2008 might have been the Year of the Rat in China, but over here in the UK it was undoubtedly the Year of the Smyth. Armed with a pint of Guinness in one hand, and an Irish Open title in the other, Marty kicked off the year in style with a win in the World Poker Open IV, before going on to snap up bracelet gold in Vegas and a Poker Million title at the year’s end – a trio of achievements that would make even Doyle Brunson turn green with envy.
With most people, their egos would automatically inflate to Hellmuth capacity before finally exploding across the felt. Marty, however, was different, remaining humble and retrospective despite his incredible achievements and forever expanding wallet. “I’m not just trying to be modest here,” he says, braced for an outburst of modesty, “but the reason why I’ve won so much is luck, it really is. I played well too, but I think I played well before I had any big results, and I’ll continue to play pretty well next year, and I don’t imagine for a second that I’ll keep up my record from 2008. Things should average out in the long run, all players have barren years when they have bad luck and don’t even make a final table, and also, every once in a while they might have a year like I had, where they run like God and everything falls into place.”
But with humility comes a price, a profile that relies on an impressive set of results rather than the ability to entertain like a court jester or change character when the gleam of the spotlight shines. Thankfully, Marty’s performance at the table raised enough eyebrows that he was eventually picked up by Boyle Poker, where he now shares the limelight with fellow sponsored pro and beverage enthusiast Padraig Parkinson. However, did his prior lack of sponsorship irk him at all?
“It doesn’t bother me really,” he shrugs. “I know that I’ve achieved much more from poker than I have deserved - there are lots of players who are much better than me who will never have as much tournament success that I’ve had in the last couple of years. I’m very happy with the deal that I have with Boyle Poker and unless one of the bigger rooms was to offer me twice as much I wouldn’t even consider leaving.
“Whenever I play in mid-stakes cash games online,” he continues. “I am rarely the best player at the table, so if anyone should be annoyed about lack of recognition, it should be the players that are killing the cash games online and making far more money than most of the well-known pros.”
As someone who needed to perform miraculously at the felt to become noticed, Marty could arguably be named Europe’s most underrated player, rarely fronting magazines, yet frequently holding silverware aloft. It’s a contradiction of sorts, and an unfair one of that, but it’s something that Marty takes in his stride.
“In terms of how other people perceive me,” he starts “I’m sure some people just think I’m a mediocre player who has been ridiculously lucky and my results are just a fluke. Others have me down as one of the best players in Europe, and think my results have got nothing to do with luck. The first group are probably underrating me a bit, but the second group are definitely overrating me a lot. I believe the truth is somewhere in between. I am a good tournament player, but I’m definitely not as good as the really top players, and I think I have played well in any tournament that I’ve won, so it’s not a total fluke, but I definitely have been really lucky over the last couple of years and I’ll be the first to admit it.”
Without analysing every hand, it’s surely impossible to judge whether someone is a good or bad tournament player, especially considering the level of variance that accompanies such a format. However, Marty was a well-known and much feared online player prior to his live success, thus indeed suggesting that he has the appropriate weapons in his arsenal to claim an edge. But what are those weapons that give him that edge?
“I don’t really think that I am particularly strong in any one area of the game,” he replies, continuing a trend of inexplicable modesty that I was beginning to become accustomed to, “but at the same time I don’t have many major weaknesses either. Some players are brilliant hand readers, but have massive tilt buttons; some people have all the discipline in the world but don’t have the courage to make big calls or big bluffs. I know I’ll never be as good as the best in any given area of the game, but I think I’m a pretty good all-rounder.
“Also, I don’t let my ego get in the way when I’m at the table. If I come up against someone who I think is better than me (and there’s usually at least one guy like that at any table I’m playing), then I have no problem admitting it, and I’ll just try to stay out of his way and play pots with the weaker players. I think some players are a bit too stubborn at times, and end up slaughtering their chips to the likes of Phil Ivey because they want to show that they can’t be pushed around.”
Let’s not forget that Marty’s triumphs haven’t come in 20 pound rebuy events at the Grosvenor Walsall, they’ve been on the major stages, and in the case of the Poker Million, an unprecedented third consecutive final table. But with each victory comes a different reward, not just financial, but one of self-achievement: “My biggest achievement in terms of tournaments that I’ve won was definitely my bracelet win, but really the Irish open was by far the most life-changing as that was what started me off on the road to sponsorship. If I hadn’t been sponsored for the year by Boyle Poker I might not have even played in the World Open, WSOP Omaha event or Poker Million.”
Marty Smyth has been photographed with more silverware than Tiger Woods and can boast a wallet the size of Texas, but with victory must come a lack of enthusiasm for the year ahead. How can someone who has won so many prestigious titles in such a short space of time motivate themselves for the upcoming months? Many would head into 2009 with the confidence of a whippet chasing a three-legged cat, an almost arrogant self-belief that they can, and will, win every event they enter. Marty, however, seems to be an expert at keeping his feet firmly on the ground, and acknowledging the possibility that this might not happen. Ironically, it may be this awareness that will lead to further success.
