Customer Reviews

Check-Raising the Devil

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Spend a night with Mike and the most beautiful hookers in Las Vegas. Spend a day at the final table with Mike at the World Series of Poker and see how he stares down and beats the best in the world. Spend six months with Mike at the Clarke County Correctional Center, and see how his poker skills enable him to match wits and survive against the most hardened criminals in Las Vegas.

I could not put this book down. Even if you are only a casual poker player you will love this book. I also recommend this book to anyone who wants to understands how the human mind reacts to extreme stress, mental illness, and drug abuse.Mike Matusow: Check-Raising the Devil

Randy Glover

The book is great because it is actually three books. First, this is one of the best poker bios that I have read. Mike has been in the middle of the poker boom from the beginning and gives a great insite to what was happening during it. It is also an addicition/recovery story because of his drug abuse and recovery. And finally it is a book on dealing with a chronic mental illness. I could especially relate to Mike because I suffer from the same mental illness as he does. Only I was very lucky in that I am one of the few bipolars that I know that didn't self-medicate with drugs or alcahol. You should buy and read it...you get 3 books for the price of one.

Mike's story is so interesting and crazy. I could not stop reading! If you like reading about poker, fast living and brutal/honest confessions about drugs and depression, then you will love this book. A lot of rich young poker players who live in Las Vegas have so much more temptations and do fall prey to them. I'm so happy he found help and some peace in his life. Being rich is a blessing but could also be a curse as it was in Mike's life for a little while. I hope I can meet him some day and tell him how compelling his bio is and most importantly, what a terrific player he is. I know he's going to win many more bracelets.

As someone who has hung out with Mike's brother Scott, and has met and had dinner with Mike, I have had a glimpse of Mike away from the felt. I too suffer from bipolar and a previous drug history, and there were times when I couldn't get out of bed. I understand just where Mike is in his life.

Mike Matusow is all heart and wears it on his sleeve. That's why he is arguably the most liked and fascinating pro out there. He is rags to riches and his story shows the scars he has to prove it.

All in all, great reading and insight. A real look into the sex, drugs and lifestyle of the Las Vegas party scene. As a Vegas resident I can say firsthand that this town can be seductively brutal.

5 Stars.

In America, we're suckers for a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-rehab-to-riches stories.

Mike Matusow epitomized the American Dream and an E! True Hollywood Story all rolled up into one... white trash roots, lived a wild yet misunderstood childhood, harnessed an innate genius to become famous and rich, partied to excess, got in trouble with the law, went to rehab, and bounced back into the spotlight as one of the most noticeable pros in the game.

Check-Raising the Devil was not the first attempt at extracting an autobiography from The Mouth. Michael Craig was originally attached to the project circa 2006 and spent the better part of the Christmas holiday in 2006 interviewing Matusow in Las Vegas. Within a couple of weeks, Craig left the project due to creative differences with Matusow's agent, and that's when Amy Calistri and Dr. Tim Lavalli (aka the Poker Shrink) got a crack at the book. They officially jumped on board after the 2007 WSOP and they have been attached to the project ever since. Craig even offered up all his notes and interview tapes that were approximately fours hours in length. It total, the Shrink accumulated over 70+ hours of audio interviews with Matusow which were the genesis of the book.

I'm friends with both authors and obtained first-hand knowledge regarding the trials and tribulations of the entire process. From the get-go, Amy and the Shrink had major obstacles to overcome beginning with hold-ups and delays in securing the contract to write the book. There were plenty of challenges dealing with a volatile personality such as Mike Matusow and keeping him focused enough to talk about specific and difficult points in his life.

The book was not an easy birth. Amy and the Shrink were bogged down in hellacious struggles between themselves and the publishers during the editing process. The original first chapter was cut and hopefully Amy and Shrink will share that will us someday. I'd actually love to read the original "authors'" cut before the publishing company hacked up and re-organized their manuscript.

