Dan Smith: “I like my chances” in NBC Heads-Up Championship

GPI’s current Number One will play Mercier first.

The final bracket for the 2013 National Heads-Up Poker Championship was set during a draw party at Caesars Palace on the night of January 23rd, 2013. GPI’s current Number One ranked player Dan Smith was among the contestants in attendance.

Dan Smith was assigned to the Diamond bracket and will take on his friend Jason Mercier in the first round. He later spoke to GPI’s Marco Valerio about the upcoming match-up and the competition.

Okay, so, you’re number one on the Global Poker Index, and I think that was kind of recent. How long ago was it?
Uh, well, I assumed you would know better than me.

I know, but it’s my second day!
Oh! Well, if you made me guess, I’ll say two months…
When did you find out?
Maybe two months ago. It could have been longer, it could have been shorter.

What did you think of it? Did you know the GPI?
I knew from the way it was structured that it was good for me. I know it’s like tennis. I didn’t have any scores from three years ago, but I just had tons in the most recent, so as time would go on I knew it would be good for me. I didn’t know how quickly I would get to number one, but I hope if I continue to maintain some scores, I’ll be number one for a while.

How many events are you going to be playing after this one?
I’m gonna play LAPC, Bay 101… Depending on how the high rollers look in London, I might go there as well, but that’s a hell of a trip. Aside from that, I don’t think I’m gonna play Monte Carlo. I’m gonna take it a little bit easier this year. Last year was tough.

You just got drawn up against Jason Mercier here at the NBC Heads Up draw party. Tell me a little about him, do you know him?
He and I are quite friendly. He’s very much the needling type, and I find that amusing. He’s one of the tougher players in the field. But if I were a gambling man, I would take myself.

What do you think about the rest of the field?
I tend not be crazy about these questions, specifically, “Oh, what do you think about this person…”

That’s not what I said, though.
You just asked me about Jason!

Well, yeah, because he’s your draw!
Because Jason is obviously good, it’s safe. But there have been interviews where it’ll be like, oh, what do you think about so and so. And I think he is the worst, like, he’s terrible, but I can’t say that, it would be incredibly rude.
 I think this field is tough, and the structure’s very fast, but I used to play a lot of heads up. I would say I’m probably between the 5^th and 10^th best player in the field, so I like my chances.