Poker Player Found Dead in Las Vegas Not a Victim of Foul Play

Matthew Hauge, a promising young poker talent who was found dead in his Rio hotel room during last year's WSOP, was determined by the coroner to have died from natural causes and was not the victim of foul play, as some had initially believed.

Hauge, 26, from Mason City, Iowa, met his untimely demise due to dilated cardiomyopathy, according to the Clark County coroner and reported by Channel 3 News in Las Vegas. The condition is characterized as the heart's left ventricle being unable to pump a sufficient amount of blood due to being enlarged and weakened.

Rumors concerning foul play had circulated following Hauge's death, with reports of an unidentified woman accompanying the poker player to his Rio hotel room prior to his body being found. Valuables were said to be missing and a suspicion of Hauge perhaps being drugged made the rounds on online poker forums.

A complete autopsy has laid those rumors to rest, with the effects of dilated cardiomyopathy considered to be a natural manner of death.

In The Money

Hauge's passing came in between Days 1 and 2 of the $565 WPT500 at the Aria and a successful Day 1B saw Hauge bag 122,000 in chips. His empty seat at the start of Day 2 prompted WPT Commentator Mike Sexton to announce Hauge's death to the remaining players, and a moment of silence was observed.

Hauge's chips were blinded out, but not before he posthumously finished in 136th place for $2,500. That followed an earlier cash of $1,587 in the $888 Crazy Eights event at the WSOP for landing 637th out of 6,761 entries, increasing Hauge's career earnings to $72,207.

A number of posters at 2+2 have fond memories of their encounters with Hauge, with one stating:

"Best person I've met in poker. God I loved that kid."