Michael Smith hit the jackpot again on holiday in Las Vegas – and now he wants to cash in on being world champion.
After counting his chips from a profitable break in Sin City, 'Bully Boy' resolved to clean up on the oche, saying: “You know when your luck's in – and it's been a good six months for me since I won the Grand Slam.”
And Smith has already settled on one long-term ambition: To win more world titles than his old mentor Gary Anderson. In the week when two-time world champion Adrian Lewis - who earned his 'Jackpot' soubriquet from a $72,000 win on the one-armed bandits in Vegas - announced he was taking a break from darts, Smith revealed how his planned blow-out on the Strip turned into a fistful of dollars.
The world No.1, who was pictured on social media with a huge cigar and £750 bottle of Don Perignon champagne, said: “I took 12 grand with me to blow it, and on my last night in Vegas I only had four grand left.
“I decided to blow two grand gambling and spend the rest on shopping – but I ended up winning the jackpot. I put two grand down and ended up taking 22 grand back to my room! I’ve won the Slam, Worlds, Bahrain, one night in the Premier League and the German Grand Prix.
“I’ve only won two titles this year but there’s still eight months left and a load more tournaments yet to play. Last year I ended up with eight or nine titles, so the plan is to do better than that.
“I just need to give up thinking. In the Premier League, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. Like the World Championship, if it’s meant to be it will happen for me. The pressure is off now that I’m World No.1 and world champion - but I quite liked the pressure of wanting to achieve that."
Smith, 32, admitted to feeling demotivated after his ascent to the the top of his sport, but is now targeting a minimum of three world crowns: “Now that I’ve got it, I’ve lost that little bit of fight, but I’m sure that hunger will come back," he added.
“I want more world titles than Gary (Anderson). I got to World No.1, which he never did. We are still mates, and when we retire I want some bragging rights over him.”
