Dan Smith Wins EPT9 Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller    

The European Poker Tour (EPT) has kicked off its ninth Season in style. The first event of the revised formatted tour saw Barcelona host a €50,000 Super High Roller event. 

It attracted 55 players (including nine reloads), thus creating the biggest prize pool in Spanish poker history - €3,072,960. The lion’s share of that fund was reserved for first place - €1,075,000 – and it went the way of form.

What a year it has been for the bespectacled, baseball cap-wearing youngster from New Jersey: 23-year old Dan Smith. The 2012 poker calendar started at the Aussie Millions, and Smith won the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) event for $1,041,828. 

A great start to the year, and as the likes of Erik Seidel and Sam Trickett can testify, a great start in Oz can lead to a wonderful year of poker. Emulate Smith’s success by participating in poker tournaments. 

Moving forward to April, and Smith won an incredible three €5,000 side-events at the EPT8 Grand Final at Monte Carlo for close to $800,000. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) was next, and Smith cashed five times, including a 3rd place finish for $368,943. 

If you add his recent Catalan victory to the rest of his triumphs, Smith has already won $3,357,442, with four-months of the calendar year remaining.

Smith defeated a stacked final table that included JC Alvarado, Mike Watson, Ilari Sahamies, Mike McDonald, Erik Seidel, Talal Shakerchi, and Jim McCrink.
The eventual heads-up contest came down to Smith and the Mexican pro, Alvarado. 

A deal was made prior to the heads-up action, which gave Smith €962,925 and Alvarado €788,675, Smith winning with ace-king versus the pocket kings of Alvarado, when an ace spiked the flop.