Yet despite all the behind-the-scenes troubles with the publisher, Amy and the Shrink pieced together an entertaining autobiography that depicted Matusow's rise from humble beginnings in a Nevada trailer park to achieving rock-and-roll status after winning millions of dollars on the poker circuit. The dark side of Las Vegas, morbid addiction, and fame preyed on Matusow and he quickly fell from grace. And when you fall in Vegas... you fall hard and fast. After time in rehab and a stint in prison, Matusow eventually sought salvation and with the proper guidance he's headed towards redemption.

Check-Raising the Devil was written in the first person. The editors obviously cleaned up a lot of Matusow-speak, which is sort of like watching The Breakfast Club on TNT in a edited-for-TV sort of way. That's not to say that they censored all the partying and drug scenes. All of the mischievous hijinks were included (although some of the names were changed) and and if anything, they held back on a few scenes.

It's been widely known in poker circles that Matusow had a penchant for street drugs for many years for both recreational and self-medicating purposes. His struggles with drugs affected his poker play in both positive and negative ways. The book discusses that aspect in great detail... how meth was initially a wonder drug for Matusow and he went on a million-dollar rush tweaking his ass off... but in the end, the addiction and reliance upon speed led to his downfall at the tables.

Thee heart of the book included chapters discussing the recovery > sting > arrest > trail > prison. After realizing the partying and meth was rotting his brain and destroying his future as a professional poker player, Matusow had cleaned up his act and was trying to turn his life around when he got set up doing a coke deal for a couple of friends who turned out to be a DEA agent and an FBI informant.

The prison chapter stood out from the rest of the book. Matusow painted us a word picture of what it was like being in jail from the different jobs he had (kitchen detail, laundry, and landscaping) to his multiple experiences with getting thrown in the hole. Supposedly, someone from the inside kept messing with Matusow's status and he was constantly moved around from the mellower parts of the prison to the dreaded North Tower where the hardened criminals were quartered. On Matusow's first night in the North Tower, his cellmate threatened to kick his ass if he snored. That instantly scared the hell out of Matusow and he did everything possible to stay awake. He eventually dozed off and he woke up with his cellmate choking him. A scuffle ensued and Matusow quickly asked to be transferred. The guards gave him two choices... stay in the cell with the psychopath... or get thrown into the hole. Matusow chose the hole.

Hard core poker fans will love the detailed hand analysis from different highlights in Matusow's tournament career (first bracelet win, the 2005 Main Event final table, and the TOC victory), however, those were some of my least favorite parts. The specifics slowed down the pacing of the book and after a while, I skimmed those sections and feasted on the juiciest parts such as the prison chapter.

I was intrigued with the self-medication vs. doctor-prescribed pharmies battle -- even though Matusow's mental stability was just a back-story. Obviously, the strengths of the Poker Shrink where shining through on those sections.

Several poker biographies/autobiographies were released over the last few years and Matusow's story is by far one of the most fascinating stories that I read in recent memory.

This book should be mandatory reading if you are under 40 or a poker player. Mike Matusow opens up his life like you would not believe - he tells it all!!!

In this autobiography he explains his roots, his start in poker and the devils that have their basis in his diagnosed mental illnesses.

It gives an personal perspective to the events we have all watched on TV - and tells the background to each of them.

I was out in Vegas when I started reading this book on a Friday night - I picked it up again the next morning and blew off going to a poker tournament at the Venetian to finish the book. It is almost impossible to put down once you start reading it.

There are a couple of proofing errors - on page 14 the 2008 WSOP is described as the 2009 WSOP, there is repeated info on pages 24 and 25 and poor grammer "played good" instead of "played well on page 34." Not bad for a first edition in this era of spell check proofing.

This book is, in my opinion, a book that simply must be read!

