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.

Two Years

Two years ago today our book, Check Raising the Devil, was released. It has sold right around 25,000 copies since then and small royalty checks arrive every six months or so. I was talking with my writing partner, Amy Calistri, about this anniversary and what we learned from writing the book.

First we learned a lot about bipolar disorder, ADHD, meth use and conditions in the Clark County jail. I also got some really great poker lessons sweating Mike through numerous tournaments in Las Vegas.

We got ourselves a New York Literary agent and we are thankful to both Sheree and Janet for everything they did getting CRD to a publisher. Plus they have been most helpful on current projects - professional publishing advice is invaluable to new authors. We also learned a lot about how the publishing industry works and unfortunately in these times of economic stress, how it doesn't work as well.

Finally, we learned what a rare treat it is to work collaboratively. In the two years since CRD came out I have tried to work with other writing partners to no avail. Amy and I had a rare working relationship and yes, we are casting about for another project to do together.

For now I am head down focused on finishing my current novel, would that you will have the opportunity to read it in 2012.

ScreenWritin'

There is a huge difference between writing a book and writing a screenplay. I am not sure if the difficulties are decreased or increased if one is attempting to create the script from a book they have already written. What I can say for sure is that the "play" in screenplay is a lot more fun than the book was at any point.

Spending a week plus here in Austin with Amy and Eric has meant that Aimlessly and I have had a lot of time to think through and talk through the status of our joint effort to turn Check Raising the Devil into a movie. I am strongly of the opinion that we have a solid 120 page draft. Amy firmly believes the first 40 pages she was edited are indeed worthy and the rest is "shrink drafty." She may have a point.

As to the process, if you have read the book, you know it is completely in the first person of Mike "The Mouth". That format was both defining and limiting. I admit to being opposed to it but every other person involved in the decision making process was for it, soest. In the screenplay, on the other hand, being able to add a character/observer/commentator at any juncture is remarkably freeing. I particularly enjoyed adding "The Shady Character" as our meth dealer on the rail at Binion's. Plus we have the freedom of having any random player at any poker table say what you and I and every 2+2 forum weenie wants to say to Mike. Very freeing.

In the end, this may or may not make it to the big silver screen. All I can promise is that if we get this film made, poker players will walk out of the theatre saying: "Finally a poker movie that got the game right!"

Oh and about that academy award. We have exactly a 0.003% better chance of being nominated than you do; unless you have an unfinished screenplay in bottom desk drawer, in that case it's a dead heat.

Check Critiquing the Devil

I have been a published book author for six months today. Recently I have begun to sense a theme in the negative aspects of our reviews. Now I must say that the majority of the reviews for Check Raising the Devil have been positive, at times glowingly positive. What has interested me is that what negative comments we have received all seem to focus on one critical decision we made the first day we met with Mike to see if we all could, would or should collaborate on the project.

We decided as a group (Mike, his manager, Amy and me) that the book would be written in the first person. I was the lone dissenter but gave in to the overwhelming desires of the others to have the book be completely in Mike's voice. In the last few months I have gotten my wish while writing the screenplay; movies are third person vehicles and I have gotten to write and say the things that did not make it into the book.

But back to the criticism, rather than summarize; I will give you the essence of the critique from the most articulate expression we have found. This is from the Journal of Gambling Issues.

Being written by Matusow and his co-authors, Amy Calistri and Tim Lavalli, the books's first-person narrative is riddled with colloquialisms and crude language. Based on my familiarity with Matusow's conversational style from radio shows, sound clips, and television appearances, the prose captures his voice well. Although it is authentic, it is also distracting at times; it seems that the book compromises good writing for the genuine portrayal of Matusow's propensity to insert curse works unnecessarily into every other sentence.

Guilty! But as this reviewer points out, it was an artistic decision and one that we agreed to live with. By the way, Mike does not unnecessarily insert anything into his conversation, he simply speaks, as do we all. In retrospect, do I regret not winning the first-person argument back on day one? No, I do not. Our format did indeed tell Mike's story in his own voice. We struggled to find that voice and to stay in that voice for the entire book. A few internet babble-heads have actually questioned why Mike needed co-authors, when clearly we just "wrote down what he said." We would like to thank those cyber wonks for probably the best compliments Amy and I have received on the book. If the reader doesn't notice our input, then we did our job to perfection.

Well I feel better now. I think I will go read the NYTimes Sunday Book Review and find that one caustic, withering piece they always have each week. I do love blood mixed with newsprint.

---

photo credit: TribuneNewsPhotos

Power of the Boob Tube

Poker Disclaimer Addendum: I have offered several times to depokerize this blog. Well I guess I have to realize and admit that after five years of poker coverage in many forms there is going to be more residual content then I had anticipated. But I promise only appropriate historical references, no original content poker posts. I promise! Now has anyone got a cigarette? or a drink? crack? smack? pringles?

