Interview w/ The Mouth [Archive] - Two Plus Two Older Archives

FoxwoodsFiend

12-07-2005, 12:22 AM

This was an amazing interview, but by far the best part is:

I love going at it with Phil Hellmuth. It gets to the point where he has to pull me to one side and say, "You better knock it off, you've gone too far!" In the future, I want pay-per-view poker. I want heads-up matches with Phil Hellmuth. I mean, poker's a bit like All-Star Wrestling -- they'd probably cast me as the bad guy. Can you imagine me versus Phil? I would absolutely destroy him. Not only will I beat him because he can't play a lick to me, but after I beat him, I will mentally, physically and emotionally just [expletive] destroy him.

lapoker17

12-07-2005, 12:30 AM

My favorite part by far:

"It's gonna be fun when I go to the gym because there are so many hot chicks in there. I'll be honest, I go to the gym, but right now, I'm a fat ass. But I just made $50,000 of weight-loss bets with a bunch of guys, so …"

B Dids

12-07-2005, 12:43 AM

This part caught my eye:

"I have the best etiquette. I only [expletive] with people I know. If there's an idiot at the table and I don't know him, I don't make fun of him because he plays like an idiot. I don't say a word. [Greg] Raymer, I didn't know, but he started [expletive] with me -- they don't show that part. He consistently [expletive] with me and he persistently came after me, so finally I said, "You better quit [expletive] with me, 'else I'm gonna [expletive] bust you." Then he did it again and I showed him the 5-high bluff and I said, "You got no [expletive] balls [expletive]. I got big balls, you got little balls." Now that was basically a statement to say "stop [expletive] with me," but he kept doing it. I told him I was going to break him and I got him to put all his chips in on a flush draw. Of course, he hit the flush."

It would be interesting to hear Greg's thoughts on this.

Daliman

12-07-2005, 01:26 AM

[ QUOTE ]
This part caught my eye:

"I have the best etiquette. I only [expletive] with people I know. If there's an idiot at the table and I don't know him, I don't make fun of him because he plays like an idiot. I don't say a word. [Greg] Raymer, I didn't know, but he started [expletive] with me -- they don't show that part. He consistently [expletive] with me and he persistently came after me, so finally I said, "You better quit [expletive] with me, 'else I'm gonna [expletive] bust you." Then he did it again and I showed him the 5-high bluff and I said, "You got no [expletive] balls [expletive]. I got big balls, you got little balls." Now that was basically a statement to say "stop [expletive] with me," but he kept doing it. I told him I was going to break him and I got him to put all his chips in on a flush draw. Of course, he hit the flush."

It would be interesting to hear Greg's thoughts on this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even though MM is making himself seem more innocuous in his statement, I'd be surprised if the account of the events leading up to it are off.

12-07-2005, 02:55 AM

Raymer seems to me to be a gentleman. And, he's kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to participate on 2+2. However, I refrain from making any comments about Mr. Matusow. I don't want to be suspended again.

Sponger15SB

12-07-2005, 03:31 AM

I think Mike is in love with Phil Ivey.

Also somebody should ask him how much money he got to keep after his finish in the WSOP. Oh and ask him why he hasn't been playing online lately, if he is so good.

haha this guy is so full of himself its sick.

Fallen Hero

12-07-2005, 04:26 AM

The Grinder said to me once, "I only play these $1,000 dollar tournaments to ruin people's dreams!"

lol that's a great quote

jedi

12-07-2005, 06:01 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This part caught my eye:

"I have the best etiquette. I only [expletive] with people I know. If there's an idiot at the table and I don't know him, I don't make fun of him because he plays like an idiot. I don't say a word. [Greg] Raymer, I didn't know, but he started [expletive] with me -- they don't show that part. He consistently [expletive] with me and he persistently came after me, so finally I said, "You better quit [expletive] with me, 'else I'm gonna [expletive] bust you." Then he did it again and I showed him the 5-high bluff and I said, "You got no [expletive] balls [expletive]. I got big balls, you got little balls." Now that was basically a statement to say "stop [expletive] with me," but he kept doing it. I told him I was going to break him and I got him to put all his chips in on a flush draw. Of course, he hit the flush."

