Mike "The Mouth" Matusow

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow is one of the most controversial players in all of professional poker. He is one of those guys who people either love or hate. He is certainly a colourful character and that has certainly helped to make him more famous. While a lot of fans love him most of the other top poker players in the world really don't.

Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow got his start by playing video poker in a local casino when he was eighteen. Unfortunately this soon became an obsession, not only did he develop a repetitive stress disorder but he had to resort to stealing in order to have money to gamble. Eventually he ended up having to seek the help of Gamblers Anonymous in order to get over the habit. Later he would end up taking a job as a dealer in a casino. Being able to watch the players as he was dealing helped him to learn a lot about how to play poker. Eventually he decided to enter a local poker tournament which he ended up winning.

It was at this point that Matusow met a professional player by the name of Steve Samaroff. Samaroff become a mentor to Matusow and he started to enter bigger and bigger tournaments. It was at this point that he quit his job and decided to become a professional poker player. He was soon winning large sums of money in both tournaments and cash games. It looked like Matusow was set to become a big time poker player. Unfortunately that was all about to change.

In 2004 Matusow was convicted of possessing cocaine and ended up serving six months in prison. Somehow during that time he also managed to lose a large amount of money by betting on sports despite being in prison. This was not the first and wouldn't be the last time that his personal life would interfere with his poker career. Matusow suffered from depression and has had issues with drugs and gambling addiction. However following his release from prison he has managed to return to the poker tables and started to see some success.

Mike Matusow is one of the most controversial players in the world of professional poker and not just because of his personal problems. He has picked up the nickname The Mouth because of his non-stop talking when he plays. He often says things to get under other players skin and many of them really dislike playing with Matusow. On the other hand his outspoken nature has made him popular with the fans. The result is that he has made regular appearances on televised poker events. In truth his mouth and his personal issues have made Matusow more well known than his actual poker play have merited. While he is undoubtedly a good player he really hasn't had the kind of success his fame would suggest.