Meanwhile, last night ESPN showed Day 1B of the World Series of Poker main event from this year. Significantly Mike played at the feature table. In fact, never has an episode of a day one been so devoted to a single player. More importantly from my point of view was the coverage they gave to our book! Not only did Norman Chad mention the book and give a terse but favorable review, they then showed a shot of the cover.  Later in the coverage, I took Mike a stack of books and they showed him signing them for his feature tablemates. Great promotion.

Our Amazon bestseller average went from 13,000+ last night to 1,300 this morning. The power of television. And don't forget the tivo's, dvr's, and endless espn reruns still to be viewed.

Da Book! Da Book!! Da Book!!!

[100% The Book, 100% Check-Raising the Devil]

Sometimes dear readers (OK, lots of times!) you have to put up with my obsession with the book. This time it is prompted by the photo above, photo-shopped and passed along by Amy's home game host. Hey, if you blow it up really big you can almost see my name on the cover.

We asked about how sales were doing and we told that it really takes another week or so to get any decent preliminary numbers but Barnes & Noble has put in a reorder sooner than expected, so someone is grabbing those new release copies. For Las Vegas residents, Mike will make an appearance next Monday on the local NBC affiliate--evening news broadcast.

And now I am off for a day of poker, may all be well in your world and may no one ever whisper in your ear: "A Queen and a Queen only!"

Las Vegas: Where It All Begins...

[Content Disclosure: 23% Poker, 69% Las Vegas, 3% Where's Waldo, 7% da book]

Yes, I'm back where it all began. Oh wait, that would be Detroit. Well, I am back where I first (re)discovered poker... no not really. Oh hell, I'm back in Vegas for another World Series of Poker. I am dead tired from an early rising in the Bay area and the long drive but I am pretty much nested in my new digs for the duration (61 days). I plan to actually play some poker this week before the big deal starts over at the Rio. Bill did try to drag me out for some drunken $2/$4 at South Point tonight but the operative words in my evening are drag and out. So tomorrow I will get some felt time in.

As far as the Series goes, I have a project in the works that I think will interest and intrigue the poker loyalists out there. Something completely different as the saying goes. But more of that in the next several days. Stay tuned for what I think will be a very interesting announcement for the summer of '09 at the World Series of Poker.

Tomorrow a visit to the cat condos at the SPCA shelter and a stop by Cardoza Publishing, can you believe I have still not actually seen the book?! Lived with it for two years and now I just can't get a copy, hope no one else is having that problem. Hey speaking of the book, if you happen to walk into a Barnes & Noble and do not see Check-Raising the Devil on the new release shelf or table right at the front door, please let me know in the comment section below. Those slots are bought and paid for and we want them. You can, if you ist so inclined, mention the omission to the store manager, I do so cherish my uppity readers.

Off to sleep, perhaps to dream.

2,241 and falling

[Content Disclosure/Warning: a first time author prattles on about da book...]

The book is out. Check-Raising the Devil though scheduled for release next Tuesday is now in bookstores thoughout U.S. and Amazon has been shipping since late last week. Reviews are beginning and the authors after many weeks of "post-editing" depression are once again 'all book, all the time.'
One fascinating and addictive author pass time (pencil sharpening endeavor) is to follow your books "Best Seller" ranking on Amazon. Several months ago when the book was first put up for cyber pre-orders, we were something like the 333,128th best seller on the site and falling (rising?) slowly. Then someone actually pre-ordered a copy and we rocketed up to 275,231st. Naturally both Amy and I had to go and read what we could find about the Amazon algorithm. Its complicated and nowhere approaching linear, enough said.
Over the next few months we found ourselves eventually breaking under 100K and a few weeks ago after hovering in the 50,000-100,000 range for weeks, we suddenly got some press and starting a slow but steady downward climb. Now this past week with the book actually out but not officially released, we saw our first fourth digit ranking followed by a quick dash down under 5,000 then 4,000. Last night we got our first heady taste in the land on the top 2,241 bestsellers on Amazon.
Can three digits we far behind? (and will they blog it?)

Matusow Chapter One

[Content Disclosure: Check-Raising the Devil]

We are just about a week away from the release of Check-Raising the Devil, the Mike Matusow autobiography that I co-wrote with Mike and Amy Calistri. Amy and I thought we would give all of our readers a look at what we had originally submitted as a prologue to the book. As it turns out, this was not used in the final edition, but may be the opening scene in the upcoming movie based on Mike’s life.

This prologue or chapter one was negotiated out in the editing process for a new chapter one, which begins the book in a slightly different place. You can read that opening on May 12^th when the book is released. For now here is my version of how the book might have opened. Amy is putting up her own version on her blog: Aimlessly Chasing Amy. I think you will find they are close but not identical, which is how we worked on the book for the last two years: cooperatively separate.

