For a discussion on this hand, please head over to my Facebook page:

PokerStars Game #59971020999: Hold’em No Limit ($3/$6 USD) – 2011/03/28 15:22:20 PT [2011/03/28 18:22:20 ET]
Table ‘Rosa XII’ 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: dankness3 ($733.05 in chips)
Seat 2: PoorUser ($608 in chips)
Seat 3: Knut204 (…$875.90 in chips)
Seat 4: Leatherass9 ($616.05 in chips)
Seat 5: radocz999 ($756.45 in chips)
Seat 6: Scarface.VLT ($600 in chips)
Knut204: posts small blind $3
Leatherass9: posts big blind $6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Leatherass9 [Td Kd]
radocz999: folds
Scarface.VLT: folds
dankness3: raises $12 to $18
PoorUser: folds
Knut204: folds
Leatherass9: calls $12
*** FLOP *** [7d Th 8h]
Leatherass9: checks
dankness3: checks
*** TURN *** [7d Th 8h] [8d]
Leatherass9: bets $32
dankness3: calls $32
*** RIVER *** [7d Th 8h 8d] [Jh]
Leatherass9: checks
dankness3: bets $78
Leatherass9: raises $488.05 to $566.05 and is all-in
dankness3: folds
Uncalled bet ($488.05) returned to Leatherass9
Leatherass9 collected $256 from pot
Leatherass9: doesn’t show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $259 | Rake $3
Board [7d Th 8h 8d Jh]
Seat 1: dankness3 folded on the River
Seat 2: PoorUser (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: Knut204 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Leatherass9 (big blind) collected ($256)
Seat 5: radocz999 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: Scarface.VLT folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

In hindsight, this probably became inevitable the moment Paul Hoppe and I titled our book “Don’t Listen To Phil Hellmuth: Correcting Poker’s 50 Greatest Misconceptions.”

While our podcast has quickly gained a reputation for kicking up dust, this particular version is noteworthy because after several weeks of conjecture, I pick up the gauntlet and say I would like to play Hellmuth heads up in Las Vegas in July. Below are a few excerpts from the dialogue that went down when we recorded today’s podcast. (To hear it aloud you can skip to the 7-minute mark) :

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HOST SCOTT BROWN: I want to ask you about a topic that has been building steam lately, and it pertains to you and Phil Hellmuth. I suppose that given the title of your book, “Don’t Listen To Phil Hellmuth,” it was inevitable that people would ask about a Leatherass vs. Hellmuth challenge. As the book has gained momentum, so has talk of a challenge, and lately we’ve been hearing that Hellmuth would be up for that.

ME: I would welcome that action. I can’t imagine finding a softer opponent for that kind of money. That would be wonderful. Would I play him for some astronomical sum of money that would bankrupt me or cause me to have to borrow money if I lost? No. But will I play him for a large amount of money to the rest of the world? Like would I play him for 100 grand? Yes.

SCOTT: So if he’s up for it, you’re up for it?

ME: If he’s up for it, I’m up for it. I’ll be in Vegas all summer for the World Series. I’ve heard that he frequents the World Series of Poker from time to time.

SCOTT: This could prove to be an interesting summer for you.

ME: We’ll see. I know that if Phil’s as well off as think he is, I can’t probably make it super worth his time. I can play him for what’s almost double the average salary of a person in the U.S. I’d play him for double that in one day, which I think is a pretty big freakin’ amount of money.  I never said I’m richer than Phil Hellmuth. But I am saying I’m a better poker player.

Here is the outline for today’s podcast:

*{3:30} I announce my plan to get poker fans free content every day through my website, www.dustyschmidt.net
*(7:00) Leatherass vs. The Brat
*(13.58) I praise Negreanu’s comeback, and say who I think are the better pros: online or live.
*(18:40) I discuss the way I determined which changes to make in my game at the beginning of 2011, and tell listeners how they can do it, too. Specifically, I explain how to elevate your showdown game.
*(28:40) I tell players the specific ways they can start now and ready their games for the inevitable day when poker becomes legal in the United States — and detail what I, myself, am doing.

