Mike Matusow is also known as "The Mouth" - for obvious reasons
Mike Matusow is one player you’ll probably instantly recognize anywhere. Nicknamed “The Mouth” he is one of poker’s biggest trash-talkers and – according to him – beyond doubt the most unlucky player ever to belly up to a poker table.
One thing’s for sure, if you run a simple search on the internet you’ll bump into plenty of videos and blog-posts highlighting the bad beats he’s taken but some of the biggest losses he’s had did not come at the end of such bad beats, but rather as consequences of his “patented” melt-downs or blow-ups. Take the decisive hand he played against Greg Raymer in the 2004 WSOP Main Event. Obviously irritated by the Fossilman, Matusow lost two thirds of his stack calling Raymer’s all-in with the worse hand.
Apparently there are players out there who can dominate Mike psychologically, and who can thus force him to make mistakes.
Born in 1968, in L.A., Mike Matusow has never been an easy person to deal with. He suffered from bullying in school, he never attended a college and he even failed to get a job as an auto mechanic. He began working at his family’s furniture store, but soon got caught up in gambling, more specifically video poker. He became hopelessly addicted and at one point he played so much that he developed a repetitive motion injury in his arms. His problem became so bad he had to attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings for a while.
His life saw a change to the better though when he befriended a rounder at the casino where he got a job as a poker dealer. This player would stake him in high profile tournaments, and soon it became obvious what Matusow’s hidden talent was.
Not only did Mike become a successful and feared poker player, he proved to be a good investor in poker-related matters too. In 1998, he provided Scotty Nguyen one third of the money needed to buy him into the WSOP’s Main Event. As Scotty eventually won the Big Dance, Mike earned a nice share of about $333,000 off his initial investment.
He too played in WSOP events and has 3 bracelets to show for his efforts to date. His first one came in 1999, in the S3.5K NL Holdem event, the second one in 2002, in the $5k Omaha H/L event, and the third one in 2008, in the $5k NL 2-7 Draw event.
His highest WSOP finish was a 6th place which he recorded in 2001, and he’s has 25 money finishes in various WSOP events.
The WSOP was the stage of one of his less impressive poker performances too: in 2004, he verbally assaulted Greg Raymer who eventually went on to win the Big Dance.
In the WPT, Matusow reached 4 final tables and cashed 6 times.
He won the WSOP’s Tournament of Champions in 2005, a win which brought him $1 million.
He appeared twice on Poker After Dark in 2007, and a few times on High Stakes Poker. He spent some time in jail on account of drug abuse in 2004 -2005.
He is currently a member of Full Tilt Poker’s team of professional poker players, and he only plays online at Full Tilt.