A SCOTS maths graduate has amassed a £2.5m fortune playing online poker in just four years.
David Vamplew’s winnings this year alone are almost £500,000 but despite playing 14 hours a day till 7am in the morning he has yet to splash much of his cash.
The 26-year-old admitted his biggest spend has been his Edinburgh flat and a £200 comfy chair to play his beloved game from.
(Pic: Pokerstars)
This year he has already amassed a cool £469,000 following two second-place finishes in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
While he flies out regularly to poker events all over the world, David usually plays out of a room he has turned into his poker “office” in his own home. .
The former student from Aberdour, Fife, became Scotland’s highest earning poker player when he won £90,000 top prize at the Pokerstars European Poker Tour in London 2010.
He often gets through 12 online tournaments at a time, and although his hours are flexible he revealed that he has once played for 14 hours non-stop.
David said: “A decent session is probably eight to 10 hours, once you’ve entered a tournament, you have to play until it finishes.
“The longest I’ve played is 14 hours, especially if you’re winning, you just have to keep playing and playing.
“It can be 7am before the end of it but staying awake and concentrating isn’t too much of an issue because at that point you’re playing for big money.”
He learnt to play poker when he enrolled in Edinburgh University in 2005, playing with friends, before joining the university’s poker society – then he discovered online poker.
He subsequently quit his supermarket job when he found he was making more playing online, and continued to graduate with a 2.1 degree.
“My first place win was in July of 2010 playing online poker and I won £16,000.
“I was pleased with myself because it was a good deck, the amount of money wasn’t a life changing event.
“At that point I was playing cash games, I picked it up really quickly and moved on to tournaments.
“What keeps me interested is the logic and what makes it different is the human element, no two hands will ever be the same.
“I enjoy playing live and playing on my computer, sometimes I feel like I’m ready to go away for a week or two and I feel that now.
“The next place I go to will be Nottingham in a few days to play a tournament for £2000.”
David defeated four-time World Series of Poker champion, Indonesian John Juanda, and instantly became Scotland’s top-earning poker player in 2010.
The most he had previously won was £6000. But, only days after pocketing the £900,000 jackpot, he was back playing for PS1 stakes at Edinburgh University poker society’s weekly game.
“I don’t really need to worry about money too much, although the nature of my job being poker means I have to be a bit more careful,” he added.
“I don’t have a car but I have a license, so far my flat has been my most expensive spend.
“I am aware that I need to plan for my future, I have no pension so I’m be looking to invest in other property at the moment.
“My parents were skeptical at first but they support it, my mother even checks online to see how I am getting on sometimes.
“I wouldn’t say I’m the most competitive but I’m determined to do well and be successful.
“I don’t have a five year plan, it’s not as if I’m preparing for a job interview.
“I’m just enjoying the lifestyle and travelling.”
