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If you ever find yourself sitting to the right of Carlos Mortensen at a
tournament table, watch out! The man known as "The Matador" has a reputation
as one of the more fearless and aggressive players on the circuit - and also
as one of the players with a great shot to win every time he sits down to
play. This Ecuadorian-born poker star is one of only two players ever to win
both a
World Series of Poker Main Event and a World Poker Tour title - the
other is
Doyle
"Texas Dolly" Brunson, one of the players Mortensen himself most
admires. As you might expect from a man who keeps this sort of company,
Mortensen is a player with the spirit of a warrior.
For someone who has amassed such a reputation, Mortensen hasn't been playing
poker for that long. He used to play mostly chess and pool in his spare time
after work. He first began playing in 1997 at a bar where he worked in
Madrid, Spain, and he lost $100 the first time he ever played; after a
sleepless night he sat back down and won back his money - and then some.
Mortensen enjoyed enough success in these games to quit his job as a
bartender and concentrate on poker full-time. Within months he had cleaned
out all the local games and couldn't find an opponent anymore, so he came to
Atlantic City despite not speaking a word of English. He dropped half the
bankroll he'd brought along on his first day playing 5-10 and 10-20
hold'em,
but just as he had back home in Spain he built the roll back over the course
of three months by dropping to 2-4 and starting over. By the time his visa
expired he went home with over $10,000.
Upon returning home he found another no-limit game in which he could practice,
and he impressed the other players in Madrid so much that they bankrolled
him into the 1999 World Series of Poker Main Event. After outlasting half
the players in that tournament, he went broke in side games but won $4,000
in a tournament at the Mirage after using a coupon for a free tournament
entry. He ran that $4,000 up to $10,000 playing 10-20 hold'em, traveled to
California with his wife Cecelia to play poker at Commerce Casino, and when
his visa expired this time he left the US with nearly $50,000. The next year
Mortensen played at the WSOP Main Event with his own money, leading the
field at the end of the 1st day and finishing just out of the money. He also
played in the $3,000 No-Limit hold'em event, and this time he finished 7th
to win over $22,000. He also finished at the final table of the World Poker
Finals at Foxwoods at the end of the year. When he returned in 2001, his
time had finally arrived: he won the Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament, and
then outlasted a then-record field to claim the
WSOP Main Event
championship and $1.5 million. He defeated long-time professional
(and three-time WSOP bracelet winner) Dewey Tomko heads up to take home the
big prize.
Since his reputation-making wins in 2001, Mortensen has enjoyed continued
success thanks to his focus and winning attitude. He claimed a 2nd WSOP
bracelet in 2003 when he won the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event and made his
first WPT final table at the Borgata Poker Open that same year, finishing
4th. In 2004 he claimed his first-ever WPT title at the tournament named for
his poker idol - the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship. All
told Mortensen has won over $3.6 million in tournaments since 2000, placing
him 14th on the all-time WSOP money list and 24th on the all-time WPT money
list. That's not too shabby for a guy who came to America not knowing any
English and having to fight at the low limits to win enough money to cover
his expenses.
Few players in the world have the fighting spirit that "The Matador"
possesses, and even fewer have enjoyed the sort of success he has in the
last 5 years. Don't be surprised to see his name continue to pop up at the
top of tournament leaderboards for some time to come.
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