Mike Matusow

Four years ago we were waiting for Check Raising the Devil to roll of the presses and hit the bookstores. My good friend and writing partner Amy Calistri and I had finished a two-year project getting Mike "The Mouth" Matusow to tell us his story of poker, drugs, jail, strippers, psychiatrists and redemption. We had edited and re-edited Mike's words capturing we hoped his authentic voice to tell his life story.

The book was greeted with great reviews from the poker press but only one acknowledgement in the psychological literature, even though Check Raising the Devil remains one of the only honest depictions of a bi-polar and ADHD success story. One thing we did hear a lot was that we were too late. The poker boom was over or Mike's career was done.

Well the poker boom continues around the world and a few weeks ago Mike won the 2013 NBC National Heads-Up Championship and a cool $750,000. Way to go Mike. Pretty good for a guy who is over-the-hill.