“The last two years have been really good for me, actually,” he confesses, “but it would be ridiculously unrealistic to expect another year like the last, and I fully expect things to return to normal now. In 2009, I’ll be happy if I can make a couple of final tables in big events and pick up some half decent prize money. If I can win another event - even just a small one - then I’ll be delighted.
“My main aim for 2009 is to have a good winning year online. I’ve made good money every year for the first six years I played online, and then managed to lose around 50,000 last year. I didn’t play nearly as much because of live commitments so it may be partly down to just running bad as 50,000 isn’t all that much for the stakes I’ve played, but I do think I could be playing a lot better and I haven’t been nearly as disciplined as I should have been.
“I really like the way that players like Roland de Wolfe, Sorel Mizzi and Dario Minieri consistently build huge stacks so early in tournaments,” he admits with that hint of envy that we all begrudgingly share, “and that’s something I’d like to get a bit better at. I don’t think that I’ll ever really be able to play like those guys, but I’d like to incorporate a bit of what they do into my own style and get a bit more aggressive.”
Hailing from Belfast, Ireland, it is the norm for Marty to be clasping a pint of the black stuff at the table, but unlike many of his fellow countrymen, you won’t see him yearning to be the centre of attention or constantly making his voice heard at the table. Instead, he’ll be relatively subdued, his attention fully focused on the task in hand.
“Yeah, I’m pretty quiet at the table generally,” he whispers, “but I’m happy to speak to people at the table if there’s someone there I know, or if someone strikes up a conversation. I just don’t really feel the need to talk for the sake of talking or getting noticed. I’m also reasonably quiet away from the table, but I like to think I’m quite sociable too. I like company and any time I go away to live events I spend more than my fair share of time in the bar meeting up with other players.”
But this doesn’t mean Marty doesn’t have an opinion on the state of poker: “I’d like the payouts in tournaments to be much flatter. When it gets to that stage of a tournament, you are playing for differences of hundreds of thousands, and usually the average stack is about 15 big blinds. It’s even worse by the time you get heads-up.
“Online,” he continues, covering both ends of the spectrum, “I’d like to see sites try to outlaw tracking software like Poker Tracker. It’s completely unfair to all the recreational punters who come on every so often to play for fun and don’t know this kind of stuff is being used against them. Having said that, I might try to use it myself, as I’m losing online now, and I think part of the reason is that I’m at such a big disadvantage with so many others using tracking software. However, I’d really like to see more sites taking steps to stop the use of it completely.”
“So, disciplined, quiet, successful – does this mean that you’re not one of these crazy gambling type of players?” I ask, secretly hoping that he gambles millions on Chinese Poker every night. “I’m very disciplined in tournaments, but not always in cash games,” he replies honestly. “I used to have a terrible gambling problem when I was young - betting on sports and horses and stuff. I eventually quit altogether, although after playing poker seriously for a while I started to understand gambling more, and I do a lot of sports betting now. I’m currently ahead a little overall, although I’m on a pretty terrible run at the minute.”
“But is gambling,” I start, eager to continue my grilling of the amicable pro, “whether it be in the form of poker, sports betting, horses or whatever, the focus of your life, in an almost obsessive manner? Do you invest all your time and energy in the industry, or do you have other interests?” “I certainly don’t invest all of my time in the game,” replies Marty, “and I’d like to play a lot less if money was no object. Away from poker I like getting a few friends round to the house for a few games of pool or table tennis and obviously a few drinks. I’ve got quite into golf lately too, and while I’m still quite bad at it, I’m getting a lot better. And, although I’m not a family man, I have a girlfriend of nine years, so I’m pretty settled.”
Many people within the industry would be lost without poker. Ben Grundy once told me that he would struggle to cope, and simply wouldn’t be able to go back to his nine-to-five, earning in a day what he now considers to be one big blind. Is Marty Smyth of a similar view? What would he do if he wasn’t a professional poker player? “This is gonna sound strange as I’ve had an amazing couple of years, but I would say most of the time I wish I wasn’t a professional poker player,” he reveals. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful - the tournaments that I’ve won have been some of the best moments of my life, but most of the time that’s not the way it is, and it isn’t fun when you’re losing.
“I’ve got a great deal with Boyle Poker at the minute, so I’d be crazy to do anything other than play poker for a living, but if they ever get tired of me then I’d probably try and start some sort of small business or get a job. The problem there is that I don’t know much about business and I wouldn’t be particularly well qualified for any sort of decent job, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Those final words seem to outline Marty’s whole ethos on life He doesn’t get ahead of himself, he doesn’t let things worry him, and he doesn’t wince at the past – he simply jumps obstacles as they confront him. But with his laid-back attitude comes a certain warmth, and one that means no one has a bad word to say about him. They often say that nice guys finish last, but these days, Julian Thew isn’t the only exception to the rule.
As the interview drew to a close, I thanked Marty for his time and wished him good luck in 2009, fully aware that despite his modesty, luck wasn’t as big a factor in his success as he perhaps believed. Yes, he acknowledges his own talent, but his lethal combination of timing, discipline and resistance to vanity or self-worship makes him a better bet than most for snapping up yet more titles and continuing his superb run of results. Even then, he still won’t shout about it.