If you're watching MasterChef US Season 7, then you'd know that one poker pro, David Williams, is among the candidates of this reality TV cooking show. The MasterChef US Season 7 premiered Wednesday, June 1, on FOX and David Williams was chosen to be one of the lucky aspiring contestants.
On Episode 10 of the show, there were 11 home cooks left and they faced yet another team challenge, and this time it's about celebrating the American farmer, in which the contestants are divided into two teams. Each team shall be presenting a pork dish for 101 farmers, and they are required to pick fresh vegetables directly from the ground, as a way to really feel what actual farmers do on the field.
Apparently, it was David who helped save his team in the pork challenge when he had to carefully slice off burnt parts of the pork. Also, thanks to the opposing team's botched kale, David and his team wins the challenge, on both the vegetable and pork aspects. David is competing for the grand prize of $250K and a cookbook deal.
However, with over $8.6 million in tournament earnings and a cash game portfolio spanning over a decade, the MasterChef grand prize money is no life changer for him, but he admits it would be nice if he wins the cooking competition, "The money matters to me. Obviously if I win, it would be great. But you're right, that is zero motivation for me to win."
Competitive in Cooking
The prize money may not be his main motivator, but David's competitive nature is what's driving him to keep on moving forward.
Once he was chosen to be one of the 20 Master Chef aspirants, it seems his poker experience kicked in and he expressed that he was not fazed at all when the pressure gets higher on the show, "I've been in so many high-stress, high-value situations. I've been playing for millions of dollars under the lights many times. I've kind of got nerves of steel. Not to brag, but pressure doesn't get to me."
His ability to remain calm under pressure truly became useful for him during the latest episode of the show (Episode 10) as he had to save his team's pork chops, by meticulously slicing off charred bits on them just on time before the British chef Gordon Ramsay had a chance to go into one of his trademark scoldings.
Not Immune to the Judges' Chopping Block
On Episode 11 of the show, David Williams successfully gets in to the Top 10. The challenge was to cook a Nutella-based dish, which contestant Terry won.
On the Elimination Test, Terry was given the chance to choose which rice-based dish shall be the focal point of the next challenge: risotto, paella or bibimbap. Terry chose the bibimbap. The bibimbap challenge produced three contestants up for elimination as per the judges, and they were: Diamond, Katie, and David.
David prepared "ratatouille bibimbap with Italian sausage", which according to Edward Lee (one of the guest judges), is a horrendous-looking dish with ingredients that made no sense. Edward describes that bibimbap is Korean, ratatouille is French, and he's also used Italian sausage. It's a huge risk that does NOT pay off. The ingredients sure are nicely chopped and beautifully arranged in the plate, but David smothered them with tomato sauce, which destroyed the dish visually and it just does not really work for the judges. Fortunately for David, he was saved from elimination thanks to the redeeming quality of his rice. It was contestant Diamond who was sent home.
Only Time Can Tell
So far David has had 3 wins in the show, and is one of the Top 9.
Being a pre-recorded show that Master Chef is, only David and those involved know the end results, and should he be the last home cook standing, it would therefore make him the most successful poker player to ever appear on a reality TV show.
Sources: http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/20689-poker-pro-david-williams-advances-on-masterchef
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEp53Vho-iE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mafoUP4R6ws
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterChef_(U.S._season_7)
https://www.bankrollmob.com/poker-news/2016617/poker-pro-david-williams-gets-into-top-20-masterchef-us-season-7
What does he cooking, pokerchips and fish? 
