Amazing Feats in World Series of Poker History – Mike Matusow

Welcome to the second part of a multi-part series I like to call “Amazing Feats in World Series of Poker History”, where I take a look back at past years and amazing accomplishments throughout the history of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Known aptly as “The Mouth”, you either love or hate Mike Matusow. His demeanor represents a man who has ridden the ups and bottoms of poker. With a snappy attitude, constantly varying degrees of self-confidence, and a bi-polar table image, Matusow never fails to wear his emotions on his sleeve, or on the felt. Regardless of public opinion and his tumultuous personal life, the man can play poker. Pretty damn well, too.

His first appearance at a Main Event final table took place in 2001, going out in 6th for $239,765; it wouldn’t be his last. If Matusow is synonymous with one thing outside of insanity, it’s an undeniable consistency at the WSOP Main Event. Sure, he’s a three-time bracelet winner with wins in a 1999 $3,500 no-limit hold’em event, a 2002 $5,000 limit omaha hi/lo event, and a 2008 $5,000 rebuy no-limit 2-7 draw event, but these are these events we didn’t see.

Matusow became a household name in 2004, when he suffered an emotional defeat at the hands of Grey Raymer, his table antagonist. For an entire two episodes, ESPN cameras were fixed on Mike turning the screw into Raymer, who sat silently and weathered the berating for plays Matusow found insultingly questionable.

It was Raymer who would have the last laugh, crippling “The Mouth” after he made a gutsy and phenomenal call for most of his chips against Raymer’s all-in shove on a flush draw board. The flush would hit on the turn, leaving Matusow exclaiming to the table, “I play to win.”

He would leave a distraught train wreck of a man just one hand later when his AK lost crushingly to AQ via a three-out Q on the river, sending him packing with what little pride he had left in 87th place for $20,000.

The knockout would only light a fire up under his ass, and Matusow returned in 2005 with something to prove. Culminating yet another deep run in the Main Event, Matusow would shrug off the daunting task of pushing and shoving his way through 5,619 players, making it to the final nine. His appearance proved to be short lived, after being crippled during what is certifiably the most insane hand (video 1) to have and ever be witnessed at a Main Event final table, the first hand no less. Soon after, he would lose his remaining chips (video 2) when his 10-10 lost to the A-J of the unknown Steve Dannenmann, ending up in 9th place for $1,000,000.

Made all the more impressive, Matusow would go on to beat Hoyt Corkins heads-up a few months later to take down the WSOP Tournament of Champions, netting another $1,000,000 payday and becoming the first player in poker history to win multiple million dollar scores in the same year.

In 2008, Matusow’s name would grace yet another top finish at the Main Event, being eliminated in 30th place for $193,000. Another disappointingly close yet fantastic deep run for “The Mouth”, it would go on to be the crowning achievement of his career: his fourth top 100 run through the massive $10,000 championship field. The impressive feat is only rivaled by one other man today: Phil Ivey.

In total, Matusow’s winnings sit comfortably at $7,318,350, $3,140,713 of which are from his cashes in the WSOP alone. Scrutinized for his antics but accepted for his knowledge of the game, Matusow is a staple that holds together televised poker as we know it. It would be one thing if he was just a mouth. It’s another thing to be a mouth that cashes the checks.

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