Sportinglife's feature writer Dave Lloyd brings our poker fans another exclusive, a chat with one of the biggest names on the European poker circuit Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliot. Devilfish - who has a huge fan base across America as well - was full of good stories as per usual.

DAVID LLOYD : Hi Dave, where are you?

DEVILFISH: I'm at home with the wife for the day before heading off to Monte Carlo in the morning…I was in London last night for a gig at the Theatre Royal…Roland Gift from the Fine Young Cannibals picked me up at Kings Cross…it was a great night…Ronnie Wood was playing and Mick Jagger got up to sing a couple of numbers…

LLOYD: Sounds like a good night, I'm surprised you got home ;-)  The last time I spoke to you, you were just going out for a drink with Jimmy White…was he wearing the brown suit? ;-)

DEVIL: We're gonna start calling him brown ball Jimmy…I was down in Derby watching him play and he kept losing on the brown ball…
 
LLOYD: Now, I'm only guessing but, assuming you had a miss spent childhood ;-) what's your highest break and has Jimmy ever given you a game?

DEVIL: My highest break is 73 but it'd be a waste of time playing Jimmy…I'd end up spending all my time fishing balls out of the pockets.

LLOYD: I'm buying…what's yours?

DEVIL: I'll have a vodka thanks.

LLOYD: I was going to ask you about the early days…pre Late Night Poker and before your first big tournament wins…where were you playing in those days?

DEVIL: Well, I've been playing since I was 17…it was all local games at first, then after a while, you can't get a game anywhere, no one wants to play you…those games dry up so you start going further afield…you know how it is…Leeds, Nottinham, Derby, London and then Vegas.

LLOYD: There must be a few good stories there though?

DEVIL: Did I tell how I lost a friends car? We used to play with a guy called Johnny Dunn in a room above a restaurant…Johnny was a gambler…you couldn't stop him. Anyway, the game was strip deck stud poker and I was all-in with a card to come, head's up with Johnny Dunn. Johnny wants to know if I've got any more money, "I've got me mate's car" I said. "How much is it worth?" he asked. "I don't know…about two grand" I said. "Ok", says Johnny, "Stick that in!"

So he throws two grand into the pot and I chuck in the keys…There are twelve cards left in the deck and only one of them will win it for him. Of course, the 11/1 shot came off and I was on the phone to my mate in the morning, asking him how much he wanted for the car he didn't even know he was selling ;-)

LLOYD: I know you had a few good results at the Vic, as long ago as 1993 and you won an event at the Four Queens on your first trip to Vegas in 97…when did you start hitting the tournament circuit on a regular basis?

DEVIL: Around 96… and by 97 I'd won a bracelet at the World Series in the pot limit hold 'em event. I should have had a few more of them by now…I think I've come second on about five other occasions…I went out in two of them holding aces…

LLOYD: That's unlucky…you need those to stand up…

DEVIL: I come from an unlucky family…my great grandfather was marooned on a desert island without food and water for three months until the Titanic picked him up!

LLOYD: lol…It's only money….you can't eat the trophies ;-)

DEVIL: Right…money's just the tool of the trade…I've never sat back and thought, well I've got this amount of money now…or anything like that.

I remember a time when Mansour Matloubi said I should sit down and play Lyle Berman, heads up pot limit Omaha.  Apparently Lyle liked to bust gamblers playing head to head…I went to my box and I had about $250,000 in the tank but this was a big game…$100,000 sit down…that was a lot of money to me…It was basically two pops and you're broke…there aren't many young guys who are gonna do that…risk everything they've got. Anyway I sat down and Mansour reckoned I could have taken him for a million but by the time I was $168,000 in front Lyle stood up and said "That's enough" …I'd got inside his head and he knew it…

LLOYD: Didn't Mansour have something to do with your deal with Ultimatebet?

DEVIL: Yeah, he'd been talking to Russ Hamilton and knew they were looking to get involved with a European player…he suggested me to Russ, I'd just won the World Series bracelet and one thing led to another…

LLOYD: How did the deal work?

DEVIL: Well they offered me 1% of the company and I said yes…if they go public in the next few months, my end might be worth $1.5 million…can't be bad…

LLOYD: Yep…hard way to make an easy living ;-) Apart from the logos and promotions, do you play online at Ultimatebet as part of the deal?

DEVIL: Yeah, I play there 8 hours a week…usually just the $2-$4 or $5-$10 no limit hold'em, sometimes the pot limit Omaha…Observers can talk to me and ask questions in the chat box…anyone looking can find me by using the player tracking software…just type in my name and if I'm playing, it'll take you to my table. 

LLOYD: It's amazing how quickly everything changed…one minute we're all underground, the next thing…there's poker on TV all week, John Lewis are selling poker chips and the players are all involved in sponsorship deals…You were telling me the other day about your upcoming DVD…anything else in the pipeline?

DEVIL: The DVD's out now…I tried to have a bit of fun with it…I hope people will like it…I've been working with a company in Manchester called Sambro International…we've produced a range of poker chip sets, tables and cards all with the Devilfish red logo on them…I was very keen to make sure everything we produced was of the highest quality and I think we've done that…

LLOYD: I take it the DVD focuses on no limit hold'em tournaments?

