Mike Matusow Net Worth: His Games, Winnings, Losses, and Personal Life
Popularly referred to as ‘The Mouth’, Mike Matusow is known as one of the bad boys of poker. He is a professional poker player and Mike Matusow net worth is a proof of his winnings at tables. And apart from his exceptional talent and skills at poker tables, he is also known for always teasing, bad mouthing, and provoking his opponents at table. Now, if you want to play with Matusow, you are better off knowing your onions. Otherwise, he would play an unbelievable mind game on you and make you lose touch with your game.
In addition to being famous as ‘The Mouth’, he is also known for his ‘Matusow Blow ups’ and ‘Matusow Meltdowns’. No doubt, this poker pro is a bundle of character. Although he is a great poker player, he has made some bad judgments at tables that have left him out cold at tables. As a matter of fact, his bad judgments at tables have pushed him out of game completely, ruining hours and sometimes days of his excellent play.
Mike has participated in a number of poker tournaments and has finished in the money. He is also the proud owner of four prestigious World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. Mike was also the winner of the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in the year 2005. The life, games, winnings, losses, personal life, and Mike Matusow net worth are worth reviewing and learning from. In this article, we take a closer look at the life of Matusow. We’ll explore his various games, winnings and losses, as well as his net worth. At the end of this, you would have learnt a great deal about this bad boy of poker.
Early Life of Mike Matusow
Michael Matusow was born on the 30th of April, 1968 in Los Angeles, California. He is an American poker pro and lives in Henderson Nevada. Mike is popularly referred to as “The Mouth” and for obvious reasons. He is a big talker and he takes pleasure in bad mouthing other players. In fact, he has a big reputation for trash talking at poker tables. He has ruined hours and days of excellent play with bad judgment. These episodes, known as “Mike Matusow Meltdown” or Mike Matusow Blow Up” have received high publicity in the world of poker.
His first introduction to poker was at Maxim Casino where he got to play video poker. It is important to mention that he didn’t start gaming until he turned the legal age at 18. After his first experience at the game, he got hooked and has never looked back since them. He frequently participates at tables and he played poker so much to the point of suffering recurrent strain injury in his arms and shoulders.
He got so addicted to the game that he sometimes steals money from his mom to participate in Gamblers Anonymous meetings. In 1989, Steve Samaroff, a rounder, taught Mike Matusow how to play Texas Hold’em and this seems to propel him further into the world of poker. He began to play poker as a profession in the early 90s. He worked at a poker dealer first and then moved on to become a professional poker player.
In the course of his career, he has made some great wins and won the most coveted WSOP bracelets. He has received the World Series of Poker bracelet four times. In addition, he also won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in the year 2005. He has also had a total of 32 money finishes at tournaments. Thanks to his temperaments, Mike has experienced personal and legal crisis on a number of times in the course of his career. As a matter of fact, he spent six months behind bars between 2004 and 2005. His sentence came after they caught him selling drugs to an officer.
Some years later, he placed a bet on the ESPN coverage of the World Series of Poker. His interesting bet centers on his ability to lose some amount of weight by the year 2008. Matusow loves living life and he doesn’t owe anyone an apology for the way he spends his money. As a proof of his immense success in the field of poker, he bought a special BMW 645 CI Cabriolet from his winnings from online poker. When it comes to going public, you will rarely find Matusow without his special golden ‘chai’ necklace. In 2009, he wrote his autobiography titled ‘Check Raising the Devil’ and published it the same year. Mike is also the former host of ‘The Circuit’ as well as ‘The Mouthpiece’, an online video show. With his various engagements, Mike Matusow net worth has grown significantly over the years.
Mike Matusow Poker Career
During the World Series of Poker in 1998, Matusow paid a part of the entrance fee for Scotty Nguyen to participate at a satellite event. The event was the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold’em Main Event. At the end of the game, Nguyen won at the event and in return of the favor, he game Matusow the sum of $333,333. In the year 1999, Mike participated in the World Series of Poker event. He earned his first bracelet at this event by winning the $3,500 No Limit Hold’em event. He defeated Alex Brenes Heads Up to win the most coveted title and bracelet. The winning he made at this event contributed to Mike Matusow net worth and it also helped his bankroll.
