Mike Matusow and the (Un)Just WSOP Ruling?

You don’t get to be called ‘The Mouth’ for nothing. Either you are the very silent type given this name by your friends with slight inclination for irony or you are just the guy who won’t stop talking. In the case of Mike Matusow, the latter is most definitely the case.

By this time, we are used to the loud Mike with his snide comments, loud laughter and open arguing on different poker and non-poker related matters. So the last night we could say Mike was simply being – Mike.

In case you haven’t been following the World Series that closely, a short roundup. It was the Event #25 (Omaha / Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low). It was a Stud hand and Matusow put the last of his chips on the sixth street with big advantage over his two opponents. His opponents could still catch up and deny him scooping the pot, so he started yelling: “Come on, I deserve this!”

After the dealer dealt the safe seventh street, Matusow started cheering loudly and pounded the table in celebration. This prompted WSOP staff, or more precisely tournament director David Lamb, to issue him a one round penalty for what they deemed “outrageous behavior” and Mike was in disbelief: “You get penalty for being excited? I didn’t even swear!”

Fast forward some hands later, and Mike was eliminated in 19th place. His twitter was bursting with comments from The Mouth himself and other players and followers who wanted to chime in on the situation. Matusow not only felt that he was done wrong but also he was so shaken up by the decision that he felt it cost him the tournament:

was one of his numerous tweets after his elimination, and the text was clearly showing his frustration. Fellow player Owais Ahmed shared his thoughts on the matter, calling it the worst penalty he has ever seen. Thomas Keller agreed, stating:

About an hour ago, Daniel Negreanu, who is well known for being vocal about his opinions on tournament structures and overall organization, offered his insight in several tweets, that we will try to merge into one:

It seems that most of the people who were present in the room share the same general idea: the punishment was way too harsh, especially given the stage the tournament was in. In all honesty, we’ve seen all kinds of celebrations at the WSOP during the years and very few penalties. Knowing who Mike is - a type of person who wears his emotions on his sleeve, and given the fact that he insulted nobody, according to the reports, it definitely seems that it was a way too harsh of a decision.

A warning may have been warranted and Mike being Mike would talk a bit more about the hand and that would be it. It is not like he is the only one celebrating his big hands or talking about the big pots he won. If the penalties were issued every time, there would be a lot of players sitting on the benches, waiting to get back in. It is ungrateful for a poker journalist to take sides but if the accounts are correct, I must say that it really feels like the injustice was done to ‘The Mouth’.