By Sean Chaffin
A regular on the World Poker Tour for many years, Gavin Smith hasn’t been as much in the spotlight as he once was. Smith was a mainstay on the tour in the 2000s with plenty of big finishes, and in 2005 he won the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown for $1.128 million. A WPT Champions Club member, Smith made the trip to Las Vegas for the Season XVI WPT Tournament of Champions.
“I have about the same as I started with today,” Smith said on Day 2 during one of the breaks.
Despite the tough field of champions and some time away from the game, Smith didn’t seem too concerned about the field. Perhaps it’s his happy-go-lucky attitude or maybe it’s a renewed focus on playing his own game to the best of his ability.
“I mean, we all put our pants on the same way,” Smith said. “Some of these guys play pretty well and some of them just play normal.”
A veteran of major tournament poker since 1998, Smith is originally from Toronto, Canada, but had been living in Anchorage, Alaska, for the last few years. A father of two boys, he moved to Houston, Texas, last August to raise his children as a single parent.
“I don’t really play much poker these days,” Smith said. “I’m raising two kids. Last year, I think I only played maybe three or four tournaments, and this is the first tournament I’ve played this year.”
Smith’s record is proof that he doesn’t play as much poker as he used to. In 2013, Smith recorded nine live tournament cashes a year after he recorded 11. In 2014, Smith only cashed in four events, then it was one cash in 2015, two cashes in 2016, and one cash in 2017. Certainly being a single dad and a family man isn’t easy for a poker player.
“It’s difficult,” Smith said. “I can’t travel around like I used to. You’ve got to pick and choose your events. You need to get a lot of support from other people to play.”
However, Smith wouldn’t have it any other way and loves the time he gets to spend with his two sons. While he’s in Houston now to be near friends, a relocation to the Dallas area may be in the cards. Either way, he likes the idea of staying in Texas.
Beyond his WPT win, Smith had much more success on the circuit. In October 2005, he finished third in the WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship at Bellagio for $327,610. The big run continued in January 2006 in the WPT Gold Strike World Poker Open, where he took home $173,052 for a fourth-place finish. In 2008, Smith was runner-up in the WPT North American Poker Championship in Niagara Falls for $532,545. In November 2012, he scored another big score finishing fourth in WPT Montreal for $212,937. In total, Smith has 14 cashes, five final tables, and one title on the World Poker Tour. In his career, Smith has more than $6.3 million in tournament winnings, including one World Series of Poker bracelet and numerous other titles.
On September 26, WPTDeepStacks will be heading to the Lone Star State for the first-ever WPT event in Texas. The $1,000 event will be held at Freerolls Poker Club and run September 26-October 1. Whether or not we’ll see Smith in the field remains to be unseen. A large schedule or not these days, Smith is still one of the most likable, well-recognized faces in poker. Don’t let his booming smile and fun-loving attitude fool you, though, as Smith is a player with a lot of experience under his belt and will be a formidable opponent for any of the WPTDeepStacks Houston competitors should he compete.
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