It’s been an incredible year for Tyler Smith. The 23-year-old professional poker player from Smithdale, Miss., won his third major tournament title, with a resounding victory in the Bayou Poker Challenge Main Event at Harrah’s New Orleans.
Earlier this year, Smith won two major events – first at the World Poker Open at Gold Strike in Tunica and next at the Spring Break Open at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi. With his $66,288 top prize added for this victory, Smith has amassed more than $400,000 in tournament earnings during 2010. He also won a WSOP circuit gold ring at Harrah’s New Orleans the first year he was eligible to play, at age 21.
As part of his victory package, Smith was presented with a paid seat valued at $10,000 into the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, which will take place next July in Las Vegas.
The $2,500 buy-in attracted 108 players. The total prize pool amounted to $250,900. Attendance and the prize pool were both up from last year. In fact, this was the best turnout for the December Bayou series championship event, since 2007. The tournament was played over three consecutive days from December 10-12.