DEVIL: Yes, but we're working on an Omaha one next.

LLOYD: Ok, changing the subject briefly, everyone knows, you like to pick up a guitar from time to time…do you take one with you on your travels or do you just grab whatever's at hand?

DEVIL: I usually just grab whatever's at hand…

LLOYD: How many guitars do you have at home and what are they?

DEVIL: I've got a Paul Reid Smith (the one that Carlos Santana plays) and a mega boogie amp. I've also got a BB King Lucille special that I bought when I was down in Tunica, a Yamaha acoustic and a Gibson flying V. I've just bought an electric grand piano and I've got it set up in here…Hang on a minute…I'll play you something…

(At this point the Devilfish puts the phone to one side, wanders over to the piano and gives me a one minute recital on the piano, complete with drums, strings and a lead vocal. It was only over the phone but it sounded pretty good…not bad for a poker player…you don't get a song out of Negreanu or Trumper you know ;-)

LLOYD: Hey, I'm impressed…did you ever play in a band?

DEVIL: I've been writing some songs and we might even get a record out at some point…I played in a band at school but we broke up when me and one of the other guys got into a dispute over a girl…usual thing…musical differences ;-)

LLOYD: It's no secret that you've got more one liner's than Bernard Manning…who are your favourite comedians?

DEVIL: Barny (Boatman) reckons I've got more one liners than a Colombian drug lord…Actually, I don't mind Bernard…the guy I've seen recently that I liked is Peter Kay from Phoenix Nights…he's good.

LLOYD: I think Barny might have borrowed that line from someone else ;-) Going back to the poker, congratulations on the win at the French Poker Open in Deauville…
 
DEVIL: Yeah thanks…it wasn't bad…191 runners and just under $50,000 for the first prize.

LLOYD: I see you made the money in Jack Binion's WPT event in Tunica….

DEVIL: Well, I was disappointed with that really…I've got two bracelets from there and I was hoping to get another. I got close in the big one…about 30th…I wasn't winning the coin flips though, I must have had five of them at crucial stages and lost them all. If you can't win them…you can't win anything.

LLOYD: You must be considered a regular down there by now…what's it like?

DEVIL: I love it there, they really look after me. They have bands playing in both casino's…I like to get up there with ‘em and play…Memphis is just down the road…about an hours drive but when you've got your feet up in the back of a limo sipping champagne…who cares ;-)

LLOYD: Ever fancy going to warmer climbs like Melbourne in January…I'm surprised Marcel hasn't talked you into it yet?

DEVIL: Australia's not big enough…they don't get enough runners yet and the cash games are too small…maybe if they changed the dates or something…I'd rather be in Tunica…they've got the biggest Omaha cash games in the world there.

Even though I was disappointed in the tournament I had a nice result in one of the side games. I wandered over to one of them and sat down…Donnacha and some of the boys were in the game…I stuck twenty grand down and turned it into $65,000…another guy sat down with $5000…didn't know what he was doing but somehow managed to spin that up to $65,000…eventually he put it all in against me and doubled me up to $130,000…I got up with $110k profit…it was as good as a high place in the main event!

LLOYD: No wonder you like it there…can I have ten percent of you next time ;-) Going back to your man, Marcel…You both get trapped in an elevator…who starts singing first?

DEVIL: He does…I'd be too busy trying to keep me trousers up ;-)

LLOYD: lol…You manage to find yourself on a slow boat to China, hosting the liveliest poker games known to mankind. Who would you want with you for company and why?

DEVIL: Well…Angelina Jolie obviously…then Marcel, Trumper, the Hendon Mob, Micky Wernick, Duthie, Hellmuth, Alan Betson, Dave Coleclough and his wife because he's a nice kid and she's easy on the eye…have I forgotten anyone…Carlo when he gets untagged and everyone else who likes a good laugh…

LLOYD: Onboard, they've organised a charity karaoke night, you have to sing or forfeit $10,000…Up before you, John Duthie sang ‘Lucky Man', Daniel Negreanu crooned ‘To All the Girls I've Loved Before' and Scott Gray belted out ‘Won't Get Fooled Again'. Marcel came on after the break and sang five numbers, Simon Trumper did ‘My Way' and they had a whip round to pay Joe Beevers NOT to sing…………..what's your big number?

DEVIL: Well…it'd have to be ‘Devil in Disguise' wouldn't it…I started Bruce Atkinson off on the Elvis thing…We were in Amsterdam and they'd got him dressed up in the full Elvis rig to sing a number at the final table…He gets most of the way through the number, standing on the table and with about 20 words to go…his legs give way and guess who he falls on…Yeah me…his wig's half off and his head's down by my zipper…I hold him down there, pick up the microphone and finish off the song for him!

LLOYD: lol…there must be photo's out there…Ok an Elvis number it is…and for the encore?

DEVIL: Knockin' on Heaven's Door

LLOYD: lol…the Devil knocking on heavens door…I wonder if the you'd get in?  Staying on the subject, what was the last album you bought?

