Wicked Chops Poker Insider

Now, Why Didn’t Full Tilt Poker Take the PokerStars Deal in Summer 2011?
With most of the legal jeopardy and fallout from the Department of Justice indictments waning, there has been an uptick of information coming out regarding the goat rodeo that was Full Tilt Poker operations post-Black Friday....

Jeffrey Pollack Isn’t Dead in Poker?
(alternate headline: It’s Time to Short William Hill Stock) After Federated Sports+Gaming crashed and burned more spectacularly than any company in poker history, many wondered if Jeffrey Pollack, Annie Duke, and others would...

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Mike Matusow

Mike Matusow Defeats Phil Hellmuth to Win 2013 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

by Wicked Chops Entity on 1.28.2013 in Poker Tournaments | 3 comments

Mike Matusow is back from the dead. And so are we. For now.

No seriously.

We’re not kidding.

And no, this is not 2004.

Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, he of “Game Passed Him By 8 Years Ago” fame, defeated Phil Hellmuth to claim the 2013 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

It was a best case scenario situation for the WSOP and NBC. Let’s just say when they got in the money and were down to 16, a Dan Cates vs Dan Smith final was on the table–which is nowhere near as exciting a combo as this Dan & Dan.

For the win, Matusow banks $750,000, or about $750,000 more than he’s banked the past four years. Hellmuth continues his year long upswing, earning $300,000.

Other cashers included the aforementioned Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates ($50,000), Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan ($25,000), Antonio Esfandiari ($25,000), Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to Duke ($25,000), and Phil Ivey ($25,000).

Get full results here.

Tagged as: featured, Mike Matusow, nbc national heads up poker championship, Phil Hellmuth, Poker News

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Mike Matusow Calls Phil Ivey a “Piece of Sh–”

by Wicked Chops Entity on 6.9.2011 in Poker News | 5 comments

Watch Mike Matusow Is Very Angry at Russ Hamilton on RawVegas.tv

Mike Matusow speaks his mind. They don’t call him “The Mouth” for nothing.

A few years ago, Matusow was the first major pro who really spoke out against Russ Hamilton (above, classic). He was right on for doing so, even if some pros questioned his story.

This week, Matusow took on Phil Ivey during an interview on The Hardcore Poker Show, who he called a “piece of shit” for suing Tiltware (below clip).

This time, while Mikey’s anger is valid, it’s directed at the wrong people associated with Full Tilt. Phil Ivey isn’t the one who didn’t mix player and operational funds. And Phil Ivey wasn’t the one who turned down a potential deal that could’ve paid back U.S. players and made the company financial viable again.

Not saying that Ivey is a saint, but with dissension in the ranks at Tilt, he’s not the one anger should really be directed at right now.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tagged as: Full Tilt Poker, Mike Matusow, Phil Ivey, Poker News

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Rajkumar, Matusow, Sexton Make WPT Bay 101 Final Table

by Wicked Chops Entity on 3.18.2011 in Poker Tournaments | 1 comment

For the first time in nine seasons, Vince Van Patten won't have Mike Sexton with him in the broadcast booth.

Pretty interesting final table shaping up at the 2011 WPT Bay 101 with a few good storylines.

Let’s start with World Poker Tour commentator and poker HOF’er Mike Sexton going from the broadcast booth to trying to become a WPT millionaire. Sexton grinded out his short-stack to the final table, entering play sixth overall with 363,000.

Next up, Mike Matusow is going for his first ever WPT title, entering the final table stacked third overall with 2,173,000.

And making back-to-back WPT final tables is Vivek Rajkumar, who is fourth overall with 1,616,000. Vivek has one WPT title to his credit already.

The big stack is WSOP bracelet winner Steven Kelly with 4,169,000.

Follow the final table starting 4pm on Friday and get full recap and chip counts here.

Tagged as: Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Vivek Rajkumar, World Poker Tour

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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Brings You Today’s Poker News Link Dump

by Wicked Chops Entity on 8.12.2010 in Poker News | 1 comment

Rosie Huntington Whiteley will be making future appearances on WCP.

August is usually a brutally slow time for poker news (although we’ve had a few surprisingly good stories this month).

Fortunately August hasn’t been a brutally slow time for pictures of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. The Victoria’s Secret model is a Brit, and she’s the chick who is going to replace Megan Fox in Transformers 3, something you probably didn’t know if you’re over the age of 12. Victoria’s Secret is kinda like the SEC of hot international models. All of the talent goes there these days. Well played, VS.

Anyway, more pics below or here. On with the poker news…

:: The LA Times has a simple yet solid write-up on the possible regulation of online poker. [link]

:: Speaking of, the NFL has dropped it’s opposition to internet gambling, a huge step for regulation. [link]

:: Speaking speaking of, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) believes the online gaming regulation bill will pass by end of 2010. [link]

:: Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, and Billie Brown inducted into Women in Poker Hall of Fame, meaning there’s like one or two more women to induct and that’ll pretty much cover it for the next 20 years. [link]

:: Solid write-up and review of This Week in Poker by Shamus. [link]

:: Great video and reaction on the UltimateBet super-user story from Card Player. [link]

:: Mike Matusow wins 2010 Florida State Poker Championship for $100,000. Only $1.9M to go until he can pay off Ted Forrest for the weight loss prop bet. [link]

:: And finally, Day 1A recap of the EPT Tallinn. [link]

Tagged as: Mike Matusow, Online Poker, Poker News, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

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2010 WSOP Update: Matusow Leads TOC, Eskeland Wins Mixed Bracelet

by Wicked Chops Entity on 6.29.2010 in Poker Tournaments | no comments

David Sklansky shows up with a different chick at the WSOP just about every day, although this isn't one of them.

With the 2010 WSOP Main Event just a week away, things are really heating up at the Rio. More people, girls, action, and even etc. Big event today with the $25,000 NLH Six-Handed kicking off.

At the end of the post, we have a Girls of the Donkament gallery, since there are better girls on the felt than the rail this year.

Here’s the latest.

:: Event #47 ($1,000 NLH) - The massive field of 3,128 is down to 33. Manuel Davidian is the chip leader, stacked at 889,000. Owen Crowe is math math math fourth overall with 607,000. Also remaining, albeit among the short-stacks, is previous 2010 WSOP donkament^TM winner Scott Montgomery with 151,000. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #48 ($2,500 Mixed) – Norwary’s Sigurd Eskeland takes this one, defeating Steve Sung heads-up for the title. For the win, Eskeland banks $260,497 and his first bracelet. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #49 ($1,500 NLH) – A total of 2,543 played down to 315. Get non-full chip counts here.

:: Event #50 ($5,000 PLO) – The last event of the day brought in 460 and played down to 207. November Niner Kevin Schaffel leads this one, stacked at 178,900. Of the holy triumvirate, Phil Ivey has 45,000 and Phil Hellmuth is stacked at 29,900. Get full chip counts here.

And in the Tournament of Champions, Mike Matusow ended play as chip leader, stacked at 85,500. He’s followed by Huck Seed with 73,000. There are still 17 remaining. Players come back on Saturday and at this rate will play down to 16. Get full chip counts here.