If there's one word that describes David Colclough, it would have to be consistent. Since his debut in the pro poker world in 1995, his game has gotten consistently better, and whether the tournaments are big or small, Colclough doesn't seem to have any trouble cashing.

That consistency extends beyond the usual Texas Hold'em as well. Much of his success has also come from playing Omaha, for which he is ranked the number one player in Europe and one of the best overall in the world.

So how does a former IT specialist from Wales end up such a high ranked pro among poker players?

His story begins in Carmarthen, South Wales, where he was born March 4, 1964, to a Welsh mother and an English father who was a Royal Marine. After his father returned from a tour of duty, the family moved to Stock-on-Trent and later to Buckley in North Wales when Colclough was 8 or 9 years old.

It was during those early years Colclough got his first taste of card games. During family weekends in Stoke-on-Trent, his large extended family would play Crazy Eights, Slipper Ace and Nap.

While in high school at the Richard Gwyn, Colclough was warned and ended up serving detention twice for playing poker in the common room. He may have been a winning player even then, but he didn't let the siren song of the poker world lure him in for good just yet.

He went on to college in Stock-on-Trent where he earned a BEC/TEC qualification in Information Technology by the age of 17. For nearly 20 years after, Colclough worked on many different IT Projects for the Post Office, the NHS, Inland Revenue, BACS, Chase Manhattan, JP Morgan Bank and Fujitsu.

It was while working on the BACS project in 1985 that Dave, also known as "El Blondie" because of his blond hair, was lured back into the poker world. He was sharing an apartment with a friend, Ray Edwards, who had an idea one night to head to a casino instead of heading to the pubs.

After a quick tutorial about the rules and strategy for Seven-Card Stud, they and another friend went to the Rubicon Casino for a £10 buy-in tournament. He was hooked, and a few short months later he had made enough final tables to win the monthly points prize at the casino.

Despite a newfound love of the game, Colclough quickly discovered his day job and regular life weren't compatible with playing poker. Moving between computer contracts that kept him working 12-hour days during the week, combined with relationships and card room closures, left him little time and energy in the evenings to play cards.

Throughout the '90s, Colclough continued to work and play poker, and continued to cash in various events. It wasn't until 2000, however, when he made the final tables of the $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha events of the World Series of Poker that he decided it was time to give up the day job and become a professional poker player.

Rumor has it Colclough actually won the $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event that year, but because of a deal he'd made, he gave up the title and bracelet. Later that year he also won the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event of the European Poker Classic in London, as well as final tabling two other events in the series.

Unfortunately, his luck didn't hold out as well when he decided to invest some of those poker winnings in a nightclub. So far 2001 has been the only losing year on Colclough's record, and he says the stress and time it took to try to make the night club work played a large part in that.

In 2002 he decided to ditch the nightclub and re-focus on poker. That proved to be exactly what his career needed, as he cashed or made the final table in 20 tournaments that year.

The following year he had another 33 cashes or final table appearances that propelled him to the number one spot in the ranks of European poker players. One of those final table appearances was another second place finish at the WSOP in the $1,500 Limit Omaha event. The result of his successful year was Colclough being named the 2003 European Player of the Year.

With only 18 final tables or cashes in 2004, Colclough dropped down in the European ranks. However, this "disappointing" year for him still included another final table appearance in a WSOP event and cashing in another, winning the European Poker Championships in London, and a sixth-place finish at the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris main event.

In 2005 he picked it up with 34 cashes, proving his consistency once again. That very same year he was recognized for his outstanding poker achievements and inducted into the European Poker Players Hall of Fame.

Colclough says he has no regrets about turning into a professional poker player. He earns money playing a game he enjoys. As well, picking and choosing where and in what tournaments he wants to play has given him more flexibility to spend time with his daughter, Sian, from his first marriage.

With lady luck, in the form of a beautiful daughter, on his side and plenty of poker tournament winnings to spare, we can expect to see more of Colclough in the coming years.