***

One additional note: We’ve extended through Monday the promotion on DustySchmidt.net where buyers can get 30% off my books, “Treat Your Poker Like A Business” and “Don’t Listen To Phil Hellmuth.” Past buyers, remember you can get an additional 20% off by entering your special COUPON CODE.

I am proud to announce that I have renewed with Poker Stars to continue to be a team online pro. I am really looking forward to remaining with Poker Stars. I didn’t even give it a second thought when they asked me to continue being a team online pro when my contract was about to expire. I have considered it a privilege and an honor to promote Poker Stars in any way I can. I played on there for the vast majority of my poker throughout my career so it is great to be able to represent a company that I 100% believe in. I have had a few things come across my desk that folks have asked me to endorse and the bottom line is if I don’t think it is a great product, I am not going to represent it, bottom line. So when you get literally your favorite poker room to ask you to promote them, it’s like, “Duh.” Anyway, thank you again Poker Stars for this wonderful opportunity!

Cash games have gone really well this year so far, but I am still waiting for a tournament breakthrough. I have put myself in position late in so many big tournaments, it just feels like something great is about to happen. I just can’t envision getting so deep in so many tournaments with so many chips and not following through for a win in one of them at some point. Hopefully I will save my run good for the SCOOP series on Poker Stars that begins on May 8th. I am taking a vacation right before that trip to Bandon Dunes so I can recharge the batteries and get in a good frame of mind for the 2 week SCOOP tourney series. Fingers crossed I get me so me run good!

I have to applaud Daniel for taking on Isildur. That is one heck of a tough task that I know I sure want no part of. He is one heck of a heads up player and obviously has done well against some great players so for Daniel to take him on in back to back weekends was pretty cool. Daniel lost some money, but given how much work Isildur puts into his game and how little Daniel is able to focus on heads up online poker, I think Daniel did himself proud to win one of the 2 matches he played in, even though he was down money overall.

In fact, I have to applaud Daniel in general for his views on poker. He literally is the exact opposite reason of why I named my recent book Don’t Listen To Phil Hellmuth. One reason I named it after Phil is because I am tackling bad advice throughout the book and how to play correctly. And Phil not only dominated the list of pros giving bad advice, but he also still tries to claim he is the best player and how dare anyone question the champ? He is seemingly oblivious to the fact that may not even be a top 5,000 poker player anymore. Well, Daniel has been very vocal about how being involved in so many peripheral poker related things took his focus off his own game and a lot of people passed him up in the process.

But because Daniel is such a great and honest guy, he admitted this to himself and actually chose to seek out some of the better players, many of which were online players, and was open to listening to them. Not every mega star in every sport would be willing to admit something like this. But Daniel did and you have to give him a lot of credit for that.

Now I think it is safe to say to all of those people out there who were giving him a hard time after some of his public displays of less than great poker, Daniel IS BACK! I have observed him play a bit lately and he is really playing some top tier poker and that is apparent to many of the best players out there. He not only is playing really well, but as evidenced by his commentary at the PCA this year, he knows the “why” behind everything he is doing now which is maybe the biggest thing.

I am not going to make any bold predictions that 2011 will be a big year for Daniel because I think the primary factor involved in a big year for a tournament player is luck. Any tournament players’ year is pretty much going to boil down to how he runs over about a 500 to 5,000 hand sample size. And not only how he runs once he gets late in an event, but also how the cooler hands are distributed (are you #1 in chips and run KK into AA against the person #2 in chips which devastates you, or a short stacker with 4 blinds left?). So in no way shape or form would I ever make any sort of predictions in a game so dominated by luck, but let’s say this: If Daniel were primarily a cash game player where by year end you pretty much get out of poker what you put into it, I would say that he would almost undoubtedly have his best year of his career. He is playing the best poker I have ever seen him play and I am proud that the face of the company that I also represent is playing the kind of poker that is well deserving of the mantle he has earned. Nice work Daniel!

