Gavin Smith Rising in My Fave Five

It’s wierd, I used to not like Gavin Smith.  Then the other day I posted his poker tips video and he got into my head.  Today I decided to take a break from my home game coverage and went for him on Youtube.  I found him making a gem of a call against Peter Feldman.  I don’t know what it is but I am not a fan of the slothly younger players with absolutely 0 energy.  There is another one – Jordan can’t find his last name, but it’s Jordan something.  He’s on ESPN a lot in the United States Poker Tour reruns.

It’s not like Feldman or Jordan aren’t very good players.  I just like people with more energy.  I think it may be more of a poker thing and not trying to give away any information.  After all, if you’re a sloth it’s pretty hard to make a read but if you’re emotional others can pick up on your swings.

Back to the hand in coverage.  Feldman has 43.  Gavin Smith holds 85.  Both legitimate trash starting cards.  Gavin knicks the flop of AJ8.  Feldman decides to test Gavin’s mettle and bets every step of the way after Gavin checks.  He increases the amount each time, but Gavin continues to splash in chips with a relaxed and off-centered confidence.

I say off-centered because Gavin has a huge wild card in him.  In fact, he even looks like he could easily don a jester hat and be one of the joker cards in the deck.  He splashes his chips, he has a loose clothing style, he can be very funny, and he’s essentially the definition of a wild card at the table.  You never know what he’s playing with.

Now I do remember seeing him play some flawed poker.  This is part of being a wild card through and through.  Sometimes you out-crazy yourself and end up playing 83 hard against a monster.  Still, Gavin is a very good player with good perception as shown in this hand.

I like Gavin’s style and his carefree, controlled recklessness.  I wish I could throw my chips in as coolly as he does.  This is why I’m making him my second favorite player.  He may actually be my favorite, but just that I know Negreanu is better than him.  I’d love to see Gavin up against Phil Hellmuth.

You can visit Gavin’s official site at gavinsmithpoker.com.

Here is the video mentioned above:

Fave Five Rankings

1. Daniel
2. Gavin
3. ?

I’ll figure out my third in the coming days.