John Smith Falls To Adrian Mateos in Final Match

Published on June 10th, 2017 3:07 pm EST

John Smith, the 70 year-old US Army vet, accomplished the improbable on Friday when he finished in second place in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up Championship for the second straight year.

Smith, who is a Purple Heart recipient, finished in second place in the 2016 No Limit Hold'em Championship after falling to Alan Percal in the final match. Smith ended up collecting a total of $198,192 for his second place finish.

In 2017, Smith went deep once again in the event, and once again he ended up taking second place. Smith would fall to Adrian Mateos in the final match of the event and would walk away with a total payday of $208,154.

These two cashes have brought Smith's total lifetime tournament cashes to $1,256,096.

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The $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up Championship is a very tough event to do well in as it is filled with many of poker's top players. Many players love playing the $10k Heads-Up event, which means that the field ends up loaded with sharks.

For anybody to make it through to the final table two years in a row is an incredible feat. For the 70-year old John Smith to do it two years in a row is even more impressive, as he is mainly battling against players in their 20s and 30s.

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John Smith has built up quite a following over the past couple of years, and there is no doubt that he will be the popular choice to win the event next year.

Smith promises that he has "unfinished business" and will be back to try and win the title next year.

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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker