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Share on TwitterShare on Facebook Jul 23, 20253 min read Last updated Jul 24, 2025 usha satta

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Jul 23,usha satta 20253 min read Last updated Jul 24, 2025

Mike Matusow ripped the high roller poker community for being "fake," and claims the six and seven-figure cashes are a "mirage."

The four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner polled his X followers to get their thoughts on just how many of the high rollers "actually have money." Approximately 30% of the voters, with nearly 10,000 votes cast, believe 80% of the players are either broke or deep in makeup to backers.

But the critical comments were met with some resistance from several pros, including Shaun Deeb.

How Much Money Do High Roller Poker Pros Really Make?

Matusow, a perennial Poker Hall of Fame candidate, has played in countless high-stakes poker tournaments and cash games over the years, and not just at the WSOP. But he claims the current era of high rollers aren't as successful as some might think.

"Just because you can’t keep money doesn’t mean the new generation is as bad," Deeb tweeted in response to Matusow's poll.

https://twitter.com/themouthmatusow/status/1947160069550072216

Matusow fired back at Deeb by claiming he was asking poker X, "how fake the fake HR scene actually is." He then said the poker world is unaware that lifetime tournament cashes aren’t “real.”

"The Mouth's" argument is that The Hendon Mob results don't show losses, travel expenses, and action sold. He then admitted he's sold 50% of his action in all $10,000 or higher buy-in tournaments he's played.

It is common practice for high roller pros, and even some recreational players, to sell action and allow backers to take on some, if not all, of the risk.

Matusow has over $10.6 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. But how much he's netted from that figure, like every other player, is unknown.

Patrick Leonard, an online pro and WSOP bracelet winner who won a Venetian event earlier this week. took issue with Matusow claiming that 90% of high rollers have only 3% of their own action.

Leonard, a prominent figure on poker X (@padspoker), accused Matusow of spewing an "incorrect" and "false" narrative.

"Whoever is feeding you this information has no idea," Leonard continued.

Matusow, however, isn't the only high-profile pro to refer to high roller earnings as a "mirage." Daniel Negreanu, in April, tweeted out a similar but more detailed argument on the issue, but he didn't go so far as to claim only 10% of the high roller circuit has much skin in the game.

"Most every pro who is playing this kind of high roller schedule is selling action and/or swapping, so if you see a pro who played them all cash for $7 million in a year, likely losing $3-5 million, they didn’t actually lose that much if anything at all. If they only sell at markup, they can lose $3-5 million, but still show a profit personally." Negreanu wrote.

Mike Matusow's Documentary Now Available on YouTube: Here's What it's All About