The Mike Matusow Incident: Celebration or Tantrum?

Mike Matusow is an outspoken poker player. This is also an understatement. He is known for being very vocal and emotional, both at and away from the poker tables.

In a recent World Series of Poker tournament, he won a big pot deep in the event, with only a few tables remaining and the final table in sight. He believes he celebrated fairly when winning the pot, saying things like, “Yes! I earned this! Yes!” He then claims the floor person, Dave Lamb, issued a one-round penalty, meaning he had to sit out from the table for a complete round of play. Matusow claims no warning was given, and it was unfair and ultimately resulted in his busting from the tournament shortly after he returned from the penalty.

Several players claimed that Matusow did not deserve the penalty.

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman was also in the tournament and at Matusow’s table. She claims that his exclamations following the winning hand involved being the “greatest F***ING player in the world” and other outbursts. She said he was running around the room, hollering, and swearing. Some players complained, and Lamb approached Matusow to discuss it, but when Matusow began yelling and cursing at him, the warning turned into a penalty.

Some complained that Matusow was treated unfairly, while others asserted that he was given more than a fair chance to calm down before the penalty was issued. Some claimed the WSOP shouldn’t be the fun police and monitor people’s behavior, but others said that the official tournament rule against excessive celebration is required to maintain order in the games.

The discussion is one that has been going on in poker for a number of years and was instigated once again by the events involving Matusow at the WSOP.