Thanks everyone for listening to Leatherass on Poker. You’ve made it one of the most listened-to poker podcasts out there in just a few short weeks.

Going forward, we’ll producing numerous podcasts every week, with better audio quality. We’ll also be bringing in some great guests and a cast of characters we think you’re going to enjoy. We’ll also be getting the podcast up on iTunes.

One thing you’ve been asking for is more structure so that you can skip ahead and move back depending on what you’re in the mood for: commentary, information on treating your poker like a business, strategy and/or analysis. You’ll see the outline for this podcast below, along with the hand I discuss at the end of the podcast.

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Here is the outline for this week's podcast:

COMMENTARY

1. My commentary on the latest scandal at Ultimate Bet, which he considers a "predatory website";

2. The recent New York Times article on Daniel "Jungleman" Cates, and what we can learn from his competitive advantage;

3. The PokerStars/Wynn alliance, and the potential "monumental" outcome for American poker players;

TREATING YOUR POKER LIKE A BUSINESS

4. I goes into further detail on his "100 buy-in rule," which he first espoused in my book, "Treat Your Poker Like A Business." How does it apply to part-time players?

STRATEGY

5. We get into how mid-stakes games have changed since the buy-in changes.

6. We'll also get into the importance of win rate, and its relevance to evaluating your own game.

HAND ANALYSIS

7. I analyze the following hand from my session Monday:

PokerStars Game #59967929958: Hold'em No Limit ($3/$6 USD) - 2011/03/28 14:28:49 PT [2011/03/28 17:28:49 ET]

Table 'Roswitha XI' 6-max Seat #5 is the button

Seat 1: PoorUser ($632.70 in chips)

Seat 2: kapie123 ($249 in chips)

Seat 4: carreir...a ($591 in chips)

Seat 5: Leatherass9 ($625.85 in chips)

Seat 6: Zyrak ($623.75 in chips)

Zyrak: posts small blind $3

PoorUser: posts big blind $6

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to Leatherass9 [3h 4h]

kapie123: folds

carreira: folds

Leatherass9: raises $6 to $12

Zyrak: raises $30 to $42

PoorUser: calls $36

Leatherass9: calls $30

*** FLOP *** [Js 2h Jc]

Zyrak: bets $60

PoorUser: calls $60

Leatherass9: calls $60

*** TURN *** [Js 2h Jc] [5s]

Zyrak: checks

proggrezive joins the table at seat #3

PoorUser: checks

Leatherass9: bets $523.85 and is all-in

Zyrak: folds

PoorUser: folds

Uncalled bet ($523.85) returned to Leatherass9

Leatherass9 collected $304 from pot

Leatherass9: doesn't show hand

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $306 | Rake $2

Board [Js 2h Jc 5s]

Seat 1: PoorUser (big blind) folded on the Turn

Seat 2: kapie123 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 4: carreira folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 5: Leatherass9 (button) collected ($304)

Seat 6: Zyrak (small blind) folded on the Turn

***

One final housekeeping note: My books are 30% off on this website through March 31. Past buyers, remember to use your special codes to receive an additional 20% off your future purchases.

Here is the hand of the day. Interesting spots on both the turn and river. Obviously on the flop I am making a pretty aggressive flop raise figuring I can fold lots of hands and occasionally make a monster/bluff my opponent at some point in the hand. The river was gross and I opted to turn my hand into a bluff thinking he had 2 pair a lot.

For a discussion of my hand, go on over to my Facebook page. Thanks!

