Canada is known for many things. Hats with earflaps come immediately to mind, as does round bacon and an unusually strong contingent of male figure skaters. Poker is not something anybody thinks of when the topic of the Great White North comes up. This may change, though, if Gavin Smith continues his rampage through the professional poker ranks.
In the year 2005 the Guelph, Ontario native has had eight top ten finishes. Of those eight, two of them were victories. He was crowned the champion at World Poker Tour No-Limit Hold'em at the Mirage. He was also the victor at Mirage Poker Showdown in May. Besides these impressive finishes, he has earned almost two million dollars in winnings. Not bad for somebody who just started playing professionally in 1998. There are players who have put in twice as much time, and have had less than half the success. Like so many, he was a casual player who got involved in games with work friends and other acquaintances, but in 1998 he played two tournaments in Foxwoods. In both those competitions, Gavin made the final table. This validated the confidence he had in his game, and he quickly walked away from a more conventional life and started playing poker for a living. Nowadays, Gavin has nearly abandoned his cash game roots in favor of tournament play. He has done this with one eye on opportunities that have nothing to do with poker. Like most of his contemporaries, he is aware of the cameras that surround big events in poker, but unlike many, he knows the exposure he gets can lead elsewhere. Considering his recent record, tournaments seem to play well to his skills. He also seems to have one eye on other opportunities that he can parlez his growing fame into. Either way we wish him luck and look for good things out of this talented professional.Article of the Day Archive
