WSOP Hand of the Day: Mike Matusow vs. Jimmy Fricke

World Series of Poker / Short-Stacked Shamus / 23 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Matusow felt he had to fold (Photo credit: PokerNews / WSOP.com)

"I'm out lost 150k pot with J's up to straight. On river." So reported Mike "the Mouth" Matusow on his Twitter feed not long before midnight last night. Matusow was playing Day 2 of Event #37, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, and the hand to which he was referring was a Stud/8 hand involving himself, Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, and Felipe Ramos.

There's a bit more than meets the eye, however, regarding this hand and Matusow's report of it, making it one of the more intriguing ones from yesterday's play even without all of the details. In fact, despite what his tweet might suggest, Matusow was not quite eliminated on the hand, having folded on seventh street to preserve himself less than one big bet.

They had reached Level 15, where the stakes for the stud games were 5,000/10,000. All three players -- Matusow, Fricke, and Ramos -- were still there to receive their final down cards on seventh. By then the trio had built up a considerable pot -- 150,000, according to Matusow.

Here are the hands the three players then showed:

Matusow: (X-X) 6h-4d-9s-Qh (X)
Fricke: (X-X) 6d-10h-7d-Qc (X)
Ramos: (X-X) 5c-7h-Kc-As (X)

According to Tim Duckworth's report of the hand on PokerNews, Matusow began with a bet on seventh, and Fricke responded by raising. Ramos got out, and Matusow tanked for some time before folding as well, unwilling to commit his last 8,000 to call.

Although Matusow had already successfully made one huge comeback much earlier in the day, going from less than 2,000 to 80,000, he couldn't manage another such rally and was soon eliminated.

The report doesn't tell whether the players revealed their holdings at the table, and so it is unknown whether Matusow indeed had two pair as he says or if he knew for certain Fricke had made a straight. In any event, it was an interesting hand that essentially ended the three-time bracelet winner's chances in this event to secure more gold.

Up over 160,000 after that hand, Fricke would build his stack even further up to about a quarter million chips before sliding at night's end to be eliminated about 10 spots shy of the top 24 and the cash. Ramos would go a little further only to be eliminated right on the bubble (along with Eugene Katchalov).

Michael Binger leads the group of 23 players who are returning for today's Day 3 in the $10K H.O.R.S.E. event, followed closely by Fabrice Soulier and Daniel Ospina.

For reports on the action from Day 3 of Event #37, check out PokerNews' live reporting. And once the action reaches a final table, head over to WSOP.com to watch the live stream.