Gavin Smith has passed.. - Page 5 - Poker News

.....
Wow, a $10,000 buy-in, I'm surprised and impressed!

Me: "Wow did you win a satellite?"
Him: "No it was due to Gavin Smith."

well of course I new Gavin Smith by reputation so:

Me:"Gavin Smith?"
Him:"Yeah, well you know before he became famous he used to hang around
Foxwood's and didn't really have a lot of money. We became friends and
sometimes I would buy him in to some of the small daily tournaments that
Foxwood's would run and we still keep in touch. Anyway be that as it may, for this tournament series I booked a room and just 2 days ago I get an
envelope delivered to my room. I open it up and read the following:

"Why don't you come down to the poker room and pick up
your seat for the main. I don't forget my friends."

your friend,

Gavin Smith

I could see he was visibly moved as he told the story and frankly so was I
as I listened to it.

Well as I said I didn't know Gavin Smith but maybe in a small way I did.

RIP.

Great story; thanks for sharing. He seemed like a really good guy that touched a lot of people.

Quote

01-19-2019 , 12:56 PM

#102

Toupee Jay

adept

Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 768

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitpicker

I may be wrong but I don't think I've ever posted here, in fact I rarely even browse this site anymore and it was just by pure chance that I was
googling something random that I reentered 2 plus 2 and came across this thread.

I didn't know Gavin Smith at all, except for watching some of the old
school TV poker shows, but I do have a Gavin Smith story that I've been
wanting to share and I actually feel bad that I didn't do it while he was
alive. So now is the time.

Anyway, one time I did play with him; it was day 2 of the September
WPT $3,500 at Borgata. Uncharacteristically Gavin came in with the short stack of about $16k. He must have folded every hand for about 2 hours, and finally he shoved his last $8k or so with a big draw and blanked off, losing to his opponent's top two. Nothing special to note; except throughout his time
at the table I wanted to tell the story to the other player's at the table but
with some regrets I never felt the time was right.

The Story- Let's start by dropping back a few more year's in time. I'm at
Foxwood's in November during the WPT series. Foxwood's has since dropped
the WPT but back then the WPT was a super who's who $10K buy-in.
So I'm playing a side cash game, I believe 10/20 limit, when an older
gentleman joins my table. He's not someone I particularly recognized, he was tall and I'd guess probably late 60's to mid 70's. We're playing when
the conversation drifts around to the tournament series and he mentions that
he's going to play the main.
Wow, a $10,000 buy-in, I'm surprised and impressed!

Me: "Wow did you win a satellite?"
Him: "No it was due to Gavin Smith."

well of course I new Gavin Smith by reputation so:

Me:"Gavin Smith?"
Him:"Yeah, well you know before he became famous he used to hang around
Foxwood's and didn't really have a lot of money. We became friends and
sometimes I would buy him in to some of the small daily tournaments that
Foxwood's would run and we still keep in touch. Anyway be that as it may, for this tournament series I booked a room and just 2 days ago I get an
envelope delivered to my room. I open it up and read the following:

"Why don't you come down to the poker room and pick up
your seat for the main. I don't forget my friends."

your friend,

Gavin Smith

I could see he was visibly moved as he told the story and frankly so was I
as I listened to it.

Well as I said I didn't know Gavin Smith but maybe in a small way I did.

RIP.

Thanks so much nitpicker for this great story. It brought a tear to my eye. I love to hear about a truly "big" man!

Quote

01-19-2019 , 01:17 PM

#103

klezmaniac

old hand

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,571

Fondly remember listening to Gavin on the Poker Road Radio podcast way back when…

Your wit and insight will be missed, sir…

--klez

Quote

01-19-2019 , 03:50 PM

#104

harkin

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4,858

Never met him but in that ‘I see him on tv so I feel like I know him’ kinda way he was always entertaining and I never saw him act w malice.

For some reason the image that immediately came to mind when I heard about his passing was him taking a swig with the swizzle stick still in the glass while simultaneously tossing in a call.

