Elliot Smith

Elliot Smith is a Canadian professional poker player who has built a strong live tournament resume across North America and Asia. His recorded results include 105 cashes and total live earnings of $2,928,507, with his most recent reported cash being $5,077 on July 7, 2025. Earlier in 2025, after 103 cashes, his career earnings stood at $2,907,937 and included a $29,305 cash on May 8, 2025. Those numbers place Smith among the more accomplished Canadian tournament grinders of his generation.

Smith's biggest career triumph came at the first-ever PokerStars Championship Macau Main Event. He defeated Chinese local Tianyuan Tang heads-up to claim the championship and the top prize of HK$2,877,500. The heads-up duel lasted more than eleven hours, making it one of the longest heads-up battles in poker tournament history. Smith's victory was especially notable because so many famous players had traveled to Macau for the event. PokerStars Team Pros Chris Moneymaker, Celina Lin, Aditya Agarwal, Randy 'nanonoko' Lew, and Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier all took their seats, though none of them made the money. Several other recognizable names did cash, including Fabrice Soulier (ninth, HK$386,000), Dong Guo (10th, HK$291,300), Winfred Yu (13th, HK$221,000), David Peters (37th, HK$101,000), and Sofia Lovgren (44th, $101,000). The victory demonstrated Smith's patience, endurance, and heads-up skill, and it remains the defining result of his career.

In 2025, Smith added a major title on the PokerGO Tour by winning the Texas Poker Open $5,000 High Roller. He defeated Terry Morales heads-up to take home the adjusted first-place prize of $58,680, along with 59 PGT points and the Texas Poker Open belt buckle trophy. The heads-up match began with Smith winning a big all-in with tens against Morales' queen-ten offsuit. Two hands later, Smith eliminated Morales with king-six offsuit against Morales' ace-deuce suited. Both players flopped a pair, but Smith improved to two pair when the six arrived on the turn, ending the tournament on an ace-king-five-six-seven runout. The payouts were adjusted after both players agreed to an ICM chop prior to the start of heads-up play. The final table also featured Ed Sebesta, Jeremy Becker, Jonathan Tamayo, and Seunghyun Nam. Sebesta and Becker each collected their third cash of the PGT season, while Tamayo and Morales picked up their second; Nam and Smith each recorded their first cash of the season in the event.

Smith has been a consistent presence on live tournament leaderboards for years. His 105 recorded cashes span a wide range of buy-ins and event types, from major Asian championships to North American high rollers. His results in 2025 show that he remains active and competitive, with a $29,305 cash in May and a $5,077 cash in July. The Texas Poker Open victory added to a career that had already been highlighted by the Macau Main Event title. Smith's ability to perform under pressure in both lengthy heads-up matches and high-stakes final tables has made him a recognizable figure in the global poker community.

While detailed strategy analysis of Smith is not widely available in public sources, his tournament results paint a clear picture of his strengths. Winning a marathon heads-up match against a tough local player in Macau required both technical proficiency and extraordinary stamina. His later PGT title showed that he could also adapt to the faster-paced, high-pressure environment of North American high rollers. The combination of a PokerStars Championship Main Event title and a PokerGO Tour trophy is rare and speaks to Smith's versatility. With continued cashes through mid-2025, Elliot Smith remains a player to watch on the live tournament circuit.