Dan Smith
Photo: PokerNews.com

Today’s Boxscore

Dan Smith €962,925 – EPT Barcelona Super High Roller
Jonathan Taylor $12,434 – $365 NLH WSOP Circuit Biloxi
Ben Mintz $30,000 – $1,125 NLH WSOP Circuit Biloxi
Patrick Smith $13,689 – $365 NLH WSOP Circuit Biloxi
Kyle Cartwright $107,992 – WSOP Circuit Biloxi Main Event

Dan Smith is having himself one hell of a year and it continued this weekend when he won the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller. He has 7 final tables, 5 tournament wins, and now over $3,000,000 in tournament earnings in 2012.

He beat a small but distinguished field in the €50,000 Super High Roller during the EPT Barcelona festival including a final table featuring Erik Seidel, JC “PrtyPsux” Alvarado, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, and Mike “Timex” McDonald. Smith picked up €962,925 for the win.

The WSOP Circuit Main Event in Biloxi wrapped up on Monday with Kyle Cartwright continuing a fine year (plus a few months) of his own when he won the WSOP Circuit Champions Ring and a 6-digit payday. This is his 5th ring over just 16 months and ties him with Mark Smith for most titles. As Jess Welman points out, the math averages out to one WSOP-C victory every 96 days.

Not too shabby.

On an interesting research note, I’m wondering how many people could tell you who won the most cash in WSOP Circuit events.

Would anyone guess none other than Chris Ferguson?

Update: I’m obviously an idiot since Kevmath and Michalski both snapped off the answer.

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day 1 – My favorite tweet of the weekend and it wasn’t even close.

ordered an egg mcmuffin.. fire up @pokerstars mobile to pay for egg mcmuffin.. lost 257 egg mcmuffins before first bite of egg mcmuffin

— William A. Reynolds (@ReynoldsXO) August 18, 2012

Tweet of the Day 2 – Right around the time I forget a fair number of pro players are narcissistic jackholes, I get another reminder.

I might come offdouchey in my Stars interviews, mainly because I didn’t want to do it. Fuck ’em they should be paying us for this shit.

— JC Alvarado(@JCAlvarado1) August 19, 2012

Mercier Sweats, Mercier Flames, Exposing Deals – The 3-Bet articles are always a bit of fun for the poker readers. This time around it has Mercier complaining (shocker) about the heat in Barcelona but correctly setting Jeff Pollack and Annie Duke on blast for Epic Poker. Perhaps he’ll aim his phasers at a few other nozzles around poker.

Poker Hall of Fame Nominations – Nominations are open for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2012. Check out the criteria, make your nominations, wait for the results. Those elected will be inducted in the Hall of Fame during the Main Event final table. Let’s get some overlooked European players in there.

Five Things We’ll Miss About Full Tilt Poker – Not the strongest article in the world, listed here more because I found it interesting there was something written (and posted) on the Yahoo Sports page.

I’m Such an Awesome Guy – It goes against my personal ethos to make light of those with mental illness. Unless it involves Matt Marafioti and then I’m all for it. Video magician SrslySirius takes his shots at Adzizzy this time around.

After spending quite a bit of time as the small stack, Dallas’ own Allen Carter bested the most recent WPT Final table at the Southern Poker Championship in Biloxi, MS, taking home $1,000,000, an entry into the WPT Championship, and his first major bracelet. This win also marked his first 6-figure drag.

Allen is a member of a very elite group of poker players. Not because of his new bracelet or his arguable transition to pro ranks. It actually has little to do with how he plays, but more to do with why he plays. In my opinion, there are about 5 different kinds of players. Let me also note that I recognize that the majority of players belong to more than one of each.

1) Those who play for fun (Think Guy Laliberte)

Even his txt msgs have the right attitude.

2) Those who play for profit (Tom Schneider)
3) Those who play for action (Dan Michalski)
4) Those who play because of addiction (Endless list)
5) Those who play for lack of better options (Think tomorrow’s Madsen and other young guns turn college drop-outs of today)
…and finally…
6) Those who play purely for competition (Allen Carter)

I first met Allen in ’06 in the DFW airport, waiting to board a flight to the WSOP. He had won an entry into the Main Event through and online tournament. Actually, I should be clear,… He won FOUR entries. Pretty awesome in its own right, but totally redonkulous if you consider that he did all of it in only 6 attempts! And I believe that I remember he also came in 2nd in another one of those events.

You can’t enjoy success like that if you can’t commit yourself completely and exclusively to a single player category. And in case it isn’t obvious, the only two categories capable of supporting such are 1) Profit and 2) Competition. Allen has expressed to me multiple times that competition is his only reason for playing. Without that, he simply won’t play.

I understand that this philosophy almost completely contradicts the principles of the only other successful player category, profit, where you try to find the juiciest and softest game available. But maybe what Allen has figured out is that as long as you have enough water in the sports bottle (bankroll), you should always opt to play against the young, tall, black team, and never against the short, white, computer nerd, poker enthusiasts. Because with poker, unlike any other sport, you can put yourself or find yourself in the ‘big game’ at any time. This time it was a white, 40-something, former CPA from Dallas who prepared for and conquered the biggest game of his life. While he was preparing, you were checking your fish lists and looking for the softest SnG’s you could find.

Being a former WPT employee has its perks, like having friends who still work there and give up the inside information. This news isn’t the kind we like to report, but late on Thursday, September 6, the World Poker Tour semi that is decorated with the WPT logo was on its way to the tour stop in Biloxi, Mississippi when it crashed into another semi. In the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, the collision occurred and injured both truck drivers. Sadly, the driving trainee, along for the ride and taking a nap in the back of the WPT truck, was ejected upon impact and died.

The truck contained the entire WPT television production set, and a source said it was “trashed.” By the time the final table took place in Biloxi only a few days later, Kevin King, WPT Art Director, and his crew were able to reconstruct about 50 percent of the set, but there was reportedly a bit of a solemn air behind the scenes as the production staff was informed of the accident.

WPT has not released an official statement yet but is planning to do so.

UPDATE: The following statement was sent from WPT Enterprises:

While traveling though Texas in the early hours on Thursday, September 6th, the World Poker Tour semi truck that transports our set for WPT final tables was involved in an accident that tragically claimed the life of one of the drivers. The accident also damaged the final table set, which WPT is currently working to rebuild and restore to its original design. We hope to have it back on the road for the North American Poker Championship at the Fallsview Casino in Canada next month. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved in the accident and the family of the driver who lost his life.