On April 21 of this year, David Williams was a poor man. At 23 years old, he’d barely had time to work part time jobs, never mind his schoolwork. Having emptied out more than one friend’s online poker account, Williams qualified for the World Series of Poker in one last gasp. By the 28th of that same month, Dave was a rich man.

In case you haven’t heard, Dave Williams is now the second highest earner in World Series of Poker history, placing second this year and taking home a cool $3.5 million. In the aftermath, Andrew Glazer, the Poker Pundit, that community’s best known writer, wrote exclusively about Dave before Glazer’s unfortunate passing. With that media attention, his face’s inevitable splashing on ESPN, and his sponsorship deal with PokerStars, the man is famous.

The thing is, after $3.5 million, $40K may seem like a drop in the bucket, but Dave’s the first to tell you it’s not about the money. “I love the game. I’d play for charity,” he insists. “I’ve been playing the same old games for years. It’s nice to find something new where I won’t get manascrewed or rivered.”

Dave’s been a competitive TCGer for years, but now the games take on a different meaning. The prize money isn’t what counts anymore, as evidenced by his promise to donate his winnings to charity. Of course, whenever he says this, he pulls over close friend Neil Reeves, adding, “This is charity,” with a slightly evil grin.

Williams’s newfound fame and wealth make life pretty easy. While he plans on going back to school for his final year, he’s still planning on finding time to make his way to PCs in order to spend time with friends from the community, and let’s face it—having a celebrity in our midst can’t be a bad thing for the game. Of course, if his success here comes even close to mirroring that he found in Vegas, the rest of the world may be playing for second place.

What percentage of the game is made up of skill, luck, and knowledge/preparation?