Dan Smith

Dan Smith is a 35 year old American professional poker player, who resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has received several nicknames like; ‘King Dan’, ‘Truck Dan’, and ‘Cowboy Dan’, by carving out a remarkable career since he first burst out on the poker scene. He has several accolades to his name, including a WSOP (World Series of Poker) bracelet and several high profile tournament victories.

Smith has accumulated millions in tournament earnings, but his influence extends beyond the poker table. Not only known for his analytical approach to the game, and sportsmanship, but also recognized for his philanthropic efforts and contributions to the poker community.

Early Life and Background:

Dan Smith started playing online poker at the age of 16, even before reaching legal age in the US. As a chess prodigy he had gotten into college with a chess scholarship, but left studies at the age of 18 to pursue poker as a profession.

2012 was the turning point in Dan’s poker journey, he won the $100,000 Challenge event at the Aussie Millions. Then he went onto win three European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final events in Monte Carlo in the same year, and collected the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller title.

Poker Career Beginnings:

Smith’s first cash and victory came in 2008, when he won the Heartland Poker Tour Main Event worth $101,960. But, from 2008 to the start of 2012 there weren’t much highlights in the early phase of his poker journey, before he got his breakthrough. Dan Smith won the Aussie Millions 100K Challenge event for $1,012,000 AUD in 2012.

There was no stopping him as he went on a sprint in April 2012, winning the EPT Monte Carlo Series. In a five day run, he won three separate €5000 events, bagging a total of €520,980.

Major Achievements and Career Highlights:

Here’s a detailed list of Dan Smith’s major tournament wins, WSOP bracelets, titles and more, with their winning amounts:

Personal Life, Influence and Legacy:

Dan Smith’s first passion was chess, which he took up vigorously, starting at the age of 6. This enabled him to get into college on a chess scholarship. But, unfortunately he experienced burnout at the age of 15, as his passion for chess fell away. At only 16 he moved onto a new hobby, called poker.

Smith has built quite a legacy outside the world of poker, organizing his first charity drive in 2013. He has contributed $25,000 to the Humane League, eventually growing it to $125,000.

In 2014, he founded the Double-Up Drive, this organization promotes charity in an unique way. Double-Up selects a few charities annually, then matches the amount others donate to them, doubling the initial amount. It’s become increasingly popular and successful in recent years, raising a record $4,500,000 in 2017.

Conclusion

Losing in poker is sometimes inevitable, but Dan Smith loved this situation, saying there is always a chance that he would do better in the next poker session. In the end Smith’s passion speaks for itself, with his impressive career journey. His biggest tournament cash to date was a staggering $8,765,628 at the 2019 Triton Poker Million for Charity Event.