Gavin Smith, age 50, passed away while he was sleeping last Monday (January 14). The cause of his death is still not determined. He is survived by his two young sons.
The next day after he was found dead, one of his close friends Josh Arieh opened up a GoFundMe page so that the poker community could help support Gavin Smith's children. In just 4 short days, 445 people donated to the cause, raising $67,504 out of the $100,000 goal.
However, one of the renowned poker pros was skeptical about the whole thing, and he announced his doubts on Twitter.
On Friday (January 18), poker legend Doyle Brunson has said something via his Twitter page that he heard somewhere that the late Canadian poker pro Gavin Smith's brother is very rich and the children are supposedly going to live with him. If true, he asked, "Why is the poker community raising money for them?"
Many poker players and fans harshly criticized Texas Dolly for making that insensitive comment.
Here's what some said:
Other people thought his comment was just normal, and even defended him from the flurry of ruthless comments.
He meant well, and even donated to the fundraiser actually. Another thing is that his son Todd Brunson is best friends with Gavin Smith.
Don't get him wrong though, read again Doyle Brunson's tweet. He just asked a question, right?
A close friend of Smith, Josh Arieh who is a 2004 WSOP Main Event 3rd place finisher and host of the fundraiser campaign, responded to Doyle, "I'm certain the boys need help. I'll leave it at that."
He also stood by his decision to open up the GoFundMe page despite Doyle Brunson's concerns.
Even if a mild Twitter war broke out because of the comment made by Texas Dolly over the weekend, still the entire poker community joined hands in support of Gavin Smith and his children in the recent days. Even those who do not know ‘Ole G Smith' personally have sent their sincere condolences in the Twitterverse.
Source:
https://www.cardschat.com/news/doyle-brunson-gavin-smith-76669
