Seriously. I saw him at the WSOP this year. He looks like hell.

I've played with some guys who were at his table at the WSOP and they said he was by far the worst player at the table. They said he wasn't even focused on the game. All he did was fold and stare off into the distance. They said his head wasn't even in the game.

arent they making a movie about him? man v.s food or something like that?

doesnt hellmuth stake him for everything?

Up to $5k max...even PH has given up on Mike...nice guy wayyyy to many problems.

You need help

When has he ever looked good/healthy?


Anyone read his book? Good read?

I loved his book. his rise from selling furniture in the family business, to low stakes poker dealer, to poker player ... it's a great story. He's brutally honest about struggles with drugs, weight, sports betting, mental illness ...

I'm rooting for him to have a happy life.

Cool...picked it up from the library the other day so gonna give it a go.

Exceptional read, highly recommend even if it's written to make him look favorable in every spot.

coke

In one of the latest Poker Night in America episodes, Matusow says:
"My bankroll was $3000 (three thousand) before I lost $10k on the plane". A private plane on the way to a $25/$50 game. With a $3k bankroll.

This same episode Mike also flats an UTG+2 (effectively UTG+1 with the straddle) open-raise with Jc9c, then flats a 3bet, then check-raise ships it on a king high board.

So the answer to the question is: clearly playing the A game.

On the plus side its good to see Mikey taking the advice Phil Laak gave him years ago about trying to build up a bankroll in $25/$50 games, but he must have missed the part where it was a good idea because it meant you could play without putting your full net worth on the table.

Mike Madasow was one of the biggest names in poker not so long ago. He might be the one guy who really blew it, as far as being one that should have been set for life after the poker bloom. He missed his window.

There are a number of players who will forever be haunted by the poker boom. Some of the big names at the beginning really missed out. Mike was one of the ones with the biggest difference between expected gain and reality after the dust settled.

He blew it, and it didn't help that after he was directly cheated by Russ Hamilton, that all he did was whine and cry about it. Full Tilt was still in business then, so he wanted to keep his own gravy train rolling. But think about it. He legitimately got cheated directly by the owner of Ultimate Bet, and Mike Matasow refused to protect the poker community by going directly to the FEDS until Russ Hamilton was behind bars. For that reason alone, he deserves no respect, even if he constantly tells you he is the most honest person in poker. When it came time to make a huge public stand and go after Russ Hamilton, he took the easy way out, just like all poker players do. In all other walks of life people who get cheated out of millions of dollars go to the authorities immediately.

You can't even spell his name properly even though it is in the thread title and because of that I highly doubt anything else you said is anything but poor speculation on your part.

Mikey

don't waste your time, its terrible. i actually laughed out loud when i read here that some1 was making it into a movie.

the best (and only memorable) part was: he was going to jail for 6 months and had something like $50k to his name. Howard comes to him and says "I'm starting a poker site, you should be one of the first investors! in on the ground floor Mikey!"

and Mikes like "hmmm, but i was gonna use all my money to bet sports through the prison payphone."

Howard: "no Mike, invest your money in FullTiltPoker."

Mike: "yeah that sounds like the smart play...but i'm gonna use it to bet sports."

his stake would have been worth double-digit millions, instead he gave it to sportbooks.

if you want a good poker biography read High Roller: the Stu Ungar story. its kinda like Matusow's book, except its well-written, interesting, has great stories, and is about a truly great player. so i guess its not like Matusow's book at all.

for some reason i can't resist. if you're gonna read MM's book don't click the spoiler, but this is another example of his Level 0.1 thinking:

How the **** can someone with as presumably as a high an income as a HSNL live pro be so consistently broke ? There's an article from 2006 or 7 in which he says he has 2 mill and now nothing ffs.

You don't pay a hooker to bang, u pay her to leave.

HBO has been running the Stu Unger Story lately. I enjoyed watching it.

where can i find poker night in america to watch?

Sports book is a helluva drug

I loved Mike's book, fact or fiction, well written or not, the stories were entertaining enough.

Presumably a high income? I'd bet Mike's net worth was never more than $1,000,000 at any time in his life. He had a chance to make the best best ever by getting into Full Tilt early on but chose not to, which he's admitted is the biggest regret of his life.

Any time i've seen him in a televised cash game, it's pretty clear the money in front of him is always a lot of money to him. Even way back on HSP when he was playing against Hellmuth, Hellmuth admitted he made a bluff with 72 vs. Mikes KK because he knew Mike didn't have much money and couldn't rebuy so he would be scared money with KK and probably fold, which he did.

I used to check his twitter every so often and there were a few pics on there of him with prostitute looking girls in his hotel room but the looks on the girls faces were of the "why is this old creepy guy taking pictures of us?" variety. Those pics have since been deleted and all his twitter is now seems to be a plugs for his brother's stock tips website.

I think Mike is a good example of the dark side of Poker Daniel Colman was talking about.

YouTube
Episode 1 - Pilot
Episode 2 - Poker Action
Episode 3 - Kristy Arnett
Episode 4 - The Blow Up
Episode 5 - Get a Grip

The book(One of a Kind) is amazing, the movie(High Roller) sucks. I really hope they do it right eventually. Could be epic.