****

PokerStars Game #59863372299: Hold’em No Limit ($5/$10 USD) – 2011/03/26 19:02:17 PT [2011/03/26 22:02:17 ET]
Table ‘Algunde IX’ 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: DRluck3 ($1015 in chips)
Seat 2: katallo ($1000 in chips)
Seat 3: Williegb (…$1109.75 in chips)
Seat 4: dryath ($1095 in chips)
Seat 5: Leatherass9 ($3004.35 in chips)
Seat 6: sletje6666 ($1811.60 in chips)
Leatherass9: posts small blind $5
sletje6666: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Leatherass9 [Tc Ah]
DRluck3: folds
katallo: folds
Williegb: raises $10 to $20
dryath: folds
Leatherass9: calls $15
sletje6666: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qh 8d Kh]
Leatherass9: checks
Williegb: bets $30
Leatherass9: raises $60 to $90
Williegb: calls $60
*** TURN *** [Qh 8d Kh] [Ac]
Leatherass9: bets $165
Williegb: calls $165
*** RIVER *** [Qh 8d Kh Ac] [7h]
Leatherass9: bets $465
Williegb: folds
Uncalled bet ($465) returned to Leatherass9
Leatherass9 collected $557 from pot
Leatherass9: doesn’t show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $560 | Rake $3
Board [Qh 8d Kh Ac 7h]
Seat 1: DRluck3 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 2: katallo folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: Williegb folded on the River
Seat 4: dryath (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: Leatherass9 (small blind) collected ($557)
Seat 6: sletje6666 (big blind) folded before Flop

Yesterday I came across some truly great news. We went to the gender ultra sound and we found out we are having a boy! We have an 18 month old girl named Lennon and late this summer we will have another baby boy.

I have sweated some pretty big river cards in my day, but nothing compares to the sweat I had yesterday at the ultrasound appointment. The baby was positioned in such a way that made it very difficult to determine the sex. I sat there feeling as nervous as humanly possible while they tried to determine the sex. It took over 45 minutes of trying to before the ultrasound tech said it was a boy. I always dreamed of having one boy and one girl and my wife and I already agreed that we were only going to have two no matter what the sex. So this was an awfully big moment since I really wanted a son. When the tech finally said we were having a boy, that was definitely a moment I won’t soon forget.

One thing that is going to be impossible is to find a name that lives up to our daughter’s name. I don’t know how many of you know about this story since I told this in my blog over 18 months ago, but we named our daughter Lennon after John Lennon. We picked out the name Lennon just a few days after we found out the sex which was about 5 months before she was born. She was due November 1st, 2009, but ended up popping out more than 3 weeks early on October 9th, 2009 at 10:24AM. I texted some friends to say that she was born and my friend and business partner, Scott, texted me and said that he couldn’t believe that my daughter Lennon was born on John Lennon’s birthday. I had no idea it was John Lennon’s birthday and thought that was a miracle in itself that she was born on the same day as her name sake.

Later that night while my wife was sleeping, I did some research online and tried to figure out what time John Lennon was born. I discovered that John was born on October 9th at 624PM in England. 624 PM in England is 1024AM here in Oregon where Lennon was born, so they were born on the exact same day and time!! And I can prove that I picked this name out for her well in advance because I wrote an entire blog 5 months before she was born about how we picked out her name. So needless to say, that is a pretty extraordinary circumstance revolving around my daughter’s birth, and I don’t really know how we follow up on picking names after something like that! We have our work cut out for us!

*******************************************************************************************

Poker has been great this month so far. My results online and live have been excellent. Despite taking 2 weeks in March where I vacationed in Laguna Beach and played only a very small amount of poker on the trip, I am still having one of my best months in over a year poker wise. It sure is nice to rake in some big bucks on a short month with my vacation. I am going to get some graphs up of my results poker wise since I wrote Don’t Listen To Phil Hellmuth. When I was writing that book, I really had to take a look at my entire poker game and examine it from every angle. In the process of writing the book, I realized that I had many flaws in my game. And since I am never going to put out a book that I don’t think will truly help people in a tremendous way, I knew that I basically needed to rip apart my own game in order to write a good book. Sure, I knew I could just write down many of my existing strategies and it would still be an OK book, but I wanted to write something that I thought would be great, not simply OK.

