James Dempsey plays online at Full Tilt Poker.fr

James has been playing poker since 1999 when he took on his brother and father in home games. He set up his first online account in 2003, where he began by playing micro-stakes ring games. He soon moved to playing Sit & Gos and Multi-Table Tournaments, before deciding to concentrate on the latter. James found that the tournaments maintained his interest far more than the grind of the ring games.

During this time James completed his training to become a commercial pilot, however the downturn in the aviation industry prompted James to concentrate on his poker.

James was regularly entering live tournaments across the UK and Europe, although he was still predominantly an online poker player. His success both online and at live events encouraged him to mix his love of travel with poker, allowing him to combine a holiday to Las Vegas with entry into his first World Series of Poker event. His first trip to Vegas, in 2009, was an immediate success. In the $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo tournament he finished 14th for a prize of $12,667, which whet his appetite to return the following year for a serious crack at the WSOP.

In 2010, Dempsey returned and entered the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold ‘em tournament as part of the field of 650 players. James was reduced to as few as 1,500 chips at one point, but rallied to hold a huge chip lead at the end of day one. By day three he had reached the final table, where he was cheered on by one of the rowdiest rail crowds ever seen at the WSOP. James played down to heads up against Steve Chanthabouasy and, after just under four hours, Dempsey walked away with the famous gold bracelet and first prize of $197,740.

Just nine days later James was once again playing heads up for a WSOP gold bracelet. The $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo World Championship event featured 212 entries and had been earmarked by James before the WSOP as his main target. The final day took a grueling 16 hours to play to a conclusion, five hours of which were spent with just two players remaining. In the end, Sammy Farha would prevail but Dempsey walked away with $301,789 plus the respect of all those who witnessed the epic battle.

His advice to new players is to work up the levels slowly. "Don’t try and rush to the bigger stake games, take your time to find your feet and develop all the skills you need. Once you have started crushing the games you are in and have built up a big enough roll, then go ahead and take your shots."

Away from poker, James recently discovered golf and has quickly become addicted. In between hitting the golf courses in his native Sussex, James Dempsey can be found playing online at Full Tilt Poker.fr.