MasterChef 2016: David Williams Close But No Prize

The 2016 MasterChef USA is now complete, and despite making it all the way through to the last challenge, David Williams ultimately had to settle for a top three finish, but no prize. The poker pro competed against Shaun O’Neale and Brandi Mudd in the Season 7 finale, and in the end it was O’Neale who was awarded the MasterChef trophy, $250,000 in prize money, and his very own cookbook.
Following the show’s completion, Williams said that he was happy for Shaun O’Neale, who he referred to as his “Vegas brother,” and heaping praise on his experience during the show Williams later tweeted:
“Thank you @GordonRamsay. It was an honor to cook for you and @ChristinaTosi and all the guest judges. #MasterChef.”
Despite receiving no prize, Williams certainly won over a lot of fans for his hard-fought effort during the show, as well as for his haute cuisine. As fellow poker pro Dan Fleyshman tweeted after the winner was announced:
“Wolfgang Puck looked like he wanted to make you Head Chef of one of his restaurants.(But I’m guessing you’ll have your own in 2017).”
David Williams’ impressive run on the popular TV show once again demonstrates the ability of top poker players to excel in different fields of choice once they put their minds to it, with other examples including Alex Jacob winning Jeopardy’s Tournament of Champions in 2015, or Vanessa Rousso finishing Big Brother in 3rd place the same year.
Before becoming a professional poker player, David Williams made a name for himself playing the popular trading card game called ‘Magic: The Gathering player’. Williams subsequently made the switch to the game of poker, and has since amassed $8,688,583 in earnings, with his biggest score of $3.5 million coming in 2004 after finishing runner-up in the WSOP Main Event. Two years later, Williams did manage to pick up a coveted WSOP bracelet, though, in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event for $163,118. Williams also has won a further $112,987 online playing under the screen name Smoke12123.