Pro Who Dissed Helmuth Hired as Poker Coach (Video)
Poker pro Dusty "Leatherass" Schmidt, who famously wrote a book saying fellow poker pro Phil "Poker Brat" Hellmuth Jr. didn't know anything about playing poker, has been hired as a poker coach for a website that charges a fee to view instructional poker videos!
Schmidt a few months ago wrote a book called "Don't Listen to Phil Hellmuth," which bashed the famed Poker Brat's playing style.
The book drew criticism because of its absurd notion--that Schmidt knows more about poker than Hellmuth.
The cocky Hellmuth has won a record 11 World Series of Poker (WSOP) championship gold bracelets while the even-cockier Schmidt has won the same number of bracelets as Bozo the Clown--zero.
Hellmuth himself even weighed in on the controversy, responding to a question posed to him on Facebook by Gamlbing911.com by saying, "If I know nothing about poker, Michael Jordan knows nothing about basketball."
Schmidt tried to deflect the criticism by saying he meant he's a better cash game player than Hellmuth--WSOP bracelets are earned in tournament play--but the damage was done and Schmidt came out looking like a Grade A boob in the eyes of many.
Now comes news that a clownish poker pro who thinks one of the greatest poker players in the world knows nothing has been hired by Bluefire Poker (www.bluefire.com) to teach others how to play poker.
Schmidt made the announcement on his blog at www.cardplayer.com on Saturday, writing: "I’m proud to announce that today I was added to the coaching roster at Bluefire Poker. This makes me proud and excited in so many ways.
"First, the site’s founder, Phil Galfond, is arguably the best poker player in the world. I know that being in his midst will help me grow immeasurably, and I can’t wait to pass that knowledge on to my own students. When Phil asked me to audition for a coaching position, that alone was a huge compliment. To impress him and then be chosen is beyond words.
"Second, perhaps the best testimonial I can give about Bluefire is that long before I became an instructor there, I was a client. I’ve personally been a member on the site for a long time. I’ve watched countless videos on the site, and it’s a beautiful thing for all of that to come full circle and to know be called a Bluefire coach."
According to the Bluefire website, it charges members $100 to sign-up and then an additional $30 per month for the privilege of viewing instructional poker videos made by a variety of mostly unknown poker pros-turned-coaches such as Niman Kenkre and J.P. Zdancewikz.
Now Bluefire can add to its stable of coaches a pro who's well-known because of controversy but whose poker judgment is questionable at best and ludicrous at worst.
One hundred and thirty bucks to view videos made by this genius?
Only in America!
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
