all over me too!

I also met him during a tourney in Torquay and discovered that he is good mates with Nic Szeremeta,  but I did find that despite his huge intellect and many achievements, he gave me the impression of being a bit of a snob and I think that is what comes rather gratingly across in that obituary.

I'd simply elect not to write an Obit, rather than submit THAT.

I think personally attacking the deceased is neither warranted or correct in an obituary..

Des has gone down in my opinion i'm afraid..

Very sad indeed that Dave has passed away. Its been said before, but he did do more than anyone else in the UK to popularise the game and will be sorely missed.

From a personal perspective, its also very close to home for me, as I have just recently spent some time in hospital, having been diagnosed with chronic bowel disease, although my biopsy results for colon cancer were thankfully OK.

The paragraph about fame going to his head is totally out of order, wreaks of snobbishness and bitterness. Des got a book out of the Devilfish, why be so mean spirited for the sake of it?

From reading that obit it appears that Des Wilson has revealed his true feelings towards the Devilfish, obs too scared to publish anything like that while Dave was still alive.
Completely uncalled for to write an obit like that

Ugh, sorry to hear that.

Best wishes Mr Raab, hope you soon recover.

I agree, although I'm a little biased as it was written by Howard Swains who's a friend/work colleague. As luck would have it he's uploaded it to his blog so if anyone wants to read it then it can be found here: http://www.howardswains.com/?page_id=740 or, if you want the authentic 'reading it in the paper experience,' then Warren Lush tweeted a picture of it (which can be zoomed in on) here: https://twitter.com/warrenlush/status/585821559354478593

Howard writes most of the mainstream poker content for The Times and indeed told me a while ago that he filed Doyle's obit for them many years ago. Hopefully, that won't be needed for a long time yet.

What an spectacularly bitter obituary from Des Wilson there. If ever there was a time to not be balanced and to be a bit rose tinted, surely it is in an obituary. It's not as if the guy is gonna get the chance to refute what is written about him is it?

Use his name in the title of your book to flog more copies and then slag him off in print when he's dead. Classy.

I'll be taking my copy of Ghosts at the Table down the charity shop the next chance I get.

This

also....

just mindful this should be Blonde Members / Friends posting condolences , obviously quoting non members/media's opinions is opening up debates that are detracting from the true theme of the thread.

condolences to family

A true legend RIP


I think this is documentary mentioned in times obituary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Q5ZNqv4p0

Whenever I saw Devilfish, he always called me Noddy. I was never sure if this was after Noddy Holder of Slade or the kids TV character. I guess now I'll never know...

Hope the link is ok: this is superb, Jesse May reminisces about his friend the Devilfish: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2015/04/mickey-may-jesse-may-devilfish-21209.htm

Yeah that's how it is done.

Yeah, superb article.

Think he even got Woodsey in one of the shots!

When he puts his mind to it, Jesse May is the best writer on poker bar none.

Superb and fitting tribute.

That was excellent, fitting, and portrayed the man to a T.

NB.DW.

Incredibly good.

Suberb, cheers for sharing the link

lol can see myself poking my head in at the back on the laddies cruise pic, that must be about 10 years ago.

Different gravy.

By Ken Lennard
http://www.pokerlistings.com/devilfish-blinked-back-the-king-is-gone-but-not-forgotten-42730

This is so sad, 61 is no age, RIP

Thanks for that. Pitch perfect.

That is superb and brought a tear or two to my eye.

Which do you look more like ? :)

I'd like to think I am a mixture of the best characteristics of both!

Holder. 100%. Sorry Phill!

 Courage Le Devilfish, bonne chance on this journey!

Sometimes we play AFC. He dirty mouth with clean cards.

One of these times he say to me a story about le Tony on this train from St Lazare.....

Once after a cash game where he'd gone totally irate over this hand, I asked him "Dave how you get so wound up over that hand not like it mattered"

TO which he responded;

"Son, either every hand matters or none of them do"

very entertaining Padraig Parkinson article about Devilfish

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-blogs/19-padraig-parkinson/entries/562058-devilfish-was-one-of-a-kind

Dave's funeral is at 1.30pm today in North Ferriby near Hull

During the UKIPT, DTD will observe a minute's silence at that time

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10690158_830575757035236_5019443198917823240_n.jpg?oh=8e5234255e420d742573c6e6b57da8c1&oe=55DB9657&__gda__=1440840587_0681d57d594f6e1af50aa4d53bc17b4f)

Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott, Hopefully will be voted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

www.WSOP.com/2015/POKERHALLOFFAME

if you would like to help vote Dave in

Here is Simon in Vegas yesterday

(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11010563_840284996056139_3981731767063551260_n.jpg?oh=2173d8456ad23508fe11f650c921f2e4&oe=55F45C2A)

Sure did appreciate Simon deleting inoffensive discussion on the post about this on his Facebook wall yesterday. Maybe I wouldn't have wasted my time writing anything on there if I knew the only acceptable opinion to have was "Go Devilfish!"

Anyway, I'll reiterate what I said on there yesterday. Yes, he gets my vote for the final 10. However, I would be pleasantly surprised if he gets in the top 2 this year as opposed to people who have been nominated every year for the past few years, such as Huck Seed and Jen Harman.

As for 2016, Ivey is a lock, because apparently despite having a "Stood the test of time" criteria, you also need to be over 40, which is completely ridiculous, because nobody would've had a problem with Ivey and Negreanu being in there 5 years ago. The voting system will make the second nomination a crapshoot, because Ivey will get like >90% of the votes, and the other guy will be "Who does the guy who didn't use his vote on Ivey like?"

I struggle to see him actually getting into the Hall of Fame before 2017. However, I'm happy to be wrong.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ck1trHdWgAAOdYs.jpg)