Judge rules against poker player seeking

to have amateur golf status reinstated

A federal judge in Portland, Oregon has denied a professional online poker player's request to have his amateur golfer status reinstated by the United States Golf Association.
Dusty Schmidt had filed a complaint seeking a preliminary restraining order that would have allowed him to keep his USGA amateur status and play in a series of events in the Pacific Northwest.
The USGA has maintained that Schmidt gave up his amateur status when he threw down a $1 million challenge to anyone who could beat him at 72 holes of golf and at poker.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman turned down the request, saying Schmidt did not meet a legal standard of having a contract with the USGA.
"It's disappointing, obviously," Schmidt said, "because I wanted to play golf."
Schmidt was a promising golfer from Southern California who went professional after a year at UC Irvine. But at age 23, he suffered a career-ending heart attack.
While recuperating, Schmidt took up online poker and eventually made a profession of it.
Several years passed and Schmidt, now 28, was cleared to play golf again. He applied for, and was granted, amateur status with the USGA. It allowed him to compete in USGA-sanctioned events in the Pacific Northwest.
But earlier this year, Schmidt publicized his "Million Dollar Challenge" to anyone who could beat him at 72 holes of golf and several poker hands.
The USGA revoked his status, claiming that the golf-poker challenge violated a rule aimed at actions "detrimental to the best interests of the amateur game," and another related to gambling and the spirit of the rules.
Schmidt claimed that because no one took him up on it, it was a moot point.