According to posts on his Facebook page and comments made in a thread on Two Plus Two, veteran poker pro David “Devilfish” Ulliott (pictured) has colon cancer and may have a short time to live. As one person who claimed to be close to the situation commented, “Ulliott has colon cancer (maybe more) and indications suggest it is terminal. I do not know how long they have known about the cancer, but I was told his health decline was a quick one. ‘Only has days left‘ is how one source put it.”

Posts on Ulliott’s Facebook page by family members seem to confirm the story. For example, Ulliott’s nephew posted, “He is very much alive and we/his family are struggling.”

Ulliott, who calls the UK home, started a poker boom of sorts in his home nation and was one of the first poker players this author was exposed to when he began following the game a dozen years ago. As a poster on Two Plus Two put it, “Devilfish is a real legend of UK poker. Absolutely bossed the early Channel 4 ‘Late Night Poker’ days from 1999 to 2003, helping fuel the poker boom over here big time.”

On Sunday, WPT host Mike Sexton re-Tweeted that Ulliott was “still very much alive” and added that “Rob Yong is [sitting]with him now.” Around the same time, David Plastik Tweeted, “Hang in there my friend David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott. Poker will not be the same without your mumbling jokes at the table.”

Ulliott won the first ever WPT World Poker Open in Tunica in 2003 for $589,000 and reached the final table of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2007 for almost $700,000. He has $6.2 million in career live tournament winnings, according to the Hendon Mob, good for #2 on the all-time money list for England and #82 worldwide. He won a WSOP bracelet in 1997.

Plenty of players wished Devilfish the best on Twitter, Facebook, and Two Plus Two and we definitely want to do the same. We wish this poker legend and his family the best during this difficult time.

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