One wonderful thing about chronicling the poker world is that you simply meet probably the most attention-grabbing folks whereas on project. The latest Amazon Prime launch of his documentary jogged my memory of that very factor and confirmed what a terrific character (and a man with character) Mike “The Mouth” Matusow is.
The primary time we spoke for an prolonged interval was again within the early 2000s. That was when a semi-cool journal referred to as Radar despatched me to Las Vegas to report a narrative a few skilled poker participant who went to jail within the wake of a wild ecstasy sting.
The participant in query, after all, was Matusow.
Improbably, he insisted that six months of incarceration gave him a greater view of life – even when it did nothing to mood his infamous willingness to gamble recklessly.
Matusow opened our interview by declaring, “I’m caught $60,000. However that’s okay… Final night time I used to be behind $100,000. I’ve nonetheless received $2 million, and, this soccer season, I’m telling all of the bookies that after I fall behind $200,000 I’m f****** strolling.”
Did he actually stroll? Who is aware of.
Incontestable is that Matusow’s lengthy reign as one of many recreation’s most entertaining gamers may be attributed (a minimum of partly) to his hot-headed verbiage, love of profanity, and litany of ticks.
However these offbeat traits – which handily intimidate newbie opponents and garner him a number of airtime on poker telecasts – generally masks his potential to get soul-bleeding reads on opponents and to play arms towards them completely. His skillfulness at deuce-to-seven lowball is such that, in the summertime 2021, after Phil Hellmuth gained his sixteenth WSOP bracelet, the very first thing he did was hug a railbirding Matusow.
Hellmuth later instructed me that Matusow had been giving him classes in learn how to play lowball and that Matusow may be one of the best on the planet at it.
Past lowball, Matusow performs all of the video games. This was evidenced after I bumped into him at Resorts World, quickly after it opened, within the fall of ’21. Sporting a freshly shaved pate, he performed at a high-stakes mixed-games desk, bragging to me about his most enduring rush in an extended whereas.
“I’m taking part in so good,” Matusow boasted, letting slip an outrageously excessive sum he’d gained over the 12 months. It was a welcome flip of occasions after having been broke due to an enormous streak of unhealthy beats, crippling ache (his again received screwed up from a mishap within the entrance seat of Dan Bilzerian’s sports activities automotive), a laundry-list of mind-numbing prescription drugs, and who is aware of what else. “Proper now, I’m making large folds and am right each time.”
I’ve at all times discovered Matusow to be compelling, even when my editor at Radar didn’t. (She killed the ecstasy-sting story. I wound up promoting it to the now useless US version of FHM journal.)
I final noticed him whereas reporting a Golf Digest article about skilled poker gamers playing on the hyperlinks. Matusow’s received no real interest in driving, chipping, and placing, however after listening to that Hellmuth could be taking part in, he couldn’t resist tagging alongside, heckling everybody and making an attempt to win cash off them by throwing out prop bets.
Driving to the primary gap, he made clear that high-flying playing tendencies by no means fully fade. “I don’t know s*** about golf,” Matusow mentioned with a shrug. Fingering a $5,000 chip, which, to his eventual dismay, would one way or the other get misplaced.
“However I’ll wager on something.”
Take a look at Matusow – or, even higher, strive participating him in a goofy wager – and also you’ll seemingly see that it’s true for all one of the best causes.
Michael Kaplan is a journalist primarily based in New York Metropolis. He’s the writer of 5 books (“The Benefit Gamers” comes out in 2024) and has labored for publications that embody Wired, GQ and the New York Publish. He has written extensively on know-how, playing, and enterprise — with a selected curiosity in spots the place all three intersect. His article on Kelly “Baccarat Machine” Solar and Phil Ivey is at the moment in growth as a characteristic movie.
