Full Tilt Poker Pro Gavin Smith Wins his First WSOP* Bracelet

DUBLIN, June 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- Smith Wins WSOP* Event #44 for Over $268K

Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith won Event #44 at the 2010 World Series of Poker* to claim his first WSOP* bracelet.

The Canadian poker professional has been playing poker since 1994 and turned pro four years later. He came to prominence in 2005 when winning two events in a week at the Mirage Poker Showdown, part of the World Poker Tour.

Prior to this year's success, the closest Smith had come to winning a WSOP* bracelet was in 2007, when he finished second in Event #4, a $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'em tournament.

The 2010 WSOP* Event #44 began on June 24th, 2010, with 507 players and a prize pool of $1,166,100. The tournament featured 30-minute periods alternating between No-Limit and Limit Hold 'em. At the end of Day One, 69 players remained in the field, which was then whittled down to the final table of nine ahead of the third and final day.

Smith sat down at the final table in second place, narrowly behind chip-leader Jarred Solomon. By the dinner break, the table had been cut down to just five players - Gavin was fourth overall with a chip stack of 627,000. He then went on the offensive, playing aggressively and wrestling the lead from Danny Hannawa when his pair of queens held up.

When heads up play began, Smith was 400,000 chips ahead of Hannawa. After briefly falling back to level chip stacks, Smith began to stretch away from his opponent with some aggressive betting.

On the final hand, Smith reraised with A-Q versus Hannawa's 10-8. Hannawa called for the remainder of his chips but couldn't improve as the board came down A-K-2-J-J. Smith's two-pair gave him his first WSOP* victory and first prize of $268,238.

Smith becomes the sixth Full Tilt Poker professional to win a bracelet at the 2010 World Series of Poker*, following the success of Phil Ivey, Praz Bansi, Richard Ashby, Jose Luis Velador and Scott Montgomery.

Visit http://www.fulltiltpoker.com to learn more about Gavin Smith and all of the Full Tilt Poker pros.

About Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker(TM) (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/) is the host of a worldwide virtual poker cardroom service. It is not in the business of betting or wagering and does not participate in the games as a player. It merely provides a service to those who wish to test their skills against others for fun, prizes or money. It is duly regulated and licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. With innovative graphics, superior customer service and a safe, secure interface, the software is geared to enhance and personalize the online poker experience. Although virtual poker is legal where the games are hosted and played, it may not be legal where individual players are located. Players at all skill levels may download the software at http://www.fulltiltpoker.com but it is their responsibility to determine if participating in the games is permitted under the laws of the jurisdiction where they are located.

* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrahs"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with Full Tilt Poker or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.

SOURCE Full Tilt Poker