It would be interesting to hear Greg's thoughts on this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even though MM is making himself seem more innocuous in his statement, I'd be surprised if the account of the events leading up to it are off.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think Greg was persistently coming after Matusow in the poker sense, not in the trash talk sense. It looks like Matusow fired off the non-poker barrage with his comments. And Greg put his chips in with the flush draw and 2 overcards, a favorite over Matusow's hand when he did it.

pokergrader

12-07-2005, 06:25 AM

It seems to me like he is a good poker player, but a horrible poker professional. He seems to have no regard for any money he earns.

And how does somebody lose $400,000 playing online?

Bluff Daddy

12-07-2005, 06:34 AM

"People who drink, their lives are a mess -- and that's why I never drank heavily."

I thought this was funny

morgant

12-07-2005, 08:42 AM

ask him why there was mysterious transfer from my ub account to his for $5k that i had absolutely unequivocably never authorized?

or ask him about the time i played him in the ub game drunk off my ass while diablo fed me lines to wreck him in the chat...hahahah
good times

BarronVangorToth

12-07-2005, 10:02 AM

[ QUOTE ]
ask him why there was mysterious transfer from my ub account to his for $5k that i had absolutely unequivocably never authorized?

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this the mystery story Paul Phillips spoke of in his blog like a year ago...?

(Someone else can probably provide the link.)

Barron Vangor Toth
BarronVangorToth.com

Toro

12-07-2005, 10:43 AM

[ QUOTE ]
This part caught my eye:

I told him I was going to break him and I got him to put all his chips in on a flush draw. Of course, he hit the flush."

It would be interesting to hear Greg's thoughts on this.

[/ QUOTE ]

This brag is very disingenuous because actually Raymer went all-in first as the favorite(2 overs and flush draw after the flop) and got Matasow to put all his chips in as the dog.

berya

12-07-2005, 01:15 PM

"I've always liked Matusow, and this reinforced that."

Same here. Always liked the guy. Great interview.

adios

12-07-2005, 02:32 PM

Yeah I came away with a much different view of him than his "TV personna" so to speak. First of all I think the guy came off as being quite intelligent. Second of all I have alot of respect for someone who attributes his losses to his bad play. He said his "A" game is great but he doesn't always bring it to the table. Also I found his comments about the following to being quite believable:

--being setup by the police.
--his attitude about money.
--his description of his depression.

I think he came off very well in the interview FWIW. He took accountability for his problems.

12-07-2005, 02:35 PM

My fave part was when he asked Hellmuth about the poker PPV and Hellmuth said he'd need to get a 70/30 cut.

Can you imagine someone having the balls to tell you that if you are both equally promoting and participating in the event?

Ulysses

12-07-2005, 03:54 PM

ACG,

"Can you imagine someone having the balls to tell you that if you are both equally promoting and participating in the event?"

Have you ever heard of boxing? Or movies? Or about a million other things. Your comment is super weird.

Ulysses

12-07-2005, 03:55 PM

All,

I have no idea how much of any of the stuff written and on TV is true, but Mike definitely seems to be a very interesting person, much more so than many other well-known players.

jhodges

12-07-2005, 04:13 PM

While he comes across as genuine in the interview I can't help thinking his emotional intelligence (if not his normal intelligence) is really low. What would cause you to blow $400,000 online be pennyless, then win 1,000,000 only to blow most of that again. Rinse, repeat... the story of his life.

Fallen Hero

12-07-2005, 04:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It seems to me like he is a good poker player, but a horrible poker professional. He seems to have no regard for any money he earns.

And how does somebody lose $400,000 playing online?

[/ QUOTE ]

it's not that hard to lose 40buy-ins while tilted and playing in a sh agressive game with good opponents.

morgant

12-07-2005, 05:07 PM

i dont think so. this happened to me this past august.

i was out of the country for 3 weeks with no computer access. i came back to find one of my ub accounts cleaned out of 15k. i have no idea how the dood got in my account. but it appears he looked for players to sell my ub money to for a transfer on stars. there were 3 players on ub, matusow being one of them who received 5k from my account.

i sorted the thing out with ub, but, to this day, i dont know how the person got in my account.

