Much of the attention of the poker community in recent days has been focused on the amicable parting of Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo and Bodog. In another announcement that came out earlier this week, a top poker teacher has announced that he will no longer be a part of the poker training team he helped reach its current prominence.
In a blog posting earlier this week, noted poker player/golfer Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt used his 400th post on the popular Stoxpoker/CardRunners site to announce his departure from the training team: “I will admit I never really thought this day would come, but due to irreconcilable differences with Stoxpoker/Cardrunners, I am resigning as a lead coach.”
While he doesn’t go into detail about what the “irreconcilable differences” are, Schmidt is gracious in his departure: “I want to thank everyone who watched my videos and followed my blogs over the past three years here at Stoxpoker.com. It was you guys who kept me going during some of these difficult times with Stoxpoker/Cardrunners.”
Similar to Bonomo’s situation – in which he stated that there are several sponsorship opportunities available to him – Schmidt is looking to the future of his poker teaching career. “In the coming days and at an appropriate time, I will announce which training site I will begin making videos for”, “Leatherass” tells his readers. It was quickly revealed that Drag the Bar would be his new home.
Schmidt started out on Stoxpoker as a low-level grinder who was looking to improve his own poker game. After intense participation in the forums, Dusty became a co-owner of the site and began to provide his own instruction to others. Along with fellow Stoxpoker members Nick “Stoxtrader” Grudzien (who was one of the founders of the site), Bryce “Freedom25” Paradis, and Matt Matros, Stoxpoker became one of the top poker training sites in the world.
In September 2008, the merger of Stoxpoker and CardRunners was finalized, with both the Stoxpoker team and the CardRunners team – Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby, Andrew “muddywater” Wiggins, Brian “sbrugby” Townsend, Brian “stinger85” Hastings, Mike “Schneids” Schneider, Cole “cts” South, and Eric “p3achy_keen” Liu – offering training that crossed their respective borders. While continuing to teach on Stoxpoker, Schmidt made other news in the poker world through a prop bet he proposed.
A top-notch golfer, Schmidt made a $1 million prop bet in April 2009 that he could beat anyone in a 72-hole golf match and in 10 heads-up poker matches, which no one accepted. At the time, Schmidt was a noted amateur player who, by his own admission, had broken some of Tiger Woods’ amateur records. The proposed prop bet, however, incurred the wrath of the United States Golf Association (USGA), which yanked his amateur status over the wagering and the promotion of the event.
Schmidt challenged the USGA’s decision, even threatening to take the leading authority in the golf world to court in July. After losing a preliminary hearing on the subject, Schmidt dropped his suit and decided that, eventually, he would attempt to play on the PGA Tour while continuing to play poker. He is currently suspended from amateur play for one year.
Dusty finishes his blog post by saying, “Thanks again to everyone for all of the fantastic experiences. I really enjoyed my time here helping out so many members. Stoxpoker.com truly is a great community and I will miss it greatly.” Poker fans can now catch up with Schmidt at Drag the Bar.
