Mike Matusow Containment Thread

I’m not here arguing for his inclusion into the Hall of Fame, as I said I’m in middle between him (who thinks he is) and you who gives him zero credit.

But he has stuff on the resume, was a key fixture during boom, and if he punched through a few more good results between 2013-2020 and Layne Flack didn’t die he might have made it. But now it’s too late as his play has probably deteriorated and there are crushers turning 40.

The poker hall of fame seems unreasonably difficult to get into. Is there another Hall of Fame that is harder to get into?

Mike was ahead of his time, and one of the characters that helped grow the game.

Yes, he’s a sad character now, but he’s done a lot for the game and I think he should be in it. Not ahead of Ted Forrest.

They need to change the rules and allow more players in, because it’ll be impossible for older players to get in once the guys who got into poker (in part, because of Mike) turn 40.

To be fair to Mike, his WSOP results are clearly superior to Miami John’s, which surprised me a bit, but it’s not the WSOP HOF.

And none of it matters until Ted Forrest is in, bad checks or not. I guess if he’d died in 2021 instead of Layne, he would’ve been the 2022 inductee.

There was 114 entries in the Tournament of Champions in 2005, fwiw. Still not a gigantic field by any stretch, but it was a 3-day tournament and not just invite only.

I think Mike deserves to get in based solely on the fact that he brought attention to the game early on. Of course poker didnt need Mike but his antics helped bring eyes to the game. He also was a hell of a tournament player for 10+ years. There are a lot of names in the poker hall of fame that you look at and think "how did they make it?" Todd Brunson, Elezra, Oppenheim, Ulliott etc.. Ulliott might be the perfect example of a player who made the hall of fame on a combination of their playing ability as well as personality. Similar to Devilfish, Mike will probably make it one day once hes dead.

Devilfish is actually a great example for why Mike should be in. I think Mike’s accomplishments outweigh Ulliot’s, but Mike’s problems and vocal support for politics (I hate) seem to be a factor.

Mike did more to grow the game (and had more success in tournaments) than Devilfish, but he has baggage. His play has also declined, but of course it would. Devilish died, which was tragic, but not a reason to put him in the HOF.

The main thing is the rules they made up for inducted members. Way too limiting.

Oh, and Todd is ridiculous. Oppenheimer deserves it, but Todd?! Lol same with Eli. He has no business being in there before Forrest and Mikey.

When they did the electing there was basically no one else other than Todd that met the criteria

They could be waiting for if Mike screws up more, and award HOF if he doesn't.

Or rather amongst the ten finalists no one else had a real strong case. Moneymaker was on there.

Not sure why Ted Forrest was not though

hes pretty hot shirtless.

Ah, ok. That makes sense.

Then I’ll go back to the ‘rules’ they created for nominating/voting in HOF players needing to be changed.

Edit: just saw your follow-up. It was a crime for Forest to not be nominated that year, totally agree. Wonder what the politics involved are, cause I’ve never hear anyone speak poorly about the guy.

And regardless of what he’s playing now, or if he’s broke, he was a part of the legendary Andy Beal/The Commission game..not to mention being a legendary stud player

Yep that's definitely his problem now.

Thanks for the correction.

So Mike is saying Dan Blizerian caused his back injury?

Came to think about if they give the HOF to Mike, so why not to Erick Lindgren?

You may see my point.

Mike evokes sympathy though, and feels more like "one of us". But is that enough?

Around that time iirc Ted was back East playing low limits so I think he was probably running away from debts. Now I don’t see him at all.

Todd was a part of that Andy Beal game and took Andy for most

I briefly played the rock 5/5 plo Aria game with Ted a few weeks ago. He min bought got felted once about an hour in, min rebought played a few more hands then picked up.

I'm not suggesting this tells the whole story of Mike Matusow but I will never forget how some high-stakes pros actually PAID Mikey $1,000 each just to keep him in the game on High Stakes Poker. It gives a glimpse at what some of his peers actually thought of his (mental) game - and this happened something like 20 years ago near the very peak of the poker boom. He may have been decent at certain games (O8 specifically) but he was nowhere near as good as he thought he was, and time hasn’t been kind to his game.

Mikey obviously obliged and managed to piss away >$100,000 in the process.

I remember him folding KQs to a late position open from his big blind on HSP lmao

As far as Todd and Oppenheimer, despite not having much tournament success they are (rumored to be) crushers in the big mix throughout the late 90s to 2010s at least. That is what makes a great poker player and if you're going to have a HOF you have to include them. Let's face it, Mike might be break even or so over 20 years of tournaments or whatever and despite his success its hard to state he's worthy.

However, he was very popular throughout the boom. And obviously there are lesser people that are in. So he does have a valid argument at least.

Thats what I thought.

Isn't Mike American. When someone does something to you in USA don't you sue?
why no lawsuit?

Dan is loaded too right.

Mike probably settled with him years ago for an 8 ball and a tournament buy in.

like, cocaine?:shocked: and Parisron i don't come here much more anymore but when i do i still see you all over the place. Now what are you up to and who are you working for and what cardrooms do you play in these days and have you played with Matusow recently?

I get why people knock Mike, but he was a huge part of the poker boom. Like him or not, he brought attention to the game, had some solid results, and was always entertaining. That counts for something.

Yeah, his recent play isn’t what it used to be and the baggage is real, but let’s not pretend the Hall of Fame is only full of squeaky clean crushers. Devilfish got in and Mike’s resume stacks up fine compared to some others already inducted.

That said, the fact Ted Forrest still isn’t in is wild. The current rules are way too limiting and don’t leave much room for legacy players as the next generation turns 40.

Yea, Mike was maybe the best main event performer during the 2000s. He had 4 legit shots at winning it. Pretty impressive given 3 of those fields were 2500+.

Ted is the epitome of a hall of famer to me. Weird dude but a legendary gambler for 20+ years. Yea he had a checkered history there for a bit but as others have mentioned vegas and gamblers had a shady imagine for a reason: there's some slimy characters. Not a personal shot at Ted, but the internet era has had its fair share of shady people too. Maybe more.