“Mouth” Full of Gold

Mike Matusow needed, as he emerged victorious in the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions (TOC), held at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Matusow, also known as “The Mouth” because of his relentless (at times, unsportsmanlike) table chatter took home $1 million for his win.

The tournament itself was not without controversy. The TOC was a “freeroll,” meaning it required no buy-in or fee from the participants. Each player won his or her way into the contest in one of two ways: a) making the final table of the WSOP Main Event, or b) finishing in the top twenty in one of the five WSOP Circuit events earlier this year. There was an odd eight-way tie at the Rio Circuit (it was based on points accumulated throughout all the tournaments of the event, not just the Main Event finish) and some players qualified more than once, but those exceptions aside, the qualifications for the TOC were easy to follow.

Now for the controversy. In the days leading up to the TOC, Harrah’s, which owns the WSOP, decided to invite three of the biggest names in poker history – Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, and Doyle Brunson – even though they did not qualify for the tournament. This set off a slew of arguments across internet message boards about whether or not this was fair. 2004 Player of the Year, Daniel Negreanu, voiced his displeasure with the invites on his website, as did top professional player, Paul Phillips. Last year’s WSOP Main Event champion, Greg Raymer, also supported their views. Their main point was that with the addition of the three players, everyone in the tournament loses $500 in “equity,” or the value of their entry (calculated by dividing the $2 million prize pool by the number of players). Thus, part of the prize from their finish in the previous WSOP events was devalued.

On top of this, a point that was not mentioned as often, was that the three players added are amongst the heaviest hitters in the game. They were bound to take chips from someone along the way. What if they knocked players out? Is that fair?

And this is exactly what happened. Hellmuth finished 3rd. Brunson was the “bubble boy,” finishing in 10th place. Chan was 13th.

The good thing about the additions to the field was that it resulted in a final table which included both Matusow and Hellmuth, two of the most vocal personalities in the game. From the get-go, Matusow verbally tormented Hellmuth. In most situations, the crowd would be against Matusow for acting like a jerk, but in this case, because Hellmuth was the target, “The Mouth” was the hero of the day. Some examples of Matusow’s artistry:

• In response to Hellmuth reminding him of his [Hellmuth’s] second place finish last year, “If you keep getting INVITED to tournaments, it's easy to finish second."
• Earlier in the tournament, Matusow gave Hellmuth and Harrah’s another jab regarding the invites, asking the crowd to give Harrah’s an ovation for inviting Hellmuth to take everyone’s money.
• Introduced Hellmuth as “a legend in his own mind.”
• Razzing Hellmuth about his tendency to only play premium hands, “What's the over-under on Phil actually playing a hand today?"
• “When I go home at night, I think to myself, ‘God, I wish I was Phil Hellmuth.’”

Perhaps the most unexpected outburst was by the normally affable Steve Dannenmann, who was runner-up at this year’s WSOP Main Event. Hellmuth had his chips spread out in front of him, instead of stacked in the more conventional manner, which would allow his opponents to more easily see how many chips he had. Tricky chip-stacking is generally considered poor poker etiquette, and in some cases, is against the rules (for example, at the WSOP, a player’s large denomination chips must be plainly visible to all players). When Hellmuth refused to restack his chips at Dannenmann’s request, Dannenmann went off.

"I don't understand why you can't stack your chips like everyone else," he said. "You are disrespecting the game."

After another refusal by Hellmuth, Dannenmann continued his verbal onslaught.

"I'm here playing as an amateur, and I know I'm up against professionals. You above everyone else should know the rules...you sell all those books and products. But you aren't a professional - you're a punk!"

While the tirade was unexpected, the audience’s response was not. They loved it.

In the end, the final table came down to the three most seasoned pros: Hellmuth, Matusow, and Hoyt Corkins.

Corkins, a quiet, respectful player, by no means flew under the radar through all of the hubbub. Starting the final table as one of the short stacks, he caught miraculous cards on several hands to not only stay in the game, but make it all the way to the final two players. He was the one who ended up knocking out Hellmuth (who, of course, called Corkins “lucky” in his exit interview) and actually took the lead temporarily during the heads-up competition.

But it was Matusow who eventually won out. Visibly exhausted after eleven hours of intense, final table poker, he finally got Corkins to move all-in after a flop of K-J-4 flop. Matusow had top pair with K-9, while Corkins had a chance with Q-10, giving him an open-ended straight draw. The turn and river were both useless low cards, and Matusow became a champion among champions.

Overwhelmed, Matusow reflected on his year, his life, and where this win ranks:

"This is the greatest moment of my life," he said. "All the disappointments I've had. All the bad beats. All the bad decisions. This win means everything to me."

The WSOP Tournament of Champions will air Christmas Eve on ESPN at 1:00 EST.

Complete Final Table Results

(Place/Player/Prize Money)

1. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow -- $1,000,000
2. Hoyt Corkins -- $325,000
3. Phil Hellmuth, Jr. -- $250,000
4. Tony 'The Lizard' Bloom -- $150,000
5. Steve Dannenmann -- $100,000
6. Grant 'G-Money' Lang -- $75,000
7. David Levi -- $50,000
8. Keith Sexton -- $25,000
9. Brandon Adams -- $25,000

Originally published November 9, 2005