He participated at the 2001 World Series of Poker event. He finished in the 6th place at the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em main event. According to Mike, the decisive hand took place when he got bluffed by Juan Carlos Mortensen, the champion at the event.
During the 2002 World Series of Poker event, he won his second bracelet at the $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better tournament event. He went against a fellow poker pro and a friend, Daniel Negreanu, and won at the event.
Mike also entered for the World Series of Poker in 2005 and finished in the 9th place. This event involved a total of 5,619 players at the main event. Matusow placed 9th and made a winning of $1 million USD. Many months later, he went ahead to win the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. He participated in the heads-up and went against Hoyt Corkins. He won at the event and took home another $1 million USD at the end of the event. This makes him the first player to ever win 2 million USD prizes within the same year.
In 2006, he also participated in the Tournament of Champions but this time around, he placed third. He won the sum of $250,000 at the event. These winnings have all led to the growth of Mike Matusow net worth to a large extent.
In 2008, Matusow went in again for the World Series of Poker. He played at the $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw with Re-buys. He defeated Jeff Lisandro heads-up and went ahead to win his third bracelet. In addition to the bracelet, he also took home the first prize of $537,862 USD. Still in the same year, he participated in another event with a total of 6,844 poker professional players. He finished in the 30th place, which makes another deep run for him at the Main Event.
In the year 2013, he won his 4th bracelet at the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8 or Better event. He defeated Matthew Ashton heads up at the event and walked away with the first prize of $266,503. These earnings have contributed immensely to Mark Matusow net worth.
Highlights of Mike Matusow World Series of Poker Bracelets
| Event | Year | Winning |
|---|---|---|
| $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better | 2013 | $266,502 |
| $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw with Re-buy | 2008 | $537,862 |
| $5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better | 2002 | $148,520 |
| $3,500 No Limit Hold’em | 1999 | $265,475 |
Mike Matusow Other Poker Exploits
Mike is not all about World Series of Poker. He has also participated in other live tournaments that are worth talking about.
In 2004, he made it to his first final table at the World Poker Tour. This event took place at the UltimateBet Aruba Classic. He finished in the third place and made a winning of $250,000. In the year 2006, he also participated at the World Poker Tour Bad Boys of Poker II and finished as a runner up to Tony G in heads up play.
He also made an appearance at the Poker SuperStars III event and made it to the Elite 8. At the winner-take-all championship event, Mike Matusow won against seven other poker players and walked away with the cash prize of $500,000. Over the years, he has also participated in the second, third, and up to the sixth editions of High Stakes Poker.
In 2006, Matusow entered the world of European Poker Tour in Barcelona. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it past the first day at the event. He was eliminated not long after the game started. In the early months of 2007, he made appearances at two different episodes of Poker After Dark. He finished in the 3rd and 2nd place at the event, respectively.
Mike also plays poker at online platform. He plays at UltimateBet, Full Tilt Poker, and PokerStars. For his UltimateBet account, he plays under the name ‘dill pickle’. He uses Mike Matusow as his game name in Full Tilt Poker, and ‘mrpokerjoke; at PokerStars. It is important to mention that he was formerly a member of the Team Full Tilt. He has made various winnings at the online platform and this has also impacted on Mike Matusow net worth.
In July of 2007, he participated at the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup II Championship and finished in the second place. During the heads up play, he got defeated by the online poker pro, Kevin Saul. However, he made a winning of $671,320 at the event, which wasn’t a bad prize after all.
He also made another World Poker Tour final table in the year 2018. He participated in the World Poker Tour Foxwoods World Poker Finals and finished in the sixth place. He got eliminated from the table after his cards didn’t get better against his opponent’s, Jonathan Little. At the end of the event Mike Matusow earned $124,048, which was also not a bad win for him.
