When it comes to spectacular blowups, there are two names that stand out in the mind — Phil Hellmuth and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. And when you think about the biggest anger-inducing plays a poker pro can experience, there is nothing worse than slowrolling or suck-outs.
Recently, Full Tilt railbirds were treated to a firsthand view of the later experiencing the former. Matusow, during a session at Bovada Poker, was running well in a $1,000 Super-Turbo Sit & Go. Also in the mix was a high-stakes pro known as Scoss. In a hand that Matusow felt he had won, the opponent called a massive bet with one second left, feigning weakness and taunting the three-time WSOP bracelet winner while, in reality, holding the winning hand.
Matusow posted a pair of Twitter messages on the subject.
“Playing super turbos guy rses i ship 77 he types in i usually wouldnt call but i hear you run bad 1 sec left calls with aa name Scoss, scum.
“Want everyone who knows this scumbag or is friends with him to know hes lucky i dont have him removed from full tilt name Scoss.”
While some may call the Mouth’s a bit of an overreaction, it does epitomize the way most well known pros feel about slowrolling. It’s a largely pointless gesture, meant to embarrass and frustrate the opponent.
Speaking in terms of psychological warfare, however, it’s often a supremely effective tactic against volatile players. And Matusow is nothing if not volatile. There’s no debating that Scoss’ move is a bit underhanded. But there’s also no debating that it worked. The Mouth lost all three heads up matches against his antagonist, and went on to post a loss of $6,110 in eight games altogether.