12-07-2005, 05:40 PM

Matusow is definitely saying Raymer came after him because he kept raising his blind, re-raising the Mouth's bets, etc. It wasn't that Raymer was tossing expletives at Fossilman.

bogey

12-07-2005, 06:31 PM

B Dids

12-07-2005, 06:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Matusow is definitely saying Raymer came after him because he kept raising his blind, re-raising the Mouth's bets, etc. It wasn't that Raymer was tossing expletives at Fossilman.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is what we're assuming, but I'd like Greg to clear that up if he would, since A- he's probably around and B- there's some ambiguity there.

jwvdcw

12-07-2005, 07:46 PM

there was this one guy who was in jail -- he was just stuck in there and needed to get out -- and I put up his bail and he's out right now. I'm supposed to get the money back, but this was some guy I barely knew and the fact that he hated being in there so much really bothered me. So I wanted to get him out.

/images/graemlins/confused.gif /images/graemlins/confused.gif

utmt40

12-08-2005, 02:33 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Wow, this was a good interview. I've always liked Matusow, and this reinforced that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike you are the man!

BarronVangorToth

12-08-2005, 08:50 AM

[ QUOTE ]
i dont think so. this happened to me this past august.

i was out of the country for 3 weeks with no computer access. i came back to find one of my ub accounts cleaned out of 15k. i have no idea how the dood got in my account. but it appears he looked for players to sell my ub money to for a transfer on stars. there were 3 players on ub, matusow being one of them who received 5k from my account.

i sorted the thing out with ub, but, to this day, i dont know how the person got in my account.

[/ QUOTE ]

Glad it worked out and thanks for the info.

The story I was referencing I think was more like a year ago and not six months ago -- but Paul Phillips didn't go into details (for probably obvious reasons) regarding someone who on some site had their money lifted and given to someone else on the site who had an interest in said site.

Enough of your details matched that I wondered if this was the story.

Oh, well.

Yet another mystery never revealed.

It is a cautionary tale and a reason why I am constantly moving money out of my online accounts in order to not have much at any given time anywhere.

Barron Vangor Toth
BarronVangorToth.com

12-08-2005, 01:52 PM

Anybody know how accurate his comments are on his Omaha Hi/Lo game?

DVO

12-08-2005, 02:00 PM

The gossip is nice, but the real interesting thing is how Matusow falls in the 'accumulator / chip up' camp, apparently eschewing even 4/1 all-in confrontations ( ala Hellmuth). This is rather shocking to me. He sure has confidence in his ability to outplay people. This falls in direct contrast to the adamantly held beliefs of the 'take the edge' crowd around here ( which includes me ).

We know where Greg Raymer stands on this issue ( take the 60/40 edge if you have it). I wonder where some of the other well known pros stand on this.

pdparv

12-08-2005, 03:28 PM

I am liking the whole Bluff/ESPN partership here. Awesome interview by the guys at Bluff.

Kurn, son of Mogh

12-08-2005, 03:39 PM

My understanding is its his best game.

SharkBait

12-08-2005, 08:43 PM

Somebody please point me to some place in that article where Mike tells the truth - besides the part about being a losing video poker player.

I find Mike entertaining but wow...

12-08-2005, 11:39 PM

i have to agree with shark bait on this one. matasow is really talking himself up. he does a good job of it, but a lot of what i'm reading sounds like [censored]. i love the fact that he refers to his cocain addiction as "partying". that is my favorite part of the whole thing. i hate booze, it destroys peoples lives. but i loved to party. hehehe

Phill S

12-14-2005, 12:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The gossip is nice, but the real interesting thing is how Matusow falls in the 'accumulator / chip up' camp, apparently eschewing even 4/1 all-in confrontations ( ala Hellmuth). This is rather shocking to me. He sure has confidence in his ability to outplay people. This falls in direct contrast to the adamantly held beliefs of the 'take the edge' crowd around here ( which includes me ).

We know where Greg Raymer stands on this issue ( take the 60/40 edge if you have it). I wonder where some of the other well known pros stand on this.

[/ QUOTE ]

It didnt come across to me that MM advocates a tighter style, passing up on edges in the same way helmuth seems to.

I think its more a case of he prefers to constantly build his stack as a buffer for when he does take these risks. He certainly does take risks, and doesnt seem to pass up confrontations even in (at first glance) passable spots.

This is all my opinion based on what ive read on his game however - ive never played with the guy, and ive hardly seen any of his game so can only go off 2nd and 3rd hand accounts.