Things you might not know:
- Smith learned how to play cards by playing cribbage and rummy with his father.
- Smith earned a degree in economics in college.
- Smith started playing poker at the age of 26, playing mixed games with co-workers and at the roving charity casinos in the Toronto area.
- Smith became a poker dealer in 1996 and set up his own poker club in 1998.
- Smith also worked as a taxi driver and on a golf course.
- Smith's first big poker success was winning NLH and 7 card-stud tournaments at the 1999 and 2000 World Poker Finals at Foxwoods.
- Smith made three WPT final tables in Season IV when he won WPT Player of the year.
- Smith's best year was clearly 2005 where he also cashed in four Ultimate Poker Challenge tournaments, four WSOP tournaments and finished third in the Brunson North American Poker Championship.
- Smith's good friend Erick Lindgren helped bankroll him early in his career.
- Smith has 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 to Joe Sebok.
- Smith insists his "clown" table image gets him calls and opponents to make crazy plays against him.
- Smith recently got married and had his first child in January 2011.
Gavin "birdguts" Smith is entering a new phase of his career, prioritizing his new family over the excesses and poker-centric lifestyle of the past. He retains his natural talkative nature, but with less of the crazy antics of the past.
Smith videos of a good call, Poker After Dark against Phil Ivey, and an interview after winning his WSOP bracelet:
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