Gavin Smith (September 4, 1968 – January 14, 2019) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional poker player who won the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...

's Season IV Mirage Poker Showdown Championship event and the WPT Season IV Player of the Year award in 2005, then at the

2010 World Series of Poker The 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker (WSOP), held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit H ...

, won the $2,500 Mixed Hold 'em event along with his first

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...

. Smith learned how to play cards by playing

cribbage Cribbage, or crib, is a card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. It can be adapted for three or four players. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbag ...

and

rummy Rummy is a group of matching-card games notable for similar gameplay based on matching cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. The basic goal in any form of rummy is to build '' melds'' which can be either sets (three or four of a k ...

with his father. He started playing poker at the age of 26, playing mixed games with co-workers. Smith became a

poker dealer A poker dealer distributes cards to players and manages the action at a poker table. Professional dealers Any casino with a poker room must hire a staff of dealers. Casinos generally pay dealers minimum wage. However, a dealer's primary source ...

in 1996 and set up his own poker club in 1998 in Kitchener, Ontario. Before that, he worked as a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choi ...

driver and on a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, Ontario.

Poker career

Smith first came to note by winning tournaments in

no limit No Limit may refer to: Music Record labels *No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P * No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P Albums * ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977 * ''No Limit'' ...

Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fa ...

and

seven card stud Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, ...

in the 1999 and 2000 World Poker Finals at

Foxwoods Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more th ...

World Poker Tour

In May 2005, he won the first prize of $1,128,278 in the

(WPT) Mirage Poker Showdown in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, defeating

Ted Forrest Ted Forrest (born September 24, 1964) is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tournament wins Forrest won three bracelets at the 1993 World Series of Poker (WSOP). After the mid-1990s, Forrest turn ...

in the final heads-up confrontation. In October 2005 he made the WPT final table again in the 2nd Annual

Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...

North American Poker Championship, where he finished third, behind Minh Ly and

Dan Harrington Dan Harrington (born December 6, 1945) is a professional poker player, best known for winning the Main Event at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tourn ...

. He made a third WPT final table in January 2006, finishing fourth. The three WPT final tables earned him the World Poker Tour Player of the Year award for Season 4.

World Series of Poker

Smith first cashed in the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...

(WSOP) in 2003 and would later cash in the $10,000 no limit hold'em main event in 2004, finishing 52nd. He went on to cash in 2005 also (471st), as well as in 2007 (592nd). Smith boasted several other high finishes, including a runner-up finish in 2007 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em for $155,645). The experience Smith gained in mixed-games when he started playing also served him well, as he had several high finishes in H.O.R.S.E. tournaments. Smith earned his first

World Series of Poker bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1 ...

in the $2,500 Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No Limit) event at the

, defeating Danny Hannawa heads-up, and earning $268,238 for his first-place finish.

World Series of Poker bracelets

World Series of Poker Circuit events

In May 2006, Smith finished runner-up in the

World Series of Poker circuit event The World Series of Poker Circuit is a series of poker tournaments held annually at a variety of casinos since 2005 as a build-up to the World Series of Poker (WSOP). All Championship events are competed in no limit Texas hold 'em; preliminary ev ...

Harrah's New Orleans Harrah's New Orleans is a casino in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, near the foot of Canal Street a block away from the Mississippi River. It is a casino with approximately 2,100 slot machines, over 90 table games and a poker room. The ...

, winning $293,930. Smith had made a bet with Allie Prescott on who would win. If Smith won, Prescott would give him $70,000 per year for 10 years; if Prescott won, Smith would give him $100,000 per year for 10 years.commentary of 2006 World Series of Poker (episode 1) by Norman Chad and

Lon McEachern Lon McEachern (pronounced the same as "McCarran", born ) is an American sports commentator most known for his hand-by-hand commentary of the World Series of Poker on ESPN. He is known as the "voice of poker". Early life and education McEacher ...

Peter Feldman went on to win the tournament.

Other poker related activities

Smith won the Big August Rec.Gambling Excursion (BARGE) Main Event in 2004, besting a strong field of 249 poker enthusiasts, in

, Nevada. In July 2006, Smith won the World Pro-Am Challenge event at the Poker Dome Challenge, taking home the $500,000 first prize. From April 2006 until October 2006, Gavin was one of the hosts of The Circuit radio show sponsored by

Card Player Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position. Position Games of Anglo-American origin In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...

magazine. Beginning in 2007, Smith and

Joe Sebok Joe Sebok (born March 25, 1977) is a professional poker player from San Francisco, California. His stepfather, Barry Greenstein, is also a professional poker player. He is known as "The Cub" because he calls Greenstein " Bear." Beginning pro ...

co-hosted PokerRoad Radio with Joe Stapleton. Smith's final episode as a co-host on PokerRoad Radio was July 12, 2010. He won ''

Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.

''´s Season 3 Week 2 "19th Hole", defeating

Phil Ivey Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. (born February 1, 1977) is an American professional poker player who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title, and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables. Ivey is regarded by numero ...

in heads-up play. It was his first time on the show. Smith played

online poker Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...

on several sites and played under the alias "Birdguts", as well as his own name on

Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...

, where he played as one of their Full Tilt Pros. Smith was good friends with

Erick Lindgren Erick A. Lindgren (born August 11, 1976, in Burney, California) is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $10,500,000 in tournament earnings during ...

, who helped bankroll him early in his career. Smith's lifetime live tournament winnings exceeded $6,321,000. His 47 cashes as the WSOP accounted for $1,673,208 of those winnings.

Prop bets

Smith co-starred with

on a show called "Prop Bets" on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

-TV site RawVegas.tv, mainly due to the above-mentioned prop bet at the 2006 World Series of Poker. Smith won a bet with Sebok on who would win the most ''Card Player'' magazine points at the

2006 World Series of Poker The 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on June 25, 2006 with satellite events, with regular play commencing on June 26 with the annual Casino Employee event, and the Tournament of Champions held on June 28 and 29. 40 more events in various ...

. As a consequence, Sebok had to wear a bear outfit on Day 1B, among other funny-looking outfits, including

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

. Smith had a tattoo on his upper right shoulder of a four-leaf clover and the initials J.S. He had to get the tattoo after losing a

prop bet In gambling, a "proposition bet" (prop bet, prop, novelty, or a side bet) is a bet made regarding the occurrence or non-occurrence during a game (usually a gambling game) of an event not directly affecting the game's final outcome. Proposition be ...

to Sebok.

Death

Smith died on January 14, 2019, at his home in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, at the age of 50. He died in his sleep. As a tribute, the Gavin Smith Memorial Poker Tournament was held at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, as the first event of the 2019 World Series of Poker.

Notes

External links

Official siteCard Player Magazine cover articleWorld Poker Tour profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gavin 1968 births 2019 deaths Canadian poker players World Poker Tour winners Sportspeople from Guelph World Series of Poker bracelet winners Poker After Dark tournament winners