Enjoy!

Oh and you can order Check-Raising the Devil from Amazon.com by using that button up there on the top of the right hand column. They will deliver on the 12^th if you order now.

______________________________

Prologue:

It was July 14^th and going to be another scorcher in Las Vegas; at noon the radio said it was already 105. I was driving downtown to Binion’s Horseshoe for the next-to-last day of the 2005 main event. For six straight years, I'd made a final table in at least one event at the World Series of Poker. But forty-four tournaments had already been played at the 2005 World Series and I had nothing to show for it except one small cash in the very first event. The only way I was going to keep my streak alive was to fight my way through the field today. But this was the main event. If I was going to make just one final, this was the one. Hell, it was the one final table that every poker player on the planet dreamed of making.

The poker boom was in full swing and the 2005 Championship had drawn more starting players than ever before; over fifty-six hundred players had paid their $10,000 entry into the No Limit Texas Hold’em main event. Harrah’s was claiming that it was the largest sporting event in history. The winner would take home $7.5 million and every one of the final nine players would leave a millionaire. That’s right, ninth place would get one million dollars. Only five years earlier, ninth place had paid less than seventy-five grand; that’s how big and how fast poker had grown.

For five days I'd played the best damn poker of my life. I only needed to maintain my focus for two more days. Today, we'd start with twenty-seven players and play down to the final nine. Eighteen players would hit the rail today, a few cards short of their dream. Only a few big names professionals remained in the field. Phil Ivey, Minh Ly and the reigning 2004 World Series Champion Greg Raymer were all still in the hunt. The four of us would all be starting with above-average chip stacks. Going into the day I had one and only one goal. I was going to be in the final nine, no matter what it took to get there.

As I pulled into the Binion’s valet, I called Michael Craig on my cell phone. Michael had flown into town from Arizona the night before to support me today. He asked me to meet him outside on Fremont Street. I ducked inside Binion’s and snaked my way through the dark casino until I finally stepped back out into daylight onto the Fremont mall. I spotted Michaela about fifty yards away on the other side of First Street.

When I reached him, he said, “I wanted to meet you here today. Do you know where we are?”

”Of course I know where we are. We’re outside in the middle of the desert on the hottest fucking day of the year.”

”No,” he said. “That’s not what I mean. I mean we’re right outside of Binion’s.” He pointed at the big Horseshoe sign.

“Yeah, I know. I was just in there and it was about 50 degrees cooler.”

He laughed, but I knew Michael; he was a really good friend. I knew we must be out here in this blazing oven for a reason.

“Take a look down there” he said, as he turned and pointed down First Street; “We’re also just about two blocks from the Clark County Detention Center.”

I looked to where he was pointing. I could just make out the jail where I had just spent six months of my life.

“Not too many people actually get to see their own crossroads, Mikey. Everything you’ve gone through this year has made you stronger. Think about that today.”

I started thinking about that building down on First Street. I'd been out of jail less than three months and just seeing the Detention Center, even from a distance, started to weigh on me. I didn’t need that distraction right now.

I heard Michael say, “Do you realize that you’re already guaranteed more money from this tournament than you’ve ever made in any single event in your life?”

What Michael said about the money was true. I'd won a quarter of a million dollars in Aruba right before I went to jail. The first player to bust out at Binion’s today was guaranteed over $300,000. What Michael was saying about the money was true, but I couldn’t focus on the money yet.

For me, this wasn't about money or even a crossroads. My job today was to lift chips off of inexperienced players and stay out of the way of the other big stacks. The new players to the main event would be impatient, but I knew there'd be time to pick my spots. I knew, because I'd been here before. I made the 2001 Championship final table – sure I was doing crystal meth at the time, but my drug days were now long behind me. Jail was behind me. The only obstacles that mattered to me now were the eighteen players that needed to bust today so I could make this main event final table.

I turned to Michael and said "Only suckers are thinking about the guaranteed money today. Let’s get the fuck out of this heat."

He smiled, “O.K. Mike.” He nodded and patted me on the back, “O.K.”

As we walked back to Binion’s I stared at the large neon Horseshoe sign. It had always been the heartbeat of downtown Vegas, going back to when Glitter Gulch was in its heyday. I remember thinking that this was the last World Series final table that was ever going to be played at Binion’s. Harrah’s had already moved all the preliminary events to the Rio and in two days the World Series of Poker would leave Binion’s forever. I was pretty sure the once great gambling hall wasn’t going to get a second chance to relive its glory days.

I had a lot of experience with these kinds of things. I had become a fucking expert on second chances.

Someday This Will Be Over . . .

[100% that damn book; 12% whining; 34% more whining]

My wonderful co-author Amy Calistri has said most of what follows better than I could; perhaps, that is because men don't get to use an "afterbirth" metaphor quite as easily as do the ladies. As I write this, a printing press is turning out copies of Check-Raising the Devil. I can't change the last line of the first paragraph, no matter how much I want to. I can't tweak the chapter on tweaking. It's all locked down, done finished, over.

