Guelph born and raised poker professional Gavin Smith has died.
Smith, 50, was discovered at his Houston, Tex., home on Monday. A cause of death has not been released.
The poker data base www.theherndonmob.com says Smith earned $6.1 million U.S. during his career, ranking him 153rd all time and the 11th highest Canadian player.
Smith was born in Guelph and attended John F. Ross high school before studying management economics at the University of Guelph.
He didn’t begin playing poker until he was 26, eventually playing in tournaments in the Toronto area, then bigger games on the U.S. East Coast before graduating to Las Vegas in the late 1990s.
Career highlights included a World Poker Tour event win in 2005 and a World Series of Poker bracelet win in 2010 that netted him a $270,000 payday.
“I’m just an older guy from Guelph, Ontario, who used to drive a taxi and cut greens,” he told www.WSOP.com after a big win in 2005. “Now, I’m sitting here and hundreds of people have come over to me. Play poker for a living, and I just won hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is nothing in my life that can be considered a curse. Every single minute of it is a blessing.”
Smith was also known for his larger-than-life, gregarious, witty and outgoing personality.
The last post on Smith's Facebook page shows him purchasing mattresses at a warehouse and flipping a coin with the owner to decide whether the cost was going to be $7,600 or $8,200. Smith lost the coin flip.
“He had a big personality and an even bigger heart. Always quick with a smile or a joke, Gavin Smith brought plenty of fun to the table and poker world – some of what many say has been lacking in the game in recent years,” said a posting on the World Poker Tour website.
The website called smith “one of the most beloved players in the game.”
Some of the biggest names in the poker world reached out after his death.
You were LOVED OleGSmith!! We are setting up a charity poker tourney in Phoenix on Super Bowl weekend: 100% of the proceeds will go to Gavin Smiths two sons through a trust. Meanwhile, here is a go fund me page for his kids: https://t.co/bYgNxAXABr #RIPGavin
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) January 15, 2019
Gavin Smith was one of the more authentic human beings I’d ever met.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) January 15, 2019
Rest In Peace my friend... pic.twitter.com/8sUlQhSxvS
Smith played less poker in recent years, living in Alaska before moving to Texas, where he was a single parent raising his two sons Kingston and Keegan.
“I don’t really play much poker these days,” he told www.WPT.com last summer. “I’m raising two kids. Last year, I think I only played maybe three or four tournaments.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help provide for Smith’s two sons. It raised $48,000 in two days.
