IP Poker Classic Dave Gafford Is Not Your Typical Poker Champ

Dave Gafford, the recent winner of the IP Poker Classic, has never been to Las Vegas unlike most card sharks we know. He's a simple family man who home schools his kids, and he learned poker the old-fashioned way, not in front of a computer.

Gafford is the Coast's first poker circuit event champion. He came up from behind after being down in chips 6-1, winning $51,122 in cash, a $25,000 buy-in at the World Poker Tour in Las Vegas, and $3,000 in traveling expenses.

Gafford began playing in local tournaments three years ago in places like Mike's Bar and Grill in Baton Rouge. Shortly thereafter, the state went after poker games in bars, and the tournaments moved on to his house then on to the Love Shack.

"We bought our dream property over a year ago," he said. "We bought 28 acres where we live. The hurricane came this past year so we sold our house a lot sooner than we thought we would. We had to find a place to live. We moved a 20-by-22-foot building onto my property. It was actually a friend of mine's game room."

"We call it the Love Shack because you got to love one another to live there," Gafford said. Gafford continued holding poker games in their new abode. "Sometimes we'd have 30 people in my little Love Shack," he said.

Gafford, who owns a windshield repair business and a vending operation, started playing professional poker roughly one and a half years ago. At the IP Poker Classic, he made five aggressive all-in bets before he could take the chips from Josh McCallie.

"He had the chance to take me out," Gafford said. "Once he didn't do that, I kind of knew I could outplay him. He didn't want to win. He was playing not to lose, and that's never good."