Poker Profiles: Gavin Smith

Gavin Smith is a Canadian Poker professional who was born on September 4, 1968 in Ontario. Gavin's introduction was gambling was while he was playing rummy and cribbage with his dad. When he got older, he sparked interest in Poker and at 26, he is often found having a game or two with his colleagues.

Gavin's early profession include driving a cab and serving on a golf course. In 1998, Gavin got the job of a Poker dealer at a local casino. That turned out to be the defining moment of his career. Two years of dealing prompted him to build his own Poker club. The following year, in 1999, he made his first successful take at professional gambling. Gavin made it to the final table of both 1999 and 2000's World Poker Finals which was held at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. His expertise proved to be in the No Limit Texas Hold'em and seven Card Stud events. From 2003 to 2005, Gavin consistently made successful money finishes at the World Series of Poker.

But Gavin proved to be more successful at the World Poker Tour. In 2005, Gavin took home over $1 million cash prize for finishing first at the Mirage Poker Showdown held in Las Vegas, Nevada. He followed that up with a third place finish at the 2nd Annual Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship held in October. In January of the following year, 2006, Gavin finished fourth at another WPT event. He made a total of three final table appearances in the WPT season 4, which earned him the WPT Player of the Year award. Gavin seems to be in the mood for winning. In May of the same year, he took home the second prize at a WSOP Circuit Event held at Harrah's New Orleans. In July, he took home the first prize at the World Pro-Am Challenge event held at Poker Dome. All of Gavin's live winnings currently amount to $3,700,000. He wishes to beef that up with more wins in the coming years.

When Gavin is not actively participating at live tournaments, he is mostly touring around online gambling sites, playing under the nickname 'birdguts'. He also likes to play golf and roller hockey during his spare time. He also got busy serving as a radio show host for Card Player magazine's The Circuit and is currently doing the round again for Pokerroad Radio with Joe Sebok and Bart Hanson.