Mike Matusow's life story is certainly compelling enough but it's too bad there were no good writers around to tell it. I seems like all his two co-authors managed to do was transcribe the interview tapes, throw in a little temporal organization (although even that time line flow is very weak in places, especially in the beginning of the book, leaving the reader wondering what events happened before other events), and add some punctuation. Whatever fee or royalty they are receiving for this work should be refunded to Mike.

And it is Mike's story, and it's definitely all about Mike. He introduces other characters, family, friends, enemies, lovers, colleagues, but he rarely attempts to see things from their point of view. He admits to making poor decisions, offering the sort of sheepish half-hearted explanations we're all too familiar with. But then he dwells on the events leading to his arrest and incarceration as though he didn't realize that the decision to purchase street drugs under highly peculiar circumstances was perhaps his stupidest decision of all. Mike will likely go to his grave thinking he didn't deserve to do time but I could not discern any evidence or extenuating circumstances in his book that would exonerate him. His entire lifestyle during his druggie period was one long crime joy ride, punctuated by crippling bouts of depression, that ended in the most predictable way. The fact that he only got 6 months jail time and was allowed to play poker and party all over the world after his conviction but before reporting to jail makes it clear that he paid a very light penalty compared to what might have been meted out.

As far as the poker is concerned, Mike's results speak for themselves. He is one of the greatest tournament players of his generation. The verdict is not so clear on his cash games results, at least those he played in the last twelve years, because Mike says he basically lost a small fortune on-line while wondering about whether the games there are on the square or not. The proof is in the pudding, and Mike admits it when he talks about the Absolute and Ultimate Bet cheating scandals, which were far-reaching, long-lasting, and for which the greedy culprits will never face prosecution or even be made to return the money they stole. A plea for federal legalization and regulation of on-line poker for US citizens is appropriate here.

Mike does quite a nice job of describing how he adjusts his tournament strategies to fit the situation he is faced with. He relies more on feel and people skills than analysis and math, and he's one of the best in the game at taking advantage of his strengths. He gives us insightful glimpses into how his mind works when he's playing well and when he's not playing well. That took courage to put down on paper for all to read and I admire him for it. On the other hand, he describes more times when he sucked out with the worst hand in crucial situations than he got sucked out on, so the cards seem to have broken even for him over the years, maybe even fallen his way more than his fair share. Based on the tournament hand anecdotes he chose to include in his book, any further whining from Mike about how unlucky he is is ridiculous.

I wasn't expecting a how-to book on poker, after all this is an autobiography, but a few brief explanations of the technical terms should have been included for the reader not familiar with the games Mike plays. Does everyone who reads the book know the difference between whole pot and split pot games? Between hold 'em and Omaha? Does everyone know what Chinese poker is? In fact, does everyone know how a poker tournament basically works, that you get paid according to how long you last with at least one chip in front of you as opposed to how many chips you have at any particular time (with the exception that if more than one player busts out on the same hand, the player with the most chips when the hand started finishes higher)? It's easy to assume that this is common knowledge, and it involves less expository writing, but I think you cost yourself readership when you make that assumption. Yes, there is a glossary but the definitions are terse.

Finally, I share the same concerns about Mike's description of how his bipolar disorder is being treated as CJ Hulbert. Mixing mood stabilizers and anti-seizure medicine like Depakote with anti-depressants like Lexapro is often a recipe for disaster, especially for a manic-depressive. Mike does make it clear, and this is vital information for bipolar sufferers, that it can take a long time and quite a bit of trial-and-error to get the right medicinal drugs in place, at the right dosages. He also makes it clear that he now is aware that he will be taking medicine to control his disease for the rest of his life, another crucial concept for bipolars, one that's often difficult to accept. There's no shame or weakness in this - if you have diabetes, you take insulin and no one thinks twice about it. Bottom line though: the book should include more documented medical research data about this debilitating, frustrating and potentially fatal disease.

