Mike Matusow
| Mike Matusow | |
|---|---|
 Mike Matusow (2015) |
|
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | April 30, 1968 |
| place of birth |
 los Angeles
|
| Nickname | The Mouth |
|
Nicknames |
mrpokejokePokerStars
mouth123WSOP.com
dill pickleUltimateBet
Mike MatusowFull Tilt Poker
|
| place of residence |
Las Vegas
|
| Live Poker Tournament Achievements | |
| Highest prize money | $ 1,000,000 |
| Total prize money | $ 9,750,072 |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelets | 4th |
| Cashes | 81 |
| Best main event | 6. ( 2001 ) |
| Main Event of the World Poker Tour | |
| title | no |
| Cashes | 12 |
| Last updated: August 15, 2020 | |
Michael "Mike" Matusow (born April 30, 1968 in Los Angeles , California ) is a professional American poker player . He is four-time bracelet winner of the World Series of Poker and won the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions . Due to his cheeky character, he is nicknamed The Mouth .
Poker career
Beginnings
Matusow got his first experience playing video poker machines at Maxim Casino in the Westin-Causarina Las Vegas Hotel and Casino when he was 18 years old. The gains his first night were 85 US dollars . He played video poker regularly to the extent that he had repeated muscle injuries in his arms and shoulders. Occasionally he had to steal money from his mother's wallet, and once he attended a meeting of Gamblers Anonymous.
Matusow learned Texas Hold'em in 1989 from a respected card player named Steve Samaroff. He also worked as a croupier .
At the 1998 World Series of Poker , Matusow paid a third of Scotty Nguyen's entry fee for the US $ 10,000 main tournament. Nguyen won the tournament and gave Matusow a third of his $ 1 million winnings.
Matusow was nicknamed "The Mouth" because he often disparagingly comments on the game of his opponents and portrays them as incompetent. Some consider him one of the real entertainers of the game, others find him just annoying. He's known for his habit of misjudging when he's on the road to winning. These are even known as "Mike Matusow Blow-ups" or "Mike Matusow Meltdowns".
Tournaments
Matusow has had some success in poker tournaments , especially at events where No Limit Texas Hold'em and Omaha HiLo were played.
World Series of Poker
In the 1999 World Series of Poker , he won his first bracelet of the World Series of Poker , by ruling the 3500 US dollar No-Limit Hold 'em tournament itself.
At the World Series of Poker 2001 he made it to the final table in No Limit Hold'em , but was eliminated in sixth place. Matusow said the decisive hand was when his A ♥ 2 ♥ all in geraised was (increased). This was done by the eventual winner Carlos Mortensen . Matusow claims to have known Mortensen was bluffing, but was unable to call the bet because his hand was too marginal to hit a pure bluff of his own. So he folded , that is, he gave up. He was very angry when Mortensen showed Q8 o . This annoyed him for half a year.
Matusow won his second WSOP bracelet in 2002 when he defeated Daniel Negreanu heads-up in the $ 5,000 Omaha High Low.
At the main tournament of the World Series of Poker 2004 , Matusow was the focus of coverage on the broadcaster ESPN when he verbally attacked eventual winner Greg Raymer , before he finally lost with AK to AQ on the river and then left the table crying.
At the 2005 World Series of Poker , Matusow came 9th out of 5,619 players in the main tournament, which was for $ 7.5 million. After losing almost all the chips with one hand, which he lost with a pair of kings against a pair of aces (first a king was still flopped, but the last two cards helped his opponent to a flush), he was selected by Steve Dannemann defeated , as his pair of tens wasn't enough against AJ and a straight draw.
On November 8, 2005, he showed another strong performance when he won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions heads-up against Hoyt Corkins for $ 1,000,000 and a trophy. The following year he was third.
Bracelet overview
Matusow cashed 81 times at the WSOP and won four bracelets :
| year | Buy-in (in $ ) | competition | Attendees | Prize money (in $) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 3500 | No Limit Hold'em | 205 | 265,475 |
| 2002 | 5000 | Omaha high / low | 79 | 148,520 |
| 2008 | 5000 | No-Limit 2-7 Draw w / Rebuys | 85 | 537,862 |
| 2013 | 5000 | Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better | 210 | 266.503 |
World Poker Tour
In October 2004, he finished third in the World Poker Tour (WPT) UltimateBet Aruba Classic for $ 250,000.
