"Old School" Mike Matusow Backs Up His Mouth, Crushes Hustler Casino Live Games
On Monday, Mike Matusow promised the "old school" version of "The Mouth" would appear on Hustler Casino Live. Two sessions of play later and he proved he wasn't all talk.
The four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner first played on "Max Pain Monday," a popular gimmicky weekly show that features a lower stakes game than the rest of the week. During that five-hour session, the poker legend backed up his mouth by winning over $11,000. Well, sort of. He did proclaim "I'm coming after you" to the show's co-owner Nick Vertucci, who instead came after the rest of the table to the tune of a $21,000 profit.
One Time for Mikey
While Matusow didn't stack Vertucci, he still won a bunch on Max Pain Monday, the second biggest winner at the table. And then on Tuesday — the "ante game" - he won even more. A lot more. The perennial Poker Hall of Fame candidate booked a $83,300 win, a significant amount in a mid-stakes game.
He was far and away the biggest winner of the game, although "Luda Chris" ended the stream up $41,600, but he made an incredible fold against Matusow in a set-over-set situation.
"JBoogs" began the hand with a raise to $300 with 9♠8♠, followed by a three-bet to $1,300 with K♥9♦ from "Dr. H." Luda Chris called from under the gun with 2♦2♣, as did Matusow, who was holding 8♦8♣, along with JBoogs, a regular on Hustler Casino Live.
The flop came out 8♥6♣2♠, giving two players a set on a dry board. Matusow and Luda Chris checked their monster hands, while JBoogs bet $2,000 with top pair. Dr. H folded his cards before Luda Chris check-raised to $6,000. Action was back on Matusow, whose hand at the time was the nuts, and he made a small raise to $13,000 hoping to entice two calls.
JBoogs realized top pair was no good against the action he faced, so he folded, leaving Luda Chris with a tough decision to just call or raise. He opted for the former, and the J♠ appeared on the turn. The action went check, followed by a bet of $15,000 from The Mouth who had his opponent covered. Luda Chris, with $34,000 behind, would go into the tank for over four minutes before making an exceptional fold.
Matusow was unable to get maximum value out of a cooler in that hand. But he scooped numerous sizable pots throughout the session, running hot and playing solid poker. Earlier in the stream, he won a separate set-over-set hand with the same pocket pair, but this one against Dr. H, who flopped a set of 3's and lost a $14,975 pot.
The former Full Tilt Poker pro built up a monster stack relatively early on in the show and there would be no patented "Matusow blowup" on this day. He started strong and finished strong in what was his most profitable session on Hustler Casino Live, which he first appeared on in August 2021.
Matusow, who passionately wants to reach the Poker Hall of Fame, hasn't won a WSOP bracelet since 2013, much like Daniel Negreanu. But he was inches short of his fifth bracelet last summer when he finished in second place in the $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better event. He also defeated Shaun Deeb in a $20,000 heads-up match last May on PokerGO. Perhaps old school Matusow is still around.
