Poker Pro Found Dead at World Series

Matthew Hauge, a 26-year old poker pro from Mason City, Iowa has been found dead in his hotel room at the Rio All Star Suites and Casino.

According to 3NewsLasVegas, Hauge was identified by the Clark County coroner after being found unresponsive in his room in the early hours of Sunday morning and was later pronounced dead at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada.

His cause and manner of death are pending a complete autopsy, although there are suggestions that he may have been drugged, an unidentified woman allegedly joining him in his room but later leaving, with valuables missing from the room when Hauge was found.

A source close to the deceased told me that he has “seen a copy of texts from his friend with him that night.”

"He (Matthew Hauge) and his friend were drinking at the Rio,” he explained. “Hauge met a "girl" and after sometime, parted ways with his friend to go up to a room to fool around. His friend left the Rio with the other girl… I'm not clear if the two girls were together.

He continued, "His friend comes back to the room hours later and finds Hauge in bed naked, his lips blue. Things were missing. After the authorities came, they stopped giving info to the friend as he wasn't next of kin.”

“I met him in Vegas in November,” wrote bacats32. “He took a piece of me in the Monster Stack circuit event at PH. I kept in contact with him. We discussed poker and both of us being from the midwest, frequent some of the same tournaments.”

AlexBalex wrote: “Didn't know him, but have played with him a couple times. Just saw him in the Pavilion room like 4 days ago. So crazy. Anyone dying that young is a tragedy. RIP.”

Hauge was in Vegas for the World Series of Poker and had recently cashed in the 888 NLHE Crazy Eights, event number 54 of the summer jamboree, for $1587. He had previously won over $68,000 in a short tournament career of less than 2 years which focused mainly on the MidStakes Poker Tour and the WSOP Circuit events.

This was Hauge’s first time playing the WSOP and he apparently planned to play in the Main Event which starts next Monday, July 11th.

“He was set to play the main having won a satellite seat few months back,” added bacats32. “From what I had gathered, he was very much loved by everyone he knew. RIP Matty Ice.”

His Twitter feed, @Matty_ICE_08, has been regularly updated as his tournaments progressed this past week, and where he lists “Poker, Running,” and the “Atlanta Braves” as his passions.

PokerTube will keep you updated on news from this tragic event. Rest in peace Matthew Hauge.