"Treat your Poker Like a Business" (by Dusty "Leatherass" Schmidt)

I just brought this new poker book that has been realesed and it is absolutely fantastic. Easily the best poker book ive ever read. We will see what changes it does to the amount of money getting off the tables and into my pocket instead of back into games that i suck at(2-7 etc.).

For anyone who is actually serious about making money regularly you need to read this book.

Sorry about the plug but in the last week or so I have been forced to completly change the way I think about and manage my poker as reading this book has completly altered my way of thinking. Its so simple that my biggest leaks werent how I played but how I managed my poker off the tables and mentally aswell as financially.

AlienGenius im sure would say this is one of the better books he will read(assuming he reads it which is pretty likely now.... ).

Below is Copied from Dusty Schmidts site about the book:

ABOUT TREAT YOUR POKER LIKE A BUSINESS
Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt is known as the definitive “grinder,” with a legendary ability to focus during marathon online sessions. But this isn’t the ability to which he attributes his success. Instead, Schmidt says his multi-million dollar achievements are due to his ability to apply old-fashioned business concepts to the game of poker.
Five years into his career, Schmidt’s resumé is legendary: Nearly 7 million hands and 10,000 hours played. Mind-blowing win rates spanning massive sample sizes. $3 million won in cash games exclusively. Never had a losing month. Unbeknownst to Schmidt, combining poker and business was revolutionary (and somewhat controversial) in a poker world fueled largely by bravado. With Treat Your Poker Like A Business, Schmidt teaches other online players to monetize their abilities as he did. “All of the poker books and training sites have made poker players’ games better,” Schmidt writes. “But they haven’t necessarily taught them to make money.” Schmidt teaches readers how to manage bankroll, rationalize variance, play more tables, move up in stakes, avoid tilt, create new sources of revenue, and — most importantly — become more profitable.
Schmidt’s book also has a section on strategy which contains some of the most important tips in print, and places a special emphasis on the situations poker players most often find themselves in. Rather than focusing on massive pots, how to play aces, Treat Your Poker Like A Business is much more straightforward and practical. The book concentrates on scenarios that come around every few minutes, rather than the huge pots that often play themselves. The strategy section concentrates on common situations like being out of position with a small pair post-flop, facing a continuation bet and being in position with an open-ended straight draw.
Just as Moneyball did for baseball, Treat Your Poker Like A Business is poised to have a seismic impact on how poker is played, viewed and analyzed.

Heres the link:
http://www.dustyschmidt.net/

Enjoy!

This is a great concept that many people overlook when attempting to make a living/2nd income from poker or anything that starts out as an initial hobby.

Coming from a background in trading, this is something that is really pushed if your wanting to be successful when trading for a living or 2nd income.

These same principles apply to anything you take seriously, and I would recommend reading a book that covers such aspects (I cant comment on the book in this post as I havent read it, but the trading books I have read discussing this concept were invaluable)

Thank you for the post. I will add this book to my "poker book wish list".

Interesting, I have always treated my live poker playing like a business. I've had a hard time convincing my husband of that, but if you ask any of the regulars I play with they can tell you that I have talked about this concept for years.

People will say things like "As long as your having fun" and similar phrases during live play and I almost always respond with "Poker isn't about fun, it's about making money, it's a business and I treat it that way".

Anyways, I am glad someone wrote about this concept in depth and look forward to reading it. I am also curious as to AG's takes on this book.

sounds like a great read just from the summary you posted.

Def will have to add this to my christmas list as its been quite awhile since ive read a poker book (think the last one i read was Harrington on Holdem Vol. 1)

thanks for the post

thats the thing though, I too always thought I treated my poker purely as a business and money making venture, but after reading this book I realize how naieve I had been about my own situation. I have started to take a step back and evaluate my poker from a more objective point of view. I found it absolutely amazing how unbusiness like I really have been treating my poker.

Ive just had this massive poker apiffany and its the greatest feeling in the world. I now know why ive been so frustrated and swingy with my poker results over the past two years.

Very interesting, thanks Munchrs. Will definitley seek this one out...poker is all about the bottom line.

