Drag the Bar pro Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt will play in the PartyPoker Big Game IV, a high-stakes poker cash game that will be filmed at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in London from April 11th to 13th.
The lineup for the PartyPoker Big Game IV features Tony G, Unabomber Poker front man Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, embattled pro Luke “Full Flush” Schwartz, Isaac Haxton, Neil Channing, and Laurence Grondin. Added to the fray last week was mystery Swedish pro Isildur1, who may be wearing a mask to preserve his identity when the cards are dealt in eight days’ time. Schmidt’s invitation to play came during an appearance on Jesse May’s “The Poker Show.”
On facing off against Isildur1 and the cast of characters in the PartyPoker Big Game IV, Schmidt told Poker News Daily, “It just got a lot more exciting with Isildur1. I was obviously excited to go on the show no matter what. Being a part of Team PokerStars Online and being more mainstream have caused me to become more inspired to play in live events. This is the first event I’ve done away from online and to do it against Isildur1 is pretty exciting.” Players will be voted off the set every two hours and, when they enter, will be accompanied by theme music.
Schmidt will be squaring off against some of the top pros in poker, with even more competition to be announced. The talented golfer and poker player explained, “When I’m playing 15 tables, I resort to default play, so I think I might be a little underestimated because I tend to play more straightforward. To have the chance to play one table will be fun and I’ll be able to take my time. I’m excited to have that opportunity.” Tony G is purportedly staking Isildur1 in the PartyPoker Big Game IV and even offered to lend the Swede his trademark Kermit the Frog costume.
Schmidt was formerly an instructor at StoxPoker and now makes his home at Drag the Bar. The former will fully merge with sister site CardRunners on May 1st and recently saw its namesake, Nick “Stoxtrader” Grudzien, admit to multi-accounting and leave the site. Schmidt gave his take on the merge of CardRunners and StoxPoker: “It’s a little sad. I put a lot of work into trying to build that site up and it’s come down. I just wish things were done a little bit differently.”
Drag the Bar features a stable of poker coaches that includes Hunter “BeachJustice” Bick, Jeremy “Chipsteela” Menard, Matt “mbolt1” Bolt, Jake “7DeLuX” Wilkins, and Ross “Milwaukee2” Hartung. The site has been motoring along in recent months and Schmidt explained, “We’ve been signing up a lot of members and we’re getting a lot of buzz. The guys there do it the right way and I think it’ll become a major player in the poker training industry. I think it has a lot of potential and it’s playing out that way. I’m seeing a lot of the same things as StoxPoker, as it has that feel of a young company growing quickly.”
Schmidt is a newly minted member of Team PokerStars Online, a star-studded group of grinders that includes Thomas “Boku87” Boekhoff, Randy “nanonoko” Lew, and Nichoel “NicP” Peppe. Schmidt recalled how his signing with the world’s largest online poker site came about: “Once I left CardRunners, I was pigeon-filled as being a Full Tilt guy. No one ever approached me. As soon as I got away from it, I had a half-dozen offers. I just mentioned to PokerStars that I had a few offers; that’s where I would have preferred to go anyway. I was happy they wanted to do it.”
Matchroom Sport, which organized the live version of the Durrrr Challenge at the Les Ambassadeurs Club, will serve in the same capacity for the PartyPoker Big Game IV.