I read the book from cover to cover and I'm glad I did. It's brash and boastful but it comes across as honest, like it came from the heart and not some petty motivation to make money. I play poker but I admit I often don't understand the ethics or integrity of professional poker players. Mike's moral compass seems like it's spinning out of control as he dances from party to party, from party drug to party drug, from hooker to hooker. He also starts sliding down a slippery slope when he tries to draw a very fine line between being a "savvy" poker pro and outright collusion. Mike has been good at making money and blowing money over the course of his celebrated career, so he does impart the valuable lesson that suddenly having more money than you're used to can be as dangerous and unhealthy as being hooked on any street drug.

Love him or hate him, if you know who Mike Matusow is you'll want to read this one.

This book arrived in yesterday's mail. It is such a compelling story and so well written that I literally couldn't put it down until I finished it. Then I realized I'd read it so quickly I missed some of the deeper lessons to be learned. I'll have to read it again more slowly and contemplatively.

I tend to be a bit of a nitpicker, being easily annoyed by poor editing. Not with this book. The quality of editing is outstanding - I didn't spot a single typo or grammatical error. That doesn't mean there are none, just that the book has been edited as if it really matters.

The story is compelling and the writing is superb. The book is essentially an autobiography of a unique individual who happens to be among the world's best poker players as well as having significant emotional/neurological problems. Mike Matusow has been tried in ways most of us can't even imagine. And he appears in the end to have won his match with the Devil.

This book can be viewed in many ways, among which are Mike's struggle with his personal mental problems, Mike's drug use, and Mike's lesson in how law enforcement works. Though it isn't written as a "how to play poker" book I think there are also some poker lessons in how this outstanding player approaches the game, and most of us who enjoy the game can benefit directly from that.

You might "think" you know Mike Matusow....but I'm guessing you really don't! This insightful book into the Vegas world of "The Mouth" is a must read for poker fans. Couldn't put it down!!

I would bet Mike Matusow is telling the truth in his honest 'biography' as dictated to Amy Calistri and Tim Lavalli in Check-Raising the Devil. But the odds of becoming a world-class poker player while trying to overcome the pitfalls of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder AND bi-polar disease must be the same as making back-to-back straight flushes after reaching the final table of the WSOP. Mike is like a swimmer with artificial limbs winning Olympic Gold year after year. And that's why you should read his story - because Matusow isn't just a great poker player he is also an inspiration for anyone who isn't a favorite at what they want out of their lives.

The title of the book is silly because Mike's antics at the table aren't evil - as a devil's would be - he's just a mouth looking for an edge by repetitive shtick.

The first quarter of the book it's painfully obvious the words are being filtered through someone else's pen. Possibly the attempt Calistri and Lavalli made to write Mike's story from the first person was the wrong choice. But admitedly, they did set the bar high on what they hoped to accomplish: describing the high life, paying it's toll in jail, (both fast-paced writing), teaching poker via tournament tales and hand demos, and constantly intertwining how Matusow's diseases affected his performance levels at the table and ability to function in his personal life.

I do believe outside of an ego boost, Matusow would be happy to help (via his bio) someone else inflicted with either disease, or caught by the tail by drug usage. But this task was short-changed because the awareness of bi-polar disease is far short of being expert knowledge. A disservice to bi-polar sufferers who have not sought their own treatment is suggesting the usage of anti-depressants in the medication cocktail. You will find the warning in the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) that anti-depresssants can actually worsen bi-polar disease by triggering mania. Plus studies on the affects of prolonged Ritalin usage for ADHD have warned of the dangers of delusions of grandeur. A big missing puzzle piece in Check-Raising the Devil is how Matusow thinks his disease may have helped him achieve his acute instinctual powers or heightened creativity at the tables.

Matusow has a cardplayer's misconception that results at the card table can vindicate a person's life. They can't. Little pieces of cardboard with spots on them can't be used to find justice, right a wrong, or determine self-worth. And passion for the game of poker shouldn't be an excuse for loss of dignity.