Player Interview: Dave Smith

Lucy: How are you liking the GUKPT?

Dave Smith: I always enjoy playing, but I do feel that unless you get that little momentum of getting started then you struggle and you are waiting more for that bigger hand. For example, a guy goes all in for 5,000 and I have 10,000 with jack jack. I would call if I had 20,000 but with my starting stack I couldn’t. You need that little roll early on so you can take more risks.

Lucy: So are you more comfortable with a big stack?

Dave Smith: Absolutely. Well, every one must be…

Lucy: Some people thrive on their short stacks don’t they?

Dave Smith: I’ve never known any one to. Maybe they hang on as it were with their claws - unless you can build it up, you struggle. Like earlier on it had been raised to 250 and was called in three spots, then re-raised to 500. I folded 10d-5d and the flop came with three diamonds but I couldn’t see it for 500. Maybe I could see a flop for 250 but you still think to yourself ‘I should have called’ but that’s the luck of the cards isn’t it?

Lucy: Do you think the London leg’s extra runners brings weaker players to the field?

Dave Smith: Well if you rank everybody from one to ten thousand it has to, but you see with the extra two hundred players you might suddenly bring some out of the woodwork that actually don’t know how good they are. I believe everybody’s as good as everybody when you’ve got the chips. You know, you can look fantastic if calls come through that you normally pass on when you don’t have the chips. That’s what cards are about – calling at the right time, folding at the right time, and getting lucky at the right time. I think 50% of luck is what you really need. There are four or five hands that you’ll play in any competition which are key hands and if you don’t win those key hands you’re going home rather than going on to possibly win.

Lucy: When you won your title in Brighton did you feel you got a lot of luck then?

Dave Smith: I got off to a good start. I doubled up with trips against aces because he hadn’t raised properly before the flop – so I was able to see a flop. Then, the guy to my right was raising into me when I had pocket kings! When the flop came down low he decided to go all in and that’s an immediate call. Though once you get to the second or third day people who started low and got their chips later start to play more and you’ve got to be a little bit more careful. You’ve got to nurse your chips whilst you’ve got them. If you’re monster mega chips you can do anything you want, but at the end of the day people are waiting to catch you at the right time. It’s a fantastic game, and you want the luck. I love this competition, it’s in the country and you can go round the country for a thousand quid each leg, and all in all around fifteen thousand a year.

Lucy: And you’re in profit already from the GUKPT…

Yes! It’s been a good year. It’s not as expensive as the other big ones and of course it’s difficult going away. Julian’s just done great, he’s been to Baden and won but in a way eight thousand euros of your own money is a bit much to keep forking out. Of course once you’ve won six hundred thousand euros you’re made, aren’t you? I think also, we have to be dreamers. We dream of winning the big one. Whatever you win, like a hundred thousand, it’s a lot of money, but we always dream of winning the millions. The millions give you the freedom.

Lucy: So when you did win your hundred grand at the GUKPT was it the money or status that meant more to you?

Dave Smith: Well the money’s always useful ‘cos I gave ninety grand to my son, five grand each to my girls and five to my wife. My son can pay his mortage off, the others can go off and have a holiday and what have you. At the end of the day, I enjoy playing but it can become expensive. If you don’t win every two or three weeks it can become a bit hard – I mean I’m fortunate, I don’t have a mortage or credit cards and I use my income from my work every month but really you can play a better game if you’re sponsored.

Lucy: A relaxed game?

Dave Smith: More relaxed, definitely. And you want the chips in those early stages that propel you on. Though to be fair, even if you don’t do well one weekend you look forward to the next one, because being a gambler you always believe you’ll do better next time. I don’t think it’s bad beats we have so much, as it is we don’t think before we put our chips in. We don’t always analyse properly. Having said that, anybody who says the money doesn’t matter – I do believe they wouldn’t play if the money didn’t matter. If I won a million it would give me the freedom to play, if I won a hundred grand it would make life easier. I love poker, but I love my family more, which is what it’s all about. And when you’ve got a wife, you’ve got to keep up the numbers!

Lucy: Very true! So are you gonna win the next one for your wife then?

David: I’ll do my very best!