The Million Dollar Poker/Golf Challenge
After the glamour of the Durrr million dollar challenge comes the $1 million golf challenge. Dusty ‘leatherass’ Schmidt claims he's the best golfer/poker player in the world and will put up $1 million to prove it.
Tiger Woods he may not be but Dusty ‘Leatherass’ Schmidt is a former golfing pro and full time poker professional. Such is his confidence in his combined abilities at the felt and the green that he has challenged anybody out there to play him at golf and poker for a $1 million. And it’s not April 1st.
Poker and golf are developing a quite disturbing relationship with the like of Phil Ivey, Brunson and Negreanu spending more and more time at the green of the golf course. Quite where the link(s) came from is anybody’s guess but if any of them think they can beat Dusty Schmidt then there is money to be made.
Schmidt has issued a $1 million challenge to anyone that will play him in eight, 9-hole golf matches and 10 heads-up poker matches. Each round of golf will be worth $50,000, and the overall winner of the golf matches will win $100,000. Each heads-up poker match will also be worth $50,000.
"I mainly decided to issue the challenge because if I'm not the best poker and golf player out there, I'd like to see someone who can beat me," Schmidt said. "Plus it doesn't hurt to draw a little attention to my new website (10thGreen.com)."
So it’s a publicity stunt? Schmidt has been receiving a plethora of criticism on internet forums across the poker world with people labeling it as nothing more than the aforementioned publicity stunt.
Many state it's ridiculous to think any serious golfer would take him on or indeed take him seriously and if they were, he would have to up the stakes; $1 million is peanuts to most of them. Indeed, does the poker world give a damn? Schmidt does not hold the kudos of a mega-star like Durrr.
Poker players might not be lining up to take on the challenge. Poker might well be a game of skill, but isn’t as reliant on skill as golf and Schmidt can certainly hit a gold ball cleaner than your average poker star.
Schmidt has gone so far as to state he didn't put out this challenge just to get action. He wants to attract someone from the pro-golf world who is also into poker and prove himself to be the best golfer-slash-poker-player out there. "The guy that makes the most sense would be Rocco Mediate," Schmidt said.
Not only did Mediate give Tiger Woods a run for his money at the 2008 U.S. Open, losing in a sudden-death playoff, he's also played in some top level poker tournaments, including the World Series of Poker. The world awaits an acceptance. “Best way to spoil a good walk”, Winston Churchill said that on golf.
