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Mike Matusow
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Michael Matusow (born April 30, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table. He is also known for sometimes ruining hours or days of good play with a single spectacular misjudgment, (known as a "Mike Matusow Blow-up" or "Mike Matusow Meltdown").
Matusow began playing poker seriously in the early 1990s, first while working as a poker dealer, then as a professional player.
His successes include being a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and the winner of the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions.
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Encyclopedia
Michael Matusow (born April 30, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table. He is also known for sometimes ruining hours or days of good play with a single spectacular misjudgment, (known as a "Mike Matusow Blow-up" or "Mike Matusow Meltdown").
Matusow began playing poker seriously in the early 1990s, first while working as a poker dealer, then as a professional player.
His successes include being a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and the winner of the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. He has played in many tournaments around the world and his winnings (as of 2008) total over $6,800,000.
Early years
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. He occasionally stole money from his mother's purse and at one point attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Matusow was taught Texas hold 'em in 1989 by a rounder named Steve Samaroff. Early in his career, he won 51 out of 53 sessions and $250,000. (It was first believed that he had won 81 out of 82, but he corrected that statement on the Rounders Poker Show.)
World Series of Poker
At the 1998 World Series of Poker (WSOP), 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. In 2001, he finished 6th place in the WSOP $10,000 no limit Hold 'em main event. Matusow says 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, as he verbally attacked eventual champion Greg Raymer. In the 2005 WSOP, Matusow finished 9th out of 5,619 players in the main event, winning $1,000,000. Several 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, making him the first player to win two million dollar prizes in the same year. He also placed third in the Tournament of Champions the following year, winning $250,000. At the 2008 WSOP, Matusow won a third bracelet in the $5000 No Limit 2-7 Draw with rebuys event defeating Jeff Lisandro heads up for the $537,862 first prize. Later in the same year he finished 30th out of 6,844 players in the Main Event, making yet another deep run in the Main Event.
World Series of Poker bracelets
| Year | Event | Prize Money |
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| 1999 | $3,500 No Limit Hold 'em | $265,475 | | 2002 | $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better | $148,520 | | 2008 | $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw w/Rebuys | $537,862 |
Other poker events
In October 2004, Matusow made his first World Poker Tour (WPT) final table at the UltimateBet Aruba Classic, earning $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 also appeared in Poker Superstars III, where he made it to the Elite Eight. In the winner-take-all championship match, Matusow beat seven other players to win $500,000. He also appeared in the second, third and fourth season of High Stakes Poker.
In September 2006, Mike made his debut on the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona; however, he was eliminated on the first day. In early 2007, Matusow appeared on two episodes of Poker After Dark where he finished 3rd and 2nd respectively. 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").
In July 2007, Matusow won $671,320 after coming in second place at the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup III Championship after online pro Kevin "BeL0WaB0Ve" Saul defeated him during heads-up play.
On November 11, 2008 at the World Poker Tour Foxwoods World Poker Finals, Matusow made another WPT final table, He was eliminated after his didn't improve against Jonathan Little's hand of , he finished in 6th place, earning $124,048.
As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $7,000,000.
Personal life
Matusow is both loved and disliked by many poker fans. At the 2007 WSOP Main Event final table, Tournament Director Jack Effel asked the audience to recognize one of Effel's "favorite" players. The fans cheered and booed.
Matusow has had several personal problems. He has battled drug issues, including a six-month stint in jail in 2004 and 2005 after being caught with cocaine. An undercover police officer pretended to befriend Matusow and gain his trust. He then arrested Matusow when he asked him for cocaine and Matusow retrieved some for him.
He has also dealt with being overweight, detailed on ESPN's broadcast of the 2007 WSOP. During that tournament, Mike made a $100,000 bet with Ted Forrest that he could get down to 181 pounds by June 3, 2008. Mike won the bet on June 3, weighing in at 179 pounds.
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. He often wears a gold chain with the Hebrew symbol 'chai' around his neck. Additionally, Matusow hosted Card Player's poker radio show / podcast, the Circuit, before being replaced by Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok. He is also the host of Card Player's online video segment The Mouthpiece.
External links
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