Mike Matusow
Michael (Mike) "The Mouth" Matusow (born
April 30 1968 in
Los Angeles,
California) is an
American professional
poker player, residing in
Henderson, Nevada.
Matusow got his nickname of
"The Mouth" because he loves to talk at the table. Some consider him one of the true entertainers in the game. Others consider him one of the most annoying players in the game. He is known in the poker world for his habit of making spectacular misjudgements (known as "Mike Matusow Blow-ups" or "Mike Matusow Meltdowns") when on the verge of victory.
Matusow suffered from
bullying when going through school and did not attend college. He attempted to get work as an
auto mechanic, but did not complete the required studying for the job. He later worked at his family's furniture store.
Matusow's first experience of poker was playing
video poker in the
Maxim Casino at the age of 18, which he played regularly, to the extent he suffered from
repetitive strain injury in his shoulders and arms. On occasions he stole money from his mother's purse and at one stage attended
Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Matusow was taught
Texas hold 'em in 1989 by a
rounder named Steve Samaroff. Early in his career he won 81 out of 82 sessions and won $250,000. He also worked as a
poker dealer.
At the
1998 World Series of Poker, Matusow paid one third of
Scotty Nguyen's entrance fee into a satellite event for the $10,000
no limit Texas hold 'em main event. Nguyen went on to win, and gave $333,333 to Matusow in return for his partial stake.
Later, in
2001, he was eliminated in 6th place in the WSOP $10,000 no limit Hold 'em main event. Matusow claims that the decisive hand was when he was
bluffed by eventual champion
Juan Carlos Mortensen, but did not trust his instincts to call.
At the
2004 WSOP main event, Matusow was a focal point of
ESPN's coverage of the main event, as he verbally attacked eventual champion
Greg Raymer before being eliminated.
In the
2005 WSOP, Matusow finished 9th out of 5,619 players in the main event for $1,000,000.
Just months later, he won the
WSOP Tournament of Champions in a heads-up battle against
Hoyt Corkins, earning another $1,000,000 in the process. He made the final table of the Tournament of Champions the following year also, this time finishing third.
=World Series of Poker bracelets
=
| Year | Event | Prize Money | | 1999 | $3,500 No Limit Hold 'em | $265,475 |
| 2002 | $5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split | $148,520 |
In October
2004, Matusow made his first
World Poker Tour (WPT) final table at the UltimateBet Aruba Classic, earned $250,000 for 3rd place.
In 2006, he finished runner-up to
Tony G in the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II in heads-up play.
Matusow is currently appearing in
Poker Superstars III, and has advanced to the final 8 players. He also appeared in the second season of
High Stakes Poker.
As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $4,100,000.
He plays
online poker under the following aliases: "dill pickle" (
UltimateBet); "mrpokejoke" (
PokerStars); and "Mike Matusow" (
Full Tilt Poker, where he is also a member of "Team Full Tilt").
Matusow acknowledged in a 2005
Card Player Magazine interview that he has been diagnosed with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and takes
Ritalin to control it. In recent episodes of High Stakes Poker, Matusow has mentioned having a "chemical imbalance" and also credited his therapists with helping him avoid his signature "blow ups."
Illegal drugs
Matusow began taking
ecstasy in 2000, which stopped him from playing poker due to heavy partying. He later started using
cocaine also and returned to playing poker, three days a week. On the advice of a girlfriend, he experimented with
speed, which he claims advanced his poker game to the level that he reached the final table of the 2001 WSOP. Matusow's first attempt to quit drugs lasted from
May and
September 2003, when he engaged on a marathon
alcohol and speed session with a Las Vegas stripper. He has apparently been free of illicit drugs since
April 2005.
Arrest and Release
In
September 2002, Matusow held a party in a VIP booth of
The Palms, providing free ecstacy to friends. He was introduced to undercover
narcotic agent Mike Fento, who claimed he was involved in an
organized crime family in
Chicago that planned to open a
strip club. Matusow claims Fento got him involved
money laundering and asked him to score drugs for him. Matusow later discovered from one of his dealers that Fento was an agent, but was arrested at his house on
September 25 2003 for "selling and trafficking controlled substances." The police offered to allow him to wear a
wire to help them secure evidence on a nightclub owner, but Matusow refused as the person was connected to organized crime and could have had him killed.
Matusow served six months from September 2004 to April 2005. During his time in prison, Matusow lost his $250,000 winnings from his WPT final table on sports betting.
John Juanda was one of the few poker players who visited him.
Upon his release,
Phil Hellmuth Jr loaned him $5,000 to start up a new bankroll. At the 2005 WSOP, Matusow was running well in the first open preliminary event, when he began to feel
depressed and
suicidal on the second day. His psychiatrist indicated to him this was due to his
Depakote medication not being administered whilst he was in jail. (He is also prescribed
Zoloft and
Ritalin.) He went on to lose the majority of the $750,000 bankroll he had built up from Hellmuth's original loan and even got friends to take away his
keyboard and
mouse so he could not play online poker.
On
ESPN's telecast of the
World Series of Poker, Matusow claimed that the arrest had profoundly changed his view on life and made him realize how lucky he was.
* Matusow resides in a 3,700
square foot home in Henderson (with a cathedral ceiling) and bought a $90,000
BMW 645 CI cabriolet from a $750,000 winning session at online poker.
* Matusow often wears a golden
chai around his neck.
* Matusow has a lifetime membership at the Olympic Gardens strip club.
* Matusow used to be a big fan of
baseball, but now strongly dislikes it due to there being no
salary cap.
* Matusow describes himself as the most dedicated person in poker, second only to
Daniel Negreanu.
*
World Poker Tour profile*
Hendon Mob tournament results