RIP

Quote

01-19-2019 , 11:41 PM

#105

Videopro

Making TV

Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 19,240

This was posted on Facebook by Jonny Ferrari...
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...00010934051215

January 15th a great man, devoted father and a true brother: Poker pro Gavin Smith passed away as most know.

It was not "partying" or due to "drinking". He was home as I watched his kids until that evening. Around midnight there was a pounding knock regarding an emergency in his home.

I called 911 he was already gone. Gavin hated fake news: especially in poker. By fake news I refer to made up or unsubstantiated claims used by bottom feeding media sites etc to generate "clicks" and "traffic" with untrue lible postings.

Gavin and I had that in common, single fathers with full custody with opposite reputations based on such incorrect perceptions.

This is the last photo taken in his home. Happy and proudly sporting his new Leaf's hat always representing Canada.

The kids are in good hands with family. Gavin had an illness unrelated to any behavior. Hereditary. I will personally fight any fake news to the contrary.

Remember Ol G for the great man, personality and father he was.

I do not drink yet find myself having a greyhound in his honor revisiting the funny on camera moments we had in poker and wrestling.

"Birdguts" was his name when doing challenges, prop bets and tv with pro wrestlers.

I miss him being a dick: randomly calling me a "******* nerd" for playing video games too much and his favorite go to insult "Jonny Skateboard".

Every task was an event. Per his last facebook post. Simple furnature shopping turned to hilarious prop bets with the owner. He just turned on the excitment everywhere he went for anything.

His contributions to poker pailed to his contributions to humanity. By simply being the most real person I have ever known.

Miss you brother. Love always. #RIP

Quote

01-20-2019 , 06:41 PM

#106

bicyclekick

luckbox

Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 7,078

Thanks for sharing that.

Quote

01-21-2019 , 12:20 AM

#107

antneye

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 7,119

RIP.

I haven't been on 2p2 in ages but as soon as I heard the news I came here to be with the community and see what stories you all had to share. I'm glad to see you all stepped up in a great way. I didn't know Gavin at all other than what I saw on TV, but he always seemed like the type of guy everyone would want to be around.

Quote

01-21-2019 , 10:51 PM

#108

subsistencefarm

stranger

Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeteBlow

Mongolian Beef for me tonight.
RIP Gavin.

Mongolian Beef was literally the first thing that came to mind when I saw the news of his passing. I loved him on the poker podcasts.

Quote

01-22-2019 , 05:03 PM

#109

HUHandEH

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 5,458

The Flop man, you hit it on the Flop.

Niagara was one of those hands that I remember, run good in the next one.

HD

Quote

01-23-2019 , 06:32 PM

#110

wheelflush

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,381

Quote:

Originally Posted by Videopro

This was posted on Facebook by Jonny Ferrari...
Gavin had an illness unrelated to any behavior. Hereditary. I will personally fight any fake news to the contrary.

sorry, what does that mean? how did he die?

Quote

01-24-2019 , 08:38 AM

#111

RichGangi

Laughable false & highly douchey

Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 9,546

It means it wasn't related to his love of partying, he had some type of undisclosed genetic illness.

What is unclear there?

Quote

01-24-2019 , 10:29 PM

#112

Shumkoolie

centurion

Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 193

Quote:

Originally Posted by theboybarnes

Genuinely gutted to hear this last night. I kind of worked on a side project with him that gained traction just from a joke on Poker Road (anyone remember Shirt Road? It did exist for a while!).

Anyway, I used to love the PokerRoad podcast, and the biggest compliment I could give Gav is that when you heard the introductions at the beginning, my heart would sink a little if he wasn't on it - you just knew it wouldn't have the same energy that he brought to stuff.

I remember Shirt Road Radio - that was an absolutely hilarious bit that they did.

shirtroad.net - LOL!!! OMG, it's no coincidence that the heyday of online poker, and the poker boom coincided with what was also the golden age of podcasts. They really did pave the way to what we have today, though Pokerwire Radio, The Circuit, and PRR were really ground breaking.

I met Sebok in 2010 at the WSOP, and I really wish I had asked to meet Gavin, but he was in the middle of a tournament, but I'm sure that he would have got up to meet a guy that lived in the next town over from him.