I don't play cash games but I ordered this book last week anyway because it seems to cover a lot of things that would apply to anyone who plays poker. I wanted the hard copy which doesn't start shipping until Dec 18th so I can't read it yet. If you order it now you get an autographed copy. It is $44.95 including shipping and you can pay for it from your one of your poker accounts.

I know ChuckT's has ordered it too -so maybe next month we can get a good discussion going.

I am also trying to con Dusty into an interview as my prize for being the 200th person to order the book lol.

Munchrs - I took the liberty of making an edit to your title.

Thanks for this,i will definately read this.

Lazmansa

I ordered my copy this morning,

It must be selling fairly well,I was 12,765 to order

Im not sure I will be done reading in time to discuss next month, but Ill try!

I really like being able to pay for it from my poker account.

Thanks to OP for the info on this book.


Snow

Wow - I knew he said it was selling well - but that is a lot of books since my order which was #200. I only ordered it late last week.

His hand is going to be very sore after signing all of those lol.

I order the printed version the day it was available (#72). Really looking forward to reading it.

does it matter which poker acct (stars, Ultimatebet,FTP, Carbon?)

Stars or FTP only I believe.

Yea - I think that is correct.

dam i got little over $70 on Carbon i would love to use on this book sigh...

I'm going to check this book out, sounds really interesting. Thanks for the post.

Wow, quite the thread. OK ordered number 12946, doubt I'll see before Xmas... all his elves must be busy...

Your response is even more intriguing to me now! I used to own a business for 12 years so I was keeping track of my play and profits and losses and such like a PNL report. I may have been applying what I thought I knew about business incorrectly to poker and now I am very curious to read this book.

Any details on your epiphany you'd like to share? It's cool if you prefer to not to, just curious...

So I gave in and ordered the E-Book so I could read over the x-mas break (I somehow dont think the hardcopy would make it to NZ in time)

Im hoping I can pick up a few new perspectives that I can apply not only to poker but also trading, as well as looking forward to just the general poker scenarios.

hmph oh really, did you just. More professional your way thought cheers!

well first of all its actually spelt epiphany - thanks for that one storm

But in all seriousness I would like to share im strugling at the moment to put it into words but it was just this moment where i just sort of clicked and was like 'aahh ha', I think what I actually started to understand was that 2 days ago, I was on a 2k downswing and pretty much a degenerate. Im still a degenerate but no longer have a clue how much im up or down. I guess you could say my epiphany was effectively plugging the leaks I had in poker/life crossover and finding the happy medium.

I took a bit of time to think about my goals in poker and how I could best achieve those goals, and realized that the way i was currently doing was just going to end in epic fail.

PM if you want to discuss things a bit more.

side note - Dusty Schmidt is interviewed on the stoxpoker podcast about his book amoung other things.

another side note - he has agreed to do an interview for us as well.

So read your books when they come in and make notes about questions you might want to ask him!

Sounds like a good concept.. I'll have to check into that.

great news! the interview with colin was very interesting and informative. Hopefully i get this this book and have it read before the interview so i can post some questions

Will he teach us the art of peeing in bottles?

Hehe - so you have been in that thread too. Well it doesn't work for women.

You never know, this book might have the answer

Well it doesn't really apply to me anyway lol. It's not as if I actually lose money when I am not playing poker.

Haha what thread? I just know it's something he's well known for lol

halfway into book got it today hope it gets better got the e-book and the hardcover and Raise interesting but might just be for 20 tablers and the hardcore among us I own a business so I understand you must put your all into everything that you want to be sucsessful $40 isnt bad if I pick up a couple of good things I will let you know

Munchrs, Thanks for the recommendation, was wondering what to get the SO for Christmas (+ I'll get to benefit also ).

sounds a good book, and I like the idea of paying for it via your poker account, does that also apply to people overseas, ie in the UK?

Just ordered the book, I chose to get the PDF version because the hardcopy might take 7 years to reach my location. Hopefully I would be reading in 12 hours

I got mine within an hour. And I bought the combo pack so i'll get the hardcopy at some point too. Paid though FTP transfer which is nice. Obviously worth the price as it's only a fraction of a buy-in.

Cool - I be you will have it read before the well thread starts. I am going to try to break a self record once I get my hard copy. The good news is I find it easiest to concentrate on reading while on my treadmill so might get rid of those pesky extra post-xmas pounds at the same time hehe.