Once Prominent Poker Star Justin "BoostedJ" Smith Returns to WSOP After Nine-Year Absence
Justin "BoostedJ" Smith was a young hotshot in the poker world back in the late 2000s, both online and live. At age 21, he was an up-and-coming star in the game with a bright future in poker.
Smith's stay among the game's elite was short-lived, and he'd been gone from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for nine years. But on Wednesday, the now 36-year-old returned to the summer series to compete in Event #66: $10:000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship (8-Handed), where he told PokerNews what he's been up to in recent years.
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What's He Been Up To?
Smith, a former Full Tilt Poker pro, last cashed at the WSOP in 2013. And he's hoping to end that drought this week.
"What brought me back to the 10k PLO is, I've been thinking about it for the past two weeks it just kind of came to me, I was like I actually feel like playing poker, just all of a sudden," Smith said.
It's been quite some time since the poker world has seen the once prominent figure of the poker community. He explained why he left the game.
"I was very burnt out, I took a very long hiatus," he explained.
The former high stakes pro said, outside of a couple charity events and some small buy in tournaments here and there, when he sat down at his seat in the $10k PLO event at around 8:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday, he hadn't played a meaningful hand of poker in nine years.
"BoostedJ" hasn't just been sitting around doing nothing the past few years, however. In fact, he's kept quite busy outside the poker world.
"Since poker, I've mostly been producing movies and TV shows, and been involved in the music business too," Smith said.
One of the movies he'll be producing is an upcoming biopic about the late Doyle Brunson, who passed away at 89 last year. Smith said there isn't an anticipated release date just yet, and he's in search of the right actor to play "Texas Dolly."
Poker Player Returns to Action
While it's been years since Smith has played poker, he appeared relaxed when entering the Paris ballroom. But he didn't recognize many of the players in the field.
"Just walking in here I'm thinking what is poker like today?" Smith said minutes after he took his seat. "I don't know most of these people. So, that's just kind of curious because I know that when I left it was so hard to climb stakes, and I guess there's been crypto and stuff since then, so there's been a lot of money come into the economy."
Smith played in some of the biggest cash games in the world 15 years ago during the height of the poker boom. He appeared multiple times on shows such as Poker After Dark, and he also had some success in tournaments having cashed for over $2.2 million lifetime, according to The Hendon Mob.
"I think most of what I recollect (from the past) is all the things that weren't on TV probably," Smith said. "I played some large cash games that definitely weren't on TV, and those were probably the craziest moments by far of my poker career. Also, just like waking up putting in crazy hours online, and you know, doing that playing poker in the shower and stuff like that if the game was too good and I had to go somewhere."
Smith built his bankroll up from playing $0.01/$0.02 cash games all the way up to the high stakes on poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. He's now attempting to win his first WSOP bracelet, and said he plans to enter a few other events this summer.
Follow Justin "BoostedJ" Smith's Run in the $10k PLO at PokerNews