DEVIL: Well I bought one that I'd lost…it was the Fine Young Cannibals…a greatest hits compilation…

LLOYD: Your desert island favourites – Tell me three songs you'd have to take with you?

DEVIL: Any three by Roland Gift

LLOYD: And your top three favourite movies?

DEVIL: ‘Once Upon a Time in America', ‘Heat' and ‘A Fish Called Wanda'…that still cracks me up when I see it…

LLOYD: Your favourite line of movie dialogue?

DEVIL: Ah…Edward G Robinson in the Cincinnati Kid… "You're good, kid, but as long as I'm around, you're only second best."

LLOYD: Sports betting…Proposition bets…do you still have a flutter?

DEVIL: I'm barred from all the bookmakers…Joe Beevers will tell you. He used to do all my bets for me…one year at Ascot I backed all six winners on the day, one was at 14/1 and another was 20/1…if I'd had an accumulator, I'd have won over a million! Blue Square got in touch with Joe and it went on all the news groups…he had to tell them the bets weren't his…

LLOYD: And the prop bets?

DEVIL: I flew into California with Surindar (Sunar) one day and we're waiting for the bags to come through on the conveyor belt….Well, like two sick gamblers, we couldn't resist a bet on who's bag would come through first…his came through and mine wasn't even on the plane!

LLOYD: lol…He might have arranged it that way ;-)

DEVIL: Yeah…probably had one of his relations in Vegas, packing the bags to LAX ;-)

LLOYD: Back to poker again…I don't need to ask you this but the readers won't all know. Cash game, dealer's choice, your button – What are we playing?

DEVIL: Four card Omaha…you can do a lot of work with the button in Omaha…you can get them off a hand!

LLOYD: If you could pick up any card room in the world and plonk it back down within a ten minute stroll from your home, which one would it be?

DEVIL: Tunica…they just have the best cash games.

LLOYD: You're never short of a few words at the table…who would you say is the biggest talker in poker?

DEVIL: Sam Grizzle…he's funny…and Padraig (Parkinson)…he's got a grease nipple on his chin because his jaw never stops moving ;-)

LLOYD: Tunica one week, Monte Carlo the next, then on to Vegas…Do you ever get a spare Saturday in the house just to put your feet up with a cocoa and watch the racing?

DEVIL: No, I don't get enough time at home…when I'm here the wife looks after me and the kids have all their friends round…it's like Disneyland in here…I've got my snooker room and the music…

LLOYD: And Vegas…now the WSOP has moved from the Horseshoe…are you looking forward to playing in the Rio?

DEVIL: I liked the Horseshoe when Benny was there…they were good to me…people don't know it but they did have some really nice rooms there…and I like the old town.

LLOYD: I'm running a book on the numbers for the main event this year (winner gets $10!!!). John Duthie put in a bid at a pessimistic 2000, Daniel Negreanu predicts 5378, Simon Trumper has gone for 3600 and Marcel has gone for something nearer the 6000 mark…Bearing in mind that you have a chance to beat Marcel out of ten bucks…how many will stump up the buy-in this year?

DEVIL: 7000

LLOYD: Where are you staying this year?

DEVIL: I was just on the phone earlier trying to book a room at the Rio but it was engaged. If I don't stay there, I'll stay at the Belaggio but I like to be where the action is…if a game gets going, they can just ring your room and you can get right down…

LLOYD: Have you planned an arrival date yet?

DEVIL: June 2nd…you have to get out there early before all the easy money's gone broke.

LLOYD: With the tournament circuit getting bigger than ever, are you playing as much as you used to in the side games or are you trying to get some rest between events?

DEVIL: I'm playing in as many side games as I ever did…Roy the Boy had said on TV, I wasn't playing in the cash games anymore, which was strange since he'd been in the same game as me the night before…

LLOYD: Well…so much to say, but so little said ;-) On a more serious topic, I've appointed you captain of the English Poker Team. Do we award the players ‘Caps' (like in football), ‘Kiss Me Quick Hats' or ‘Monogrammed Hankies' (with knots tied in the four corners)?

DEVIL: Looking at most of the English players, I'd say we'd better put big D's on pointy hats ;-)

LLOYD: In one sentence or three words, what's the best advice you could give to someone just starting out in poker?

DEVIL: Wait for good starting hands!

LLOYD: And if you're gonna sit down to eat with the Devil, you'd better bring a long fork ;-) Thanks for the chat Dave, see you at the World Series!

DEVIL: Likewise…my pleasure.

From the end of July, Devilfish branded poker sets and tables will be available online direct from his own site http://www.thedevilfish.com/. The DVD will be available from the end of April. They do 4 different high quality chip sets…100 piece, 200 piece, a 300 piece and a 500 piece…they come in a choice of metal or wooden cases. The 500 piece set comes complete with the Devil's own DVD as an added extra. Also available are three different poker tables at varying prices…from a well priced table top table, right up to a full size oak affair like you'd find in any casino. All of these come with the red Devilfish
logo in the middle of the felt as do the playing cards and poker chips.