Ten Million Little Pieces, the Promise of Another Matusow Adventure

I get no shortage of Mike Matusow news, and not just because he is my friend and I have written about him. He seems to generate an entire rumor industry, in which nothing is ever too reasonable to be false or too wacky to be true. Most of these items tend to be in the form of questions: Did you hear about Mike in Aruba? Did you hear about Mike in the Bahamas? Did Mike play Chau Giang heads up? Did Mike record a rap song? Are Mike and Phil Hellmuth friends or rivals? Is Mike broke? Did you hear about when he was playing poker online and …



I can't get away from him. I was in Las Vegas on four kinds of business, asleep. My cell phone began making an unfamiliar noise, eventually awakening me. It was signaling that Mike left me a voice message. Even my cell phone has a separate set of rules for Mike Matusow.



The time on the message, 4:58 a.m. "Hey, Mikey. I thought maybe you'd be up, because you're always up. I got 10 million things going on …"



Of course, I call him. And, of course, we get a couple of minutes into the call and he needs to crash because it's 6 a.m.

"Can we get together later?"



That's an insane idea because I have too much stuff going on to even think about meeting with Mike. Even more insane? I was the one who asked.



Not everybody is interested in Matusow's gravitational pull. One Card Player reader wrote, "Keep your love letters to yourself," in response to my pair of columns about Mike at the Tournament of Champions. (Worse, I think it was written after just the first column ran.)



But that was the only negative e-mail I received. I received many very personal letters – personal to Mike. These correspondents told me they appreciated getting to know Matusow better, but what they really wanted to do was add their own opinions.



I can tell you three things about the people who wrote me. First, it was an intelligent group. Even though Mike appears to be the ultimate blue-collar hero, many of the people who took the time to voice their appreciation and support of Mike in poker and life came from very educated backgrounds. One e-mail was from a student at Yale, part of a group that offered me $1,000 for Matusow's FullTilt jersey that I wore when I spoke there. (I turned it down.) Another was from an English teacher. All the e-mails were smart.



Second, they demonstrate that Mike Matusow projects a kind of charisma that makes you feel that you want to be friends with him, and that you may already be friends with him. R. wrote, "From the WSOP to the Tournament of Champions, Mike has been in my house doing what he does best, being 'The Mouth.'" The idea that R. has invited Matusow into his home is not metaphorical. He continued: "My relationship with him, although I have never met him, seems to be a love-hate."



Another reader wrote, "I see Matusow and I see the kind of guy I'd like to call a friend, the kind of guy I would easily give the shirt off my back for being so genuine." Yet another, C., was standing next to some of Matusow's friends and his brother Scott (whom he subsequently got to know) when Mike busted out of the main event in 2004. C. gave him a hug, and got one, when everyone along the rail was trying to console Mike at what was one of the most emotional moments caught on camera in a poker tournament.



Not pretending he knows Mike Matusow any more than that, he still felt a connection. "Mike has made some mistakes – hell, we all make mistakes – but he knows what they are, admits them, and is trying not to make them again. Mike wears his heart on his sleeve and will do anything for a friend."



Third, many e-mails expressed genuine concern and worry for Mike. R. concluded his e-mail by saying, "I just hope that he doesn't crash. A Stu Ungar repeat? I hope not." Several readers said they hope Mike invests his money and succeeds in fighting his demons.



From having gotten to know many poker celebrities, I recognize that there is a difference between knowing someone and knowing about someone. I take it as a compliment that my writing can contribute to the impression that you can know someone by reading about him, but I caution people about taking it too far.



On the other hand, I know exactly how you feel, because Mike Matusow is that guy. Sure, he acts a little for the cameras, but not about himself, his confidence, his insecurities, his trials and triumphs. As I mentioned in this column before, I became friends with Mike the same way: I spent a very short time with him and felt that connection.



Not everyone is a fan of Mike Matusow, but despite a lot to potentially object to – he lets it all hang out; he's the biggest target in poker – that number is very few. At the Tournament of Champions, he managed to take a nap on a hallway couch at the end of the dinner break. A woman snatched her boyfriend's camera and tried to take a picture. It seemed wrong, so I casually stepped in front of him. A moment later, she apologized.



"I'm sorry," she said. "Could you move out of the way? You're in my picture of Mike Matusow."



A few minutes later, I followed him into the tournament area. Another woman on her cell phone hurriedly hung up, blurting out, "Mike Matusow just walked in the room."



We're all following Mike around because we want to see where he is going and what's going to happen when he gets there. His friends, real and potential, are betting on a happy ending.