The final table of the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha world championship event had the atmosphere of a World Cup soccer match, and Marty Smyth of Ireland gave his boisterous cheering section reason to celebrate well into the morning. Smyth won his first World Series of Poker bracelet as well as $859,549 in prize money. He emerged from a final table that included Michael Mizrachi, Peter Jetten and six others from around the world.
Card Player caught up with Smyth following his win, and he talked about the history of poker in Ireland, his rowdy followers that cheered him on during the final table and why Europeans seem to perform especially well in pot-limit Omaha events.
Question: What did your family and friends say when you decided to take up poker for a living?
Marty Smyth: Well to my friends it was almost a natural progression. We all played poker together through university and some of them played professionally or semi-professionally. The family took a bit longer to come around to it. When I first told them they weren’t terribly impressed and I can understand why. They thought I was just having a lucky streak for a few months and sooner or later the bottom would fall out. But after a few years when I was winning consistently and had made a few investments and put some money aside they came around to the idea. And now the last couple of years I’ve had some tournament success.
Q: Irish poker players have a unique history at the World Series of Poker dating back 20 years. Do you feel that you may be following in their footsteps and are the next in line?
MS: I remember when I first started playing in the clubs in Dublin and read a couple of poker books I was amazed there were these Irish poker professionals playing in the big tournaments in Vegas. Padraig Parkinson and Donnacha O’Dea are gods to Irish poker players. Only four have won bracelets and to be with a group like that means a lot.
Q: How did it feel to have that kind of support behind you?
MS: I knew there would be a great atmosphere and they didn’t disappoint. Towards the start there wasn’t a lot of action but as the day went on and we got closer to the finish the support for everyone – not just me – was fantastic.
Q: It was like an international football match wasn’t it?
MS: There were a few football chants. That’s always going to be the case when you get a lot of Irish guys together and get some drinks in them.
Q: You mentioned that Peter was the player you least wanted to face heads up. Why?
MS: He just seemed to be playing the best poker. I think some of the other players are primarily hold’em players. I don’t mean to disparage Michael because he’s a very good tournament player, but he’s primarily a hold’em player. I felt more comfortable playing against him heads up than against Peter.
Q: Why do Europeans have an advantage in pot-limit Omaha? Is it just the experience?
MS: That seems to be the general consensus. There probably are more good players in Europe because the game is played more often and they’ve been playing it for 20 years and have so much experience. But the top players here are just as good as the top Europeans. There are guys here playing it all the time on the internet and the game is growing and growing. All the big games online seem to be pot-limit Omaha and there’s 100 or 200 railbirds. So it can only increase in popularity. It might not be long before the Americans have caught up and this isn’t the case.
