{"id":91603,"date":"2020-08-24T20:35:26","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T20:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog?p=91603"},"modified":"2021-01-19T14:18:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T14:18:00","slug":"daniel-smyth-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/daniel-smyth-interview.html","title":{"rendered":"The satellite seat guarantees partypoker are putting up are incredible: WPTWOC Event Winner Daniel Smyth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost every poker player dreams of turning a small investment into a massive payout. It\u2019s this reason that satellite tournaments are so popular. Ireland\u2019s Daniel Smyth<\/strong> proved this particular poker dream is still alive by turning a $33 satellite entry into almost $430,000<\/strong><\/a> and a World Poker Tour title.<\/p>\n

Daniel came out on top of a star-studded field in the $3,200 WPT Knockout Championship<\/strong>. His reward came in the shape of a $208,803 payout from the main prize pool, an additional $204,588 worth of bounty payments, and a free $15,000 seat to the next WPT Tournament of Champions.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s obviously a very happy man right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels super,\u201d Daniel told the partypoker blog<\/a>, \u201cthe WPT is the most well known and respected poker tour in my opinion and to become a champion is something I\u2019m very proud of. This victory comes 10 years after my best previous result and certainly trumps my Sunday Million victory. To beat the best of the best in a high buy-in event gives me great confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Irishman was a rather unknown quantity to our Twitch commentators but anyone who has followed the British and Irish poker scene will no doubt have heard Daniel\u2019s name banded around. He may not play as much poker as he once did \u2013 a high flying finance job eats into his spare time \u2013 but he\u2019s still got the skills to pay the bills, as they say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started playing home games with friends during our final year of school and picked up online poker<\/a> the next year playing $10 and $10 rebuys on the old Ladbrokes site. In recent years, I have played more sporadically but during the COVID restrictions I have put in more volume playing games from $10 to $100 and satellites into bigger Sunday events.\u201d<\/p>\n

The satellite seat guarantees partypoker have been putting up are incredible this WPT series<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

His satellite prowess is there for all to see. Hardly anyone else in the world has ever managed to win so much from a prestigious event from such a small initial outlay. Unsurprisingly, Daniel is a fan of the WPT satellites we\u2019re offering.<\/p>\n

\u201cSatellites are a fantastic way to get into a bigger tournament<\/strong> and can often offer lots of value. The satellite seat guarantees partypoker have been putting up are incredible this WPT series<\/strong>. You are often going to find added value and extra tickets in the prize pool when the number of entries doesn\u2019t reach the guarantee; which has happened quite a lot this series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRob Yong has been instrumental in the restructuring of the format of these tournaments, allowing only one re-entry stops the field from getting diluted with professionals and regular grinders<\/strong> which can only be good for increasing the chances of the average punter qualifying for the next round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel admits he ran hot from the moment the Knockout Championship started and was involved in a big pot during the 10,000\/20,000\/2,500a level. A short-stacked player jammed for 187,340, the button re-shoved for 474,062, and Daniel called in the big blind with .<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t recall the exact bounties of each player but if I KO\u2019d both I stood a chance at instantly banking something like $3,000. Jack-ten suited felt like it could have good equity considering the original raise was short and the late position isolator could have a lot of weak aces and low pairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it happens, the original raiser held and the button . A jack on the flop won the $3,000 worth of bounties and catapulted Daniel to almost 2,500,000 chips.<\/p>\n

Players often have a game plan in their heads when they reach a final table. Daniel admits his initial play was to target Joao Maureli<\/strong> who he had position on and who he knew plays lower stakes than most of the other players at the final table. Joao won his $3,200 seat as an added prize to his victory in a $22 Mini Masters tournament earlier in the month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis plan backfired a bit because Joao played back very well post-flop when I three-bet him, putting me in handcuffs.\u201d<\/p>\n