WECpoker

One of the most recognizable faces (and personalities) in Poker has recently released a great book, Check-Raising the Devil.  For those that don't know him, his nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table.  He is also known for sometimes ruining hours or days of good play with a single spectacular misjudgment, known as a "Mike Matusow Blow-up" or "Mike Matusow Meltdown".  Matusow began playing poker seriously in the early 1990s, first while working as a poker dealer,  then as a professional player. His successes include being a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and the winner of the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions.

Unlike most poker books, Check-Raising the Devil takes you on a breathtaking, true-life roller coaster ride from his humble beginnings in a trailer park to a rock and roll lifestyle full of hot women, sex, wild drug-filled parties and million-dollar wins and losses.  Yet behind the glamour and glory of his high-stakes poker career lurked the flip side: a person torn between two debilitating mental illnesses; bipolar disorder and ADHD. To dig himself out of depression and suicidal despair, Matusow turned to dangerous street drugs to self-medicate a problem he didn’t understand, and spiraled deeper into the darker world of addiction, police narcotic stings, and jail time.

In this revealing and tumultuous autobiography, the combustible Matusow holds nothing back. You’ll get a mouthful of the man behind the infamous Matusow Meltdowns seen on national TV.

Other Highly Recommended Poker Books

Posted in Poker Characters

Tony BigCharles the infamous self-proclaimed "Poker Professional" who was discussed below, had been maintaining a massive blog at All Vegas Poker. He recently went into a fit and had his highly entertaining blog closed, although it remains in archive to read about his zany adventures and thoughts.

This attention-seeking character can not remain sidelined for long, and has already posted in a new thread opened at All Vegas Poker titled "Tony Bigcharles News and Sightings". I highly recommend you follow his antics.

Posted in Poker Characters

This post is about one of the most interesting characters in poker who has a large online following over the last few years from posting his crazy adventures on several poker forums.  Readers of Tony Bigcharles (aka SevenCard2003) rantings love him, hate him, root for him, bet when he will go busto,  feel sad for him, but they don't stop reading.  It is one of the most unusual circumstances in the poker world.  Tony mostly plays small NL cash games (.50/1, 1/2 sometimes 2/5) so he is not a huge player that people are following.

What makes Tony's story compelling is he is an autistic man of 40+ years old, who is a formerly homeless (several think he may be that way again) beggar who used the money he received on the street to play poker games across the United States.  He has attempted to get his life together by setting a home base in Government Housing in Lyons, Kansas.  Tony's autism was recently judged debilitating enough that he was awarded Government Assistance (SSI).  He has been using the original backpay awarded (Apx $7-9000) about 12 month ago, as his poker bankroll.

While he has had adventures that he has posted in Atlantic City (highlighted by sleeping in bathroom stall story), Los Angeles, and several other locations, his most recent adventures (and blog) have played out in Las Vegas.  His dream is to become a successful Professional Poker Player and remove himself from US Assistance.  His current drawback is that he tilts when he has a losing poker session, and he can not keep himself off Black Jack and Video Poker Machines.  Making things worse is that he is a "martingale" type bettor, meaning he increases his bets even larger when he is on a losing streak.

If you want to get hooked on this character, you can read his current exploits at All Vegas Poker where his blog is at 354 pages and counting.  If you find him interesting enough, you can google some of his best historic postings at 2+2 and PartTimePoker.

Posted in Poker Characters