Mike "The Mouth" Matusow In Contention to End 12 Year Bracelet Drought

Poker has long been home to outspoken and distinctive personalities, and few have stood out more than Mike Matusow. You don't get the nickname "The Mouth" by being a church mouse.

He became a household name during the poker boom years, with appearances on High Stakes Poker and memorable runs during the World Series of Poker. He's made the final table of the WSOP Main Event twice (2001 & 2005) and picked up four bracelets during his storied career, which has not been without its pitfalls.

Matusow has a résumé that secures his place among poker’s greats, though his career has also been shaped by well-documented battles with addiction and health issues. But on Day 2 of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, fans caught a glimpse of the Matusow of old. The 57-year-old Poker Hall of Fame hopeful is one of nine players advancing to the final day, and it's hard to imagine anyone hungrier for the gold. In fact, he told PokerNews after bagging that no one left in the field wants it more.

If Matusow goes the distance when play resumes on Sunday, it would mark the end of a 12-year bracelet drought and strengthen his case for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame, an honor he’s openly chased for years. While $295,008 awaits the winner, Matusow is playing for far more than just the money.

So what does Matusow think of his chances going into the finale?

"I don't know if you were watching today, I played phenomenal," said Matusow.

"[After the dinner break] I made a bunch of hands, made some good calls, some good folds. I think I'm as good as anybody else."

"[Stud] It's my worst f****** game, but tournaments are different. Like, I see everything in tournaments. In cash, I don't. I think I have a really good chance. Hopefully it'll be my day tomorrow."

$10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Bets
1	Chino Rheem	United States	1,351,000	27
2	Qiang Xu	China	1,275,000	26
3	Adam Friedman	United States	1,038,000	21
4	Mike Matusow	United States	999,000	20
5	Dan Heimiller	United States	996,000	20
6	Paul Volpe	United States	684,000	14
7	Dave Rogers	United States	512,000	10
8	Nick Guagenti	United States	435,000	9
9	Mori Eskandani	United States	338,000	7

Matusow's 999,000 chips puts him fourth in the counts, just trailing Chino Rheem, Qiang Xu and start of day chip leader Adam Friedman. Dan Heimiller is only 3,000 behind Matusow with Paul Volpe, Dave Rogers, Nick Guagenti and Hall of Famer Mori Eskandani rounding out the pack.

Day 2 Action

With late registration open through the first level of Day 2, the 46 Day 1 survivors were joined by 27 new entries, bringing the total field to 127 and creating a prize pool of $1,181,100.

Once registration closed, it was confirmed that the top 20 finishers would make the money.

Eliminations came quickly throughout the day, but once the field reached 21 players, the tournament hit a prolonged bubble. After 35 hands of hand-for-hand play, Eric Wasserson became the unfortunate bubble boy. Despite returning from the dinner break ninth in chips, Wasserson's stack crumbled in a string of frustrating hands that suggested tilt may have crept in. He made solid hands, but his opponents kept catching up, and ultimately it was Volpe who dealt the final blow.

Once the players locked up the min-cash, a host of famous faces fell by the wayside. Dylan Weisman, Brian Yoon and Huck Seed were the first trio to go ahead of Dzmitry Urbanovich and Per Hildebrand, who rounded out those receiving the min-cash of $19,999

Bryce Yockey, Yueqi Zhu, Philip Sternheimer and Tom McCormick locked up paydays of $20,999 ahead of Daniel Negreanu falling in 11th for $23,623. On the final hand of the night, Volpe saw off George Alexander in tenth for the same payout to end the Day 2 session.

Plan for Day 3

The final nine will return to the Horseshoe Events Centre at 1 p.m. local time and will play until a champion is crowned. They'll be coming back on Level 19, where the limits are 25,000/50,000.

Each player has guaranteed themselves $27,528 for making it this far, but of course, all eyes, especially Matusow's, are on the bracelet and $295,008 up top.