In 2006, he finished second behind Tony G in the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II.
In 2007 he was able to take second place behind Kevin "BeL0WaB0Ve" Saul at the Bellagio Cup III and win $ 671,000.
Others
Matusow first played in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2006 and was defeated by Eli Elezra in the first round .
At Poker Superstars III , Matusow made it to the quarterfinals. He then won the Poker Superstars Freeroll and $ 500,000.
In the episode of King of Vegas on Spike TV on February 7, 2006, Matusow was defeated in the final in Texas Hold'em by Evelyn Ng . So he won nothing there.
He also plays in the second, third, fourth, and sixth seasons of High Stakes Poker .
In January 2009 he was able to win Poker After Dark for the first time in the eleventh attempt .
In total, Matusow has earned more than $ 9.5 million in poker in live tournaments.
Online poker
He plays online under the nicknames dill pickle ( UltimateBet ) , mrpokejoke ( PokerStars ) and mouth123 (WSOP.com) ; he uses his real name on Full Tilt Poker . He was a member of the Full Tilt team .
Private life
Matusow suffered from bullying in school and did not attend college. Instead, he tried to work as a car mechanic , but did not complete the apprenticeship. He later worked in his parents' furniture store.
Matusow said in a 2005 interview with Card Player Magazine that he was diagnosed with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder and that he is taking Ritalin to control it. In the same interview, he shared about his addiction to video poker and his problems with sports betting . During an episode of High Stakes Poker , Matusow said he had a "chemical imbalance" and mentioned his therapists' help in avoiding further "blow-ups".
Matusow was introduced to the methylenedioxymethamphetamine drug ecstasy by his stripping Puerto Rican girlfriend in 2000 . When he started using ecstasy, he never played poker, but partied, sometimes for up to 72 hours at a time, and also distributed pills to his friends. He later took cocaine and played poker again three days a week. Matusow believed that the drugs were limiting his ability to play poker, and a friend recommended that he experiment with the methamphetamine drug speed . He says that it took him to a whole new level of poker and that was the only reason why he reached the final table of the 2001 WSOP Main Event. Matusow was clean between May 2003 and September 2003, but then went to an excessive alcohol and speed party with a stripper from Las Vegas. Since April 2005 he has stopped taking illegal drugs.
In September 2002, Matusow held a party in a VIP booth at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas while distributing ecstasy to friends. He was introduced to undercover drug investigator Mike Fento, who pretended to be in a Chicago criminal organization planning to open a strip club in Las Vegas. Fento involved Matusow in money laundering , paying $ 6,000 for every $ 100,000 Matusow laundered . Matusow also got Fento drugs, supplying him with three ounces of cocaine, 400 percocets, and 400 ecstasy pills. Matusow later stated he was afraid of Fento's apparent links to organized crime. Matusow found out that Fento was hired by one of his dealers. Matusow was arrested at his home at around 9:30 pm on September 25, 2003 for selling and placing controlled substances on the market. The police offered to carry a bedbug for evidence against a nightclub owner, but Matusow refused, fearing he would be killed by the nightclub owner's friends who are part of the organized crime scene. Matusow's attorney was David Chesnoff, who includes Suge Knight and Britney Spears among his clients. Chesnoff made sure Matusow didn't have to spend time in a state prison. Matusow was ultimately sentenced to 6 months in prison for assault, which he served until April 2005. After his release, Phil Hellmuth loaned him money so that he could start a new career.
At the 2005 WSOP , Matusow became depressed and had thoughts of suicide . His psychiatrist attributed this to the fact that he did not take his drug Depakote while in prison . He also has to take Zoloft and Ritalin. Eventually, he lost most of the $ 750,000 he'd earned from Hellmuth's money.
Web links
- Mike Matusow in Hendon Mob Poker Database (English)
- Mike Matusow in the database of the Global Poker Index (English)
- Mike Matusow in the database of the World Series of Poker : 2019 , online in 2020 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mike Matusow: Cry Baby After Bad Beat LOLOL: D on YouTube , accessed January 12, 2020.
- ↑ Mike Matusow in the World Series of Poker database, accessed August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Mike Matusow in the Hendon Mob Poker Database, accessed August 15, 2020.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Matusow, Mike |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Matusow, Michael (full name); The Mouth (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American poker player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 30, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Los Angeles , California , United States |