Smith retired from professional darts at a relatively young age in 1983 to spend more time with his children.
Darts writer Derek Brown in 1981 described Smith as "only 5ft 7in (1.70m) and is wiry with a muscular build one might expect of a woodcutter."
"[1] In 1973 his ability as a Dumfries county player was quickly recognised by the newly-founded Scottish Darts Association (SDA).
[1] Smith's breakthrough on the major tournament circuit was winning the Scottish Masters in 1976 beating Dave Hill in the final.
Barlow had pulled off the shock of the tournament in beating the then world number one, John Lowe.
[2] In March he represented Scotland in the Queen's Silver Jubilee 3's International Classic with team mates George Nicol and Eric MacLean in London.
With the final all square between Scotland and England, Smith played Eric Bristow in the decider.
Smith described in one report 'had stolen up like a black cat in the night', and threw a 72 finish to clinch the trophy.
[3] In winning the British Matchplay he beat Bill Lennard in the semi-finals and then Eric Bristow in the final.
[5] He eliminated Andre Declerq of Belgium and Wales' Alan Evans and then beat John Lowe in the final.
[7] Smith reached the final of the 1980 Winmau World Masters, beating Cliff Lazarenko, Canadian Bob Sinnaeve and USA's Nicky Virachkul to reach the final, where he lost to John Lowe.
[8] In 1981 captaining[9] Jocky Wilson and Angus Ross for Scotland, Smith won the 1981 BDO Nations Cup beating Bristow, Lowe and Lazarenko of England in the final.
[11] Dave Lanning commentating described "The indeterminable Rab Smith" as, "A fine, fluid player on his day" and "a dapper little character, there's a lot said about the big gross darts players but Rab presents a very neat, clean cut image.
"[9] Lowe beat Smith 2–1 in the News of the World Individual Darts Championship semi final at the Wembley Arena.
In 1979, Smith beat United States's Conrad Daniels in the first round and then avenged his defeat of Lord in the previous year by beating him in the second round, he went on to bow out in the quarter-final once more, losing to then-reigning champion Leighton Rees of Wales.
[1] In the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London, Smith is the player throwing the darts in match on TV in the apartment of the character played by Jenny Agutter.