GAVIN SMITH WINS MORE THAN ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN "THE MIRAGE POKER SHOWDOWN" WORLD POKER TOUR EVENT
Release Date: May 31, 2005
Smith Wins $1.1 Million For First Major Victory
A pair of pocket queens secured a first place finish for Gavin Smith of Guelph, Ontario, at the second annual "Mirage Poker Showdown." The Mirage and World Poker Tour (WPT) awarded $1,128,278 to Smith as well as a $25,000 seat in the 2006 WPT World Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas. The tournament, which required a $10,000 entry fee, attracted 317 players to The Mirage for a total prize pool of $3,074,900. The final table of the tournament was filmed for a taped-delayed broadcast on The Travel Channel, scheduled to air in March 2006.
The three-week-long event included a $1,000 no-limit hold ‘em tournament, a $3,000 no-limit hold ‘em tournament and two $1,500 super-satellite tournaments. The two no-limit tournaments awarded cash prizes to the top finishers while the super-satellites’ top 55 players, from the initial 383 entrants, earned seats in the $10,000 WPT event.
When asked what it meant to win his first major tournament Smith said, "It is amazing and unbelievable. I have been trying so hard for a long time and my friend (Erik) Lindgren has been my biggest supporter. It feels great to finally win it for me and for him."
On becoming a millionaire, he said, "I never really had any money before so it feels great to have it now. I can't even tell you how I will spend the million dollars because it hasn't sunk in yet. I guess I'll be able to play some more poker and not worry about anything for a while."
The final table included second place finisher Ted Forrest of Las Vegas who earned $579,386; Chris Bell of Raleigh, NC who won $289,693 for third; fourth place finisher Thang "Kido" Pham of Garland, TX took home $182,964; Gene Todd of Brooklyn, NY won $137,223 for fifth and Mark Ellerbe of Richmond, TX cashed $106,729 for sixth place.
The WPT is broadcast weekly (Wednesday) on the Travel Channel at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The WPT consists of 16 nationally televised poker events, filmed in casinos around the world, where finalists compete for multi-million dollar prize pools. Season three of the WPT is currently airing and culminates with the 2005 WPT World Championship, hosted this past April by Bellagio. The event is scheduled to air Wednesday, June 29.
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