Am I glad not to be spending so much time inside of Mike Matusow's head; hell yes! Even Mike should spend less time there.

I also know I am experiencing what ever first-time (every time?) author feels when the book is out of their hands. But I am glad that poker fans will finally get the opportunity to hear Mike's side of the story. I can only promise that some of the tales will seem like Mike is covering up his guilt or blame, others will surely seem like way more of a confession than you ever would have expected but finally, there are stories in the book that no one has ever heard before and Mike was honest enough to tell them like they happened and never once asked us to tone them down or clean them up.

Amy promised on her blog that she would post the original first chapter. The one that didn't make the book. We will coordinate that day and post on both of our blogs.

Lessons Learned and Relearned

[Content Disclosure: The Book and therefore Poker; Publishing; New Ground & Old Lessons]

I don't know why but blue brains seem to be in pain or confusion. -- me

There are hundreds of classic interpersonal struggles inherent in the process of creation or perhaps better said production. Our post-modern, not yet post-industrial age gives us: manager versus worker and artist vs. producer or maybe commercial interface (the salesman). These conflicts give rise to those pithy sayings: "Those that cannot do teach, those that cannot teach manage, those that cannot manage own."

When we hear stories of such fracturous interactions we tend to either dismiss them because we really don't care about which hedge fund associate warned who about which mortgage backed security or we hear the beginning of the tale and instantly have the "been there, suffered that" reaction.

So if you are a published author or should you have engaged in any endeavor that allows you to use the term "editor" as a pejorative, you may want to skip this post. Sometime in the last few hours the Mike Matusow auto/biography was sent off to the printer. That means it is now in the form which hopefully large numbers of people will read. No more commas will change, no more sentences will be tweaked, no more discussions will be had over the direction, focus, message, intention or meaning.

I have heard war stories about authors and editors. Quite frankly, I (Amy & I) do not have a story worthy of "war." What we do have is our first major experience with being artists and having a major work bent to the will of the consumer world. Unfortunately, that consumptive mass of Visa card holders out there can only be interpreted by those "in the business." That means there are no fast rules and no absolutes. Our ongoing experience with having our articles and posts edited, did not prepare us for eighteen months of work coming under the microscope, the blue pencil and in particular the rewrite.

So we struggled over keeping the book in Mike's voice. We put in scenes, took them out and recast them. Grammar tried to win the day against the elements of truth in self told story. Chapters came and went and combined and got renamed. We even changed the title of the book at the eleventh hour. No one liked the old title, but equally no one had a new one. Does "The Damn Thing's Done" strike you as too self indulgent?

Sometime in April, I am going to lock and load on my next book length project. But right now I am wondering if a 8-5 cubicle does not have some inherent sanity protections not afforded to creations out of whole cloth.

Coming Home to Mac

[Content Disclosure: Hardware 99%; Software 76%; Coming Home 100%: Matusow Biography 6%]

On "first release day" January 24th, 1984; I was at the Apple store in Torrance, California to pick up my Mac. I was a Mac person until 2000, when I moved back to Ann Arbor and discovered the local high speed internet connection only serviced Apple products if you lived on the UofM campus. Reluctantly I got myself a PC and have mourned ever since.

Until today....

The constant problems with my laptop and the spectre of dealing with Vista on any new PC clone, made the decision easy. The pome was ripe. Today I am the proud papa of a brand new Mac and I couldn't be happier. Except for the double whammy this weekend of getting caught up on all the changes in the Mac in the last nine years and the reality that the gallies of the Matusow book have just been dropped on Amy and me. Tis time to tweak and polish; the book goes to the printer at the end of the month.

Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio

[Content Disclosure: 32% Poker; 89% Life; 9% Time, Space, Mostly Time]

Even though I got up five posts here last month, I acknowledge that they were all about poker. The absolute truth about life is that the deadline for the book now looms over the world as I know it. On the positive side of the equation there has been a lot of progress in the past month or so. I am actually going to have two long sessions with Mike tomorrow and Tuesday to read him six complete chapters. Part of our process is to read Mike the final draft of each chapter to get his input and to pick up any missing pieces of the story. After we incorporate whatever we get from Mike this week, that will bring us to 13 complete, done, finished chapters. As soon as Mike returns from his next poker tournament in Niagara Falls, we will read the last 3 chapters to him and then we turn the beast over to the publisher and at some point begin the editing process with them.

My plan is to work a Bay Area trip into the interregnum between turning in the book and beginning the work with the editor. So, all things being equal and The Earthquake doesn't separate California, I hope to be in San Francisco and Sonoma for all or a major part of November. Bay area residents are duly given notice of my impending arrival.