Poker Forum

Justin Smith is no stranger to playing through pain. Poker fans have witnessed the 21-year-old make deep runs battling a 102-degree fever, fending off a cold, and fighting fatigue so extreme it required naps between hands. Then, in an incident that was perhaps the first of its kind in a major televised poker tournament, Justin Smith tore several ligaments in his left knee during a celebration on the rail at the recently completed Bellagio Cup V. Holding A-3 against eventual winner Alex Gomes’ pocket threes, Smith leapt into the air as a jack hit the river, the board running out J-4-4-5-J to...