When it comes to televised poker (and I’m a fanatic), I acknowledge one steadfast rule: unless Mike “The Mouth” Matusow is involved it will more than likely be about as entertaining as paint drying. Matusow is without a doubt the Charles Barkley of professional poker. Who else would walk right up to World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and tell him that he was running the illustrious tournament into the ground? Did Barry Greenstein’s autobiography contain the quote, “Shawn [Sheikhan] could be a real prick back then. What am I saying? Shawn can still be a real prick today.”
I just picked up a copy of Mike’s autobiography Check-Raising the Devil at the 2009 World Series and, despite the lure of my subsequent trip to Los Angeles, zipped through it in about a day and a half. It’s easily the best poker biography since Nollan Dalla’s One of a Kind, which chronicled the legend of the genius drug casualty that was Stu Unger. Check-Raising the Devil takes you deep into the heart of the man who might have gone the Unger route and in fact fights with his infinitely charismatic self day by day because he knows that no matter how much money he wins, that day may still come.
I first encountered Mike in person at the conclusion of the 2006 World Series of Poker. He was making a $10,000 bet on how long the final table would last. Not only did Mike lose when Jamie Gold quickly mopped up the title, but before it was done, he was even chastised by the powers that be for jovially swearing from the crowd during the taping of the telecast.
That was my first visit to the Series and I found all the pros there to be extremely friendly and giving. They clearly saw the sponsorship possibilities on the horizon and were doing their best to further the reputation of their game. Mike was different, though. He wasn’t there to be seen or to promote. Mike was at the final table because he loved the game. Mike was there because he was a fan. So it comes as no surprise that Mike proudly boasts about being right there in the front of the crowd when Unger won his record third bracelet in 1997. When it comes to poker, there is little doubt that no one is more passionate about the game than Matusow, who has on a number of occasions broken out into tears after being eliminated from big tournaments.
Article comments
1 - William Bull
Un-fukin-real book id say