So Paul Hoppe (Co author) and I broke down my game from every angle and rebuilt it. While we did that, we realized a ton of things that we felt simply had to be in the book. So this book is sort of a reflection on the evolution of my own game. And since I wrote Don’t Listen To Phil Hellmuth, my win rate is the best it has been since 2007 when I won 10bb/100 (bb = big blinds) on the year over a million + hands. So far I am winning about 8bb/100 since my book was released in paper back. The crazy thing is, when I wrote Treat Your Poker Like A Business, I also had one of my best all time months the month following writing the book. When you have to break things down as much as I do when I write these books, it just really gets your poker mind thinking in the right direction. So who knows, maybe I will keep writing as many of these as I can simply to improve my own game!

********************************************************************************************

Some dustyschmidt.net notes. First off, the new podcast calledLeatherass On Poker is going really well. We are getting far more downloads than expected, so as a result we are going to take the show much more seriously. We are going to air the show more often than just once a week and mess around with the formatting of the show to give people more of what they want. It is exciting to be a part of this podcast and to see so many people liking the show. If anyone is interested in listening to the show, you can follow us here:

Our 30% off sale on all of my books is coming to a close at the end of the month. For those that missed it, we are running a 30% off sale in honor of my 30th birthday in March (it was March 6th). No codes are needed. If you go to the store, the discount is already applied. So far we have seen an enormous number of people take advantage of this promotion and I want to thank everyone who has.

I also started a “Hand of the Day” where I put up onfacebook my most interesting hand of the day (only on the days I actually play poker). Some of these posts are getting up to 100 comments on my wall, so I know people are liking this. With that in mind, I want to let everyone know who is not already my friend on Facebook, that you can simply friend request me and I will be sure to add you so you can be a part of the discussion. We get some great conversation going since I have over 4,000 friends on there right now, most of them poker players.

I need to move up where they “respect my raises.”

Below is the hand of the day. Discussion of the hand is over at my Facebook page:

***

PokerStars Game #59729323709: Hold’em No Limit ($3/$6 USD) – 2011/03/24 11:50:09 PT [2011/03/24 14:50:09 ET]
Table ‘Basilea X’ 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Leatherass9 ($600 in chips)
Seat 2: shelilia ($489.85 in chips)
Seat 3: Dimadu… ($646 in chips)
Seat 4: tomsOn ($625.10 in chips)
Seat 5: 2PairWind ($1231 in chips)
Seat 6: Nooffub ($1130.50 in chips)
Nooffub: posts small blind $3
Leatherass9: posts big blind $6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Leatherass9 [Kd Js]
shelilia: folds
Dimadu: folds
tomsOn: raises $12 to $18
2PairWind: folds
Nooffub: folds
Leatherass9: calls $12
*** FLOP *** [Qh As 7c]
Leatherass9: checks
tomsOn: bets $30
Leatherass9: raises $60 to $90
tomsOn: calls $60
*** TURN *** [Qh As 7c] [5s]
Leatherass9: bets $125
tomsOn: calls $125
*** RIVER *** [Qh As 7c 5s] [Qs]
Leatherass9: bets $367 and is all-in
tomsOn: calls $367
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Leatherass9: shows [Kd Js] (a pair of Queens)
tomsOn: shows [Tc Th] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
tomsOn collected $1200 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1203 | Rake $3
Board [Qh As 7c 5s Qs]
Seat 1: Leatherass9 (big blind) showed [Kd Js] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: shelilia folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: Dimadu folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: tomsOn showed [Tc Th] and won ($1200) with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 5: 2PairWind (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: Nooffub (small blind) folded before Flop

Here is hand #2. I don’t have a lot of reads here on my opponent, but I took an unusual line here for me and then made a play on the river that I thought was a good spot for it. Hand is below, with discussion over on my Facebook page.