In the year 2013, he won the National Heads Up Championship of NBC and defeated Phil Hellmuth at the final table. As at August of 2014, Matusow has made total live tournament earnings in excess of $ 9 million USD. A total of $3,580,911 of the earnings was from his participations at the World Series of Poker. His earnings have all contributed to Mike Matusow net worth.
According to the available data, the total live earning of Mike as at May of 2019 is $9,505,407. Whilst his best live cash ever is $1 million USD. He is placed at the 48th position on the All Time Money List and United States All Time Money List. He is ranked 7th on the Nevada USA All Time Money List and 20th on the All Time Money List Current Rank. In popularity ranking, Mike Matusow occupies the 35th position.
Mike Matusow Losses
As with all poker players and gamblers, losses come as part of the package for the game. It is therefore not strange to find poker pros raving about being rich today and broke tomorrow. Really, it depends on the tides that flow towards them on a given day at a table. The story is not different with Mike. As a matter of fact, Mike Matusow net worth has been affected by his various wins and losses over time. Just like any other professional poker player, the net worth today might be so high but by nightfall, it might have reduced significantly. And like we said earlier on, it is all part of the game.
Now when it comes to Matusow, there have been continuous speculations about his financial standing. Well, the speculations are well placed. This is because Mike himself has admitted severally to being broke since the time he stepped into the world of poker. For instance in September of 2014, he sent a post on his Twitter account that implied that he was broke. According to him, Full Tilt stole his money alongside the money of others and since this incidence; he has been struggling to survive.
According to report, ‘The Mouth’ only made about $12,000 USD in tournament winnings all through the year 2014. He also said that he lost a total of $300,000 during that same year. He revealed this during an interview with Michael Kaplan.
In the year 2015, he didn’t make a dime in tournament events. This news came as a shock to many poker enthusiasts, giving the fact that Matusow was the first player to ever win a million dollars twice in the course of a single year. However, his 2017 World Series of Poker was relatively successful. He made it to three different final tables and made some great winnings. After his 2017 winnings, it seems Lady Luck has left him stranded as far as tournament winnings are concern.
Unfortunately, his performances at the online platform were not anything better. From May of the year 2007 till late 2018, Matusow has made a loss of about $1.04 million USD at the online platform. Now, this is exclusive of the millions he claimed to have lost to Russ Hamilton at UltimateBet before the year 2007. While granting an interview some years back, he revealed that he lost his entire winnings from his huge 2005 World Series of Poker tournaments earnings. According to him, he lost the money to Hamilton while playing heads up at UltimateBet in the year 2005 and 2006. The implication of this is that he lost a minimum of $2 million USD to a single player at UltimateBet.
Mike Matusow Weight Loss Bet with Ted Forrest
It is not a big deal when you hear professional poker players bet at practically anything. Therefore, when Mike and Ted went into a bet on weight loss, it wasn’t a big new. However, the news that roused heavy dust was the war that broke out between Matusow and high stakes professional player, Ted Forrest. This war was said to be over a long overdue debt that Forrest claimed Matusow owed him.
According to Ted Forrest, Mike Matusow still owed him the sum of $1.7 million USD from the weight loss prop bet that the two made four years prior to the time of the claim. He said the bet was made at the Commerce Casino and was placed on the premise that Forrest would lose enough weight to attain 140 pounds in other to win the bet. However, four years after he lost the weight and Mike lost the bet, he had only been paid the sum of $70,000. And Matusow has refused to pay the balance of the bet money.
Suffice to mention that Matusow and Forrest had been engaged in a previous weight loss bet before this bigger one. The prior bet was centered on Matusow losing weight. During this bet, Forrest lost out and paid Matusow the bet amount of $100,000, which was the full bet amount.
