Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow
Mike Matusow is the ‘bad boy’ of poker and the poker world loves him for it. This status also means he is one of the most followed professionals on the tour, with both the fans and the TV cameras interested in his every move.
Mike has earned the nickname ‘The Mouth’ due to his personality and the fact that he will always be the one talking and voicing his opinion at the poker table.
While Matusow was growing up it was this same personality and talkative nature that got him into trouble and he spent a lot of his childhood days as a target for the bullies.
This didn’t change Mike at all however and he continued to voice his opinion regardless of what trouble came his way.
Matusow left school as soon as he could and didn’t go onto College. He started off as a trainee mechanic but failed to apply himself to the academic side and eventually he ended up with a job in his family’s furniture business.
Mike first took to gambling at the age of 18 and he very quickly became a gambling addict stealing money from his parents in order to play all day long on the Video Poker machines and he went on to attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings as a result of his addiction.
He soon became a card dealer and went on to gather a bucket load of strategy tips from watching people play whilst he dealt in Las Vegas. He started to dabble in poker by taking part in late night games at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas and he soon came to the realisation that he was good and could earn a regular income from poker. At this point he packed in the dealing and became a full time poker player.
Poker Career
Agonisingly for Mike he missed out on his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 1997 when he finished 2nd in the Omaha Hi/Lo event losing out to Scotty Nguyen.
Two years later he made up for it when he sealed his first WSOP bracelet in the $3,500 No Limit Holdem event and went on to win a second bracelet in 2002 in the $5,000 Omaha Hi/Lo event.
If you see this avatar on Full Tilt Poker then you are playing with
Mike Matusow!
During 2003 the bad boy came back out in Mike and he got himself into trouble with the police and was charged for drug offences. Mike spent 6 months in Clark County Jail for the offences. Hearing Mike’s side of the story he tells how much he regrets his actions during this period and that he had been charged for acting as the middle man for a friend who was buying drugs for personal use. After his release from Jail in April 2004 he made a promise to himself to work hard on his poker game and had set himself a goal to win the WSOP Main Event.
He had a good run in the 2004 Main Event but infamously was knocked out by Greg Raymer who would go on to win the event. Mike again made great TV time here with an ongoing altercation with Raymer and their battle will forever be in the TV poker hall of fame.
In 2005 Matusow came heartbreakingly close to his dream and finished 9th out of nearly 7,000 entrants in the WSOP Main Event picking up over $1million for his final table finish. It was clear to the whole world how much this meant to Mike as he broke down in tears when he was knocked out.
Soon after this Mike made history by becoming the first player to cash out $1million+ from two separate events in the same year. He achieved this by winning the WSOP tournament of Champions and beating Phil Helmuth in the process.
In 2007 Mike continues his successful career with a second place finish at the prestigious World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup collecting $671,320. Also ‘The Mouth’ had a good 2007 WSOP with three top 20 finishes and a total cash of over $125,000.
Team Full Tilt
Mike Matusow has been a welcome addition to the Full Tilt Poker Team and his popularity amongst fans and high profile TV time make him one of the most followed members of the team.
Just because he is behind a computer screen doesn’t stop ‘The Mouth’ from berating and joking with his opponents when he is playing at the Full Tilt tables and he will always join in with the banter going on with the large number of spectators that rail him at the tables he is playing at.
Learn, Play and Chat with Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow and the other Full Tilt Pro’s. Download Full Tilt Poker‘s free online poker software today.