***

PokerStars Game #59692260540: Hold’em No Limit (€2/€4 EUR) – 2011/03/23 16:50:54 PT [2011/03/23 19:50:54 ET]
Table ‘Cortusa VII’ 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 4: Arrifes1976 (€357.50 in chips)
Seat 5: WhatA298 (€400 in chips)
Seat 6: Carl…etheman (€418 in chips)
Seat 7: vinivici9586 (€400 in chips)
Seat 8: Leatherass9 (€400 in chips)
Seat 9: RivrMeADream (€400 in chips)
Leatherass9: posts small blind €2
RivrMeADream: posts big blind €4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Leatherass9 [Th Kh]
Arrifes1976: folds
WhatA298: folds
Carletheman: folds
vinivici9586: folds
Leatherass9: raises €8 to €12
RivrMeADream: raises €20 to €32
Leatherass9: calls €20
*** FLOP *** [Jd 9s 2d]
Leatherass9: checks
RivrMeADream: bets €36
Ginface joins the table at seat #1
Leatherass9: calls €36
*** TURN *** [Jd 9s 2d] [Td]
Leatherass9: checks
RivrMeADream: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jd 9s 2d Td] [Ac]
Leatherass9: checks
RivrMeADream: bets €56
Leatherass9: raises €276 to €332 and is all-in
RivrMeADream said, “orly?”
RivrMeADream: folds
Uncalled bet (€276) returned to Leatherass9
Leatherass9 collected €246 from pot
Leatherass9: doesn’t show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot €248 | Rake €2
Board [Jd 9s 2d Td Ac]
Seat 4: Arrifes1976 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: WhatA298 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: Carletheman folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 7: vinivici9586 (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: Leatherass9 (small blind) collected (€246)
Seat 9: RivrMeADream (big blind) folded on the River

Going to have 2 hands of the day here today. First one is this. This one I got very lucky on, but there are a lot of lessons in this hand. First thing to note is the SB has been 3 betting way too much from the blinds and is what I would call a very aggressive, but overall weak player. Hand is below, with discussion over on my Facebook page:

***

PokerStars Game #59687868889: Hold’em No Limit ($3/$6 USD) – 2011/03/23 15:28:21 PT [2011/03/23 18:28:21 ET]
Table ‘Kamenyar X’ 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Leatherass9 ($1203.05 in chips)
Seat 2: topkeuch ($166.70 in chips)
Seat 3: D…Rluck3 ($669 in chips)
Seat 4: brizzybreech ($600 in chips)
Seat 6: jjjjbbb ($1379.85 in chips)
jjjjbbb: posts small blind $3
Leatherass9: posts big blind $6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Leatherass9 [Ks Qd]
topkeuch: folds
DRluck3: folds
brizzybreech: raises $9 to $15
jjjjbbb: raises $21 to $36
Leatherass9: raises $54 to $90
brizzybreech: folds
jjjjbbb: calls $54
*** FLOP *** [Jc 3c 6c]
jjjjbbb: checks
Leatherass9: bets $100
jjjjbbb: calls $100
*** TURN *** [Jc 3c 6c] [9d]
jjjjbbb: bets $102
Leatherass9: raises $186 to $288
jjjjbbb: calls $186
*** RIVER *** [Jc 3c 6c 9d] [Td]
CARALHOFODAS leaves the table
jjjjbbb: checks
NosferatuMan joins the table at seat #5
Leatherass9: bets $725.05 and is all-in
jjjjbbb: calls $725.05
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Leatherass9: shows [Ks Qd] (a straight, Nine to King)
jjjjbbb: mucks hand
Leatherass9 collected $2419.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2421.10 | Rake $2
Board [Jc 3c 6c 9d Td]
Seat 1: Leatherass9 (big blind) showed [Ks Qd] and won ($2419.10) with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 2: topkeuch folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: DRluck3 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: brizzybreech (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: jjjjbbb (small blind) mucked [Ac Js]