I was absolutely shocked to read of his passing from Raymond Davis. I can't imagine what his closest friends must be feeling.

It was a sad day for poker and pokertainment, he was incredibly talented, and enjoyed what he did, and shared a little bit of himself with us. He will be SADLY missed.

Quote

01-24-2019 , 10:40 PM

#113

Wilbury Twist

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 6,153

Speaking of ShirtRoad, I was amused to still find this: https://www.zazzle.com/pokerroad+clothing

Quote

01-25-2019 , 08:28 AM

#114

RichGangi

Laughable false & highly douchey

Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 9,546

OMG that's great, ty.

CHAINSAW!!!!

Spoiler:

Of course!

Last edited by RichGangi; 01-25-2019 at 08:32 AM. Reason: Can't post the image for some reason....

Quote

01-25-2019 , 02:30 PM

#115

wheelflush

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,381

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichGangi

It means it wasn't related to his love of partying, he had some type of undisclosed genetic illness.

What is unclear there?

all sorts of genetic traits are related to what we love.
did his kids inherit this disease too?
just seemed an odd choice of words, as well as odd that it was undisclosed.

Quote

01-25-2019 , 06:48 PM

#116

bentonja

old hand

Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,534

slander

1.the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.

Quote

01-26-2019 , 02:36 PM

#117

wheelflush

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,381

OK, if i wasn't curious before...

(Am I getting played? I'll assume bentonja knows nothing.)

Quote

01-29-2019 , 01:35 PM

#118

patstap2

journeyman

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 261

Quote:

Originally Posted by patstap2

In 2007, I was was at the craps table in Binion's a little before 2am one night. Gavin and a few friends were at the table and obviously had consumed more than a few adult beverages.

When he and his buddies headed to the poker room to play in the 2am tourney, I tagged along.

It was a very low buy-in tourney ($60 as I remember) and as the tourney started, I was at the same table as Gavin. He was chatting with everyone and making it a fun table to be at. Figuring he would not be averse to a proposition bet, I proposed a $100 "last longer" bet with him. The first of us to get busted from the tourney would pay the other, $100.

As he tipped the waitress $20 from his huge wad of cash, he accepted my bet. He was playing wildly and I thought it was a good bet.

A few hands into the tourney, I proposed another $100 prop bet. I bet the next 3-card flop we saw, would be mostly or all the same color. He could choose the color.

He said he'd take the bet, with the added stipulation that if all 3 cards were the same color, the loser would have to pay double ($200). I agreed, he chose "red", and we waited for the next flop to occur.

It was 2 red cards and one black. I paid him his $100 and the table got a good laugh.

I was later moved from his table but, periodically, he would loudly yell across the room "Hey 'Illinois Last Longer', where's your stack?" I'd report my status and he'd reply with his.

When we got down to the final 2 tables, I was reunited with him back at my table. I flopped bottom 2-pair and an opponent flopped a set, and I was out. I paid Gavin another $100 and wished the table good luck.

He was wild and crazy and made playing in the tournament with him a blast.

Sad to hear he passed and I send my condolences to his friends and family.

https://www.gofundme.com/rip-ol039-gavin-smith

To add a postscript;

There was a young lady in his group that pulled up a chair to watch Gavin play. The floor came over and told her, sorry, but she would have to watch from beyond the rail.

Gavin said "screw that" and bought her into the tournament even tho she barely knew how to play. He told her "just go all-in if you have any pair or AK".

She actually lasted quite awhile and even knocked some guy out of the tourney.

https://www.gofundme.com/rip-ol039-gavin-smith

Quote

05-17-2019 , 11:18 AM

#119

patstap2

journeyman

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 261

There will be a memorial tournament held at the WSOP on May 28th to benefit Gavin's sons.

I will not arrive until the 29th and won't be able to play. Therefore I'm going to make another donation to the gofundme account.

https://www.gofundme.com/rip-ol039-gavin-smith

I hope many of you are able to follow suit.

Details of the memorial tournament:

http://www.wsop.com/2019/Gavin%20Smi...Tournament.pdf