Dave Colclough

David (Dave) E. "El Blondie" Colclough (born 4 March 1964 in Carmarthen, Wales) is a Welsh professional poker player, now living in Birmingham, England.

Before poker

Prior to becoming a poker professional, Colclough worked as a computer programmer. Amongst the companies he worked for were the Post Office, the National Health Service, the Inland Revenue and Fujitsu. He left computing after the 2000 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Poker career

Colclough is known as a skilled player in all poker variants, as the European Rankings have proven since their creation in 2000. He first became known to the general public via his numerous appearances on the Late Night Poker television series, including the season 5 grand final. Colclough came in second at the 2000 World Series of Poker $2,000 pot limit hold'em event.

In 2003 his continued success led to him being voted European Poker Player of the Year.

Colclough had a final table appearance at the World Poker Tour's third season Grand Prix de Paris event, where he won €84,890 ($103,507).

In May 2005, he reached the semi-finals of the World Heads-Up Poker Championship, earning €20,000.

Colclough was inducted into the European Poker Players Hall of Fame during 2005, and at the age of 41 was the youngest inductee at that time.

He spent much of 2005 travelling with and training Brian Wilson, who went on to win a bracelet at the 2005 World Series of Poker. Wilson continually credits Colclough for his achievements.

In 2006, Colclough's BlondePoker.com website opened its own online poker room. On the BlondePoker.com forums, Colclough is often referred to as "Monty Burns" by his friend Tony Kendall and other forum posters.

As of 2008 he has won over $2,400,000 in live tournament play.

Personal life

He has one daughter, named Sian from his ex-partner Anna, having "stepped out" on his first marriage to the original "Mrs C" some years earlier. His second marriage was to Rhowena "Mrs C." Colclough (nee MacCuish, born 1 April 1980), a former glamour model who went on to present a show for William Hill on Sky 425 until the channel closed in 2006. Mrs Colclough enjoyed poker success in her own right and was a semi-finalist in the Poker Dome Challenge.

In 2007 Colclough and "Mrs C." have separated, David claimed he caught her in bed with another man.

Notes

External links

• Official site
• Article by Colclough
• World Poker Tour profile
• Cardschat interview