Poker professional, Mike Matusow, is known as The Mouth. He loves to talk, especially smack while at the poker table. Steve Badger, a fellow player has this to say about The Mouth, “When Mike stops talking, you feel like you should call the paramedics, just like if another person had stopped breathing.”Many players don’t like him, but most everyone who has ever played against this 2-time bracelet winner has respect for his game: he’s often noted as one of the top tournament Omaha players in the world, and his performances in big no-limit hold’em tournaments seem to get better every year.”
Mike Matusow has spent a lot of time in Las Vegas, having lived there since the age of 10. However, he didn’t play poker until he turned 18 years old. His first win netted him $85 and Matusow became hooked. He was so worried about what he believed to be an addiction, that he went to several Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
A meeting with Steve Samaroff helped turned Matusow onto “real” poker. He began to play with a $200 stake. That would increase over the years to $10,000. Tired of playing and struggling to make ends meet, he became a gaming dealer at Sam’s Town and the Orleans, both in Las Vegas. Matusow raised enough money to begin to compete in middle-limit games.
Though The Mouth is indeed mouthy, he is able to back up his words. He wins. On the all-time World Series of Poker money lists, he ranks among the top 40. He has won two World Series of Poker bracelets, one in 1999 (No Limit Hold’em) and the other in 2002 (Omaha Hi Lo). At the WSOP Main Event, he has managed to make it to two finals table.
Over his poker career, Mike has earned nearly $3,000,000 and has developed the reputation of being a very good tournament player. His colleagues respect that. It’s his mouth that turns some away.