However, at his turn, Mike has refused to pay the balance of $1.7 million USD to Forrest. There have been speculations over the reason ‘The Mouth’ was not able to pay the bet amount and the conclusion many have arrived at is that it seems Matusow couldn’t afford the money. This speculation further fueled the assumption that Mike Matusow net worth is indeed under $1 million at this point. In fact, some critics opined that he was likely in the negative at this point.
While talking to Kaplan in an interview, Mike revealed that he has been very busy playing live poker games at San Diego and Las Vegas to make up for the lost monies. Many felt it was great news to learn that he still had money to play at poker tables for a living. Of course, he wasn’t playing at $1-$2 No Limit games but yet, he wasn’t making up to six figures at tables all the same. According to Mike, he stopped sports betting in 2013 after he lost heavily at a football bet in the November of that year.
During the summer of 2016, Matusow requested for financial backing in order to participate in the World Series of Poker of that year. At the event he had five different cashes, which included a $17,113 USD cash. He finished in the 47th place at the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Handed event.
He also participated at the World Series of Poker of 2017 and at this event; he made a strong impression with three final tables. His entire final tables were in $10,000 buy-in events. He also had an amazing six top 12 finishes and made total earnings of $252,536 USD. This is exclusive of the Main Event game.
Over the years, Mike Matusow net worth has significantly improved. He has also fared better at other aspects of poker games. For instance, he got an invitation from Howard Lederer to become a co-owner of the real Full Tilt Poker. While talking about the deal in his autobiography, ‘Check Raising the Devil’, he mentioned that he could have own a part of the company for $50,000 investment. However, he diverted the $50,000 to sports betting and lost woefully.
Although Mike has made a couple of bad judgments at games, he still remains a strong professional poker player in the industry. He might not have a net worth that is comparable to some of the top earners in the industry. Yet, he has made some great wins and made a name for himself in the industry. There have been various conjectures about Mike Matusow net worth. Websites place his net worth at $8 million USD. Interestingly, the figure began to look real within the last couple of years. Lady luck finally smiled on Mike and he began to make large tournament winnings and began to play big at cash game stakes.
Mike Matusow Net Worth
As of today, Mike Matusow net worth is placed at $9,505,407 USD in tournament winnings. Although this is an impressive amount but it is only his winnings. The figure didn’t reflect the huge entry fee, taxes, travel expenses, and payment to backers that have paid his entry fees in the tournaments. It is essential to mention that the entry fees could sometimes be as high as $10,000 per tournament at some events. This is probably why he often informed interviewers that he and many other poker players are broke.
Mike has participated in numerous poker tournaments and he has been backed by Full Tilt Poker for different event. As matter of fact, many believed that Full Tilt has been his backer for all the tournaments he has entered for. However, before his deal of sponsorship with Full Till, he had some other backers. He usually split his tournament and cash game winnings with his backers.
Interestingly, as far back as 1998, he has also been backing other players at tables. For instance, he sponsored Scotty Nguyen at the World Series of Poker event in the year 1998. Nguyen won at the game and gave Mike a one-third stake of his winning. This amounted to $333,333 for Mike Matusow at the end of the game.
No doubt, Mike Matusow net worth has been affected by his various losses at poker tables. He reportedly lost a total of $2 million to Russ Hamilton at a game. He has also lost a couple more to other players. Apart from his regular games, Mike is also very much involved in sports betting. And he has lost big time at sports betting. His love for sports betting was further revealed when he admitted to making a loss of $200,000 while in jail due to his betting on football.
Personal Life of Mike Matusow
Since he stepped into the world of poker, his private life has been in the full glare of the public. One thing that is well known about his personal life is the fact that he had many personal problems. At some point, he was battling with drug issues. It was so bad that he got a jail term sentence after he was found selling drugs to an undercover police officer. He sold prescription painkillers and ecstasy drugs to a police offer who acted as if he wanted to be his friend but only wanted to gain his trust.
After many months of the undercover operation, Mike Matusow was arrested and found guilty of all six category A Felonies. He was incarcerated in the Clark County Detention Center for a period of six months. After his jail term, Mike has returned to live at his residence in Henderson.