Carlos Mortensen | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | El Matador [1] |
Residence | United States |
Born | Ambato, Ecuador | 13 April 1972
World Series of Poker | |
Bracelet(s) | 2 |
Money finish(es) | 21 |
Highest ITM Main Event finish | Winner, 2001 |
World Poker Tour | |
Title(s) | 3 |
Final table(s) | 6 |
Money finish(es) | 21 |
European Poker Tour | |
Title(s) | None |
Final table(s) | None |
Money finish(es) | 1 |
Juan Carlos Mortensen (born 13 April 1972, in Ambato, Ecuador) is an Ecuadorian professional poker player of Danish descent and the first South American Main Event winner of the World Series of Poker. Mortensen is known for his loose play, bluffing tactics, and interesting chip-stacking style. [1]
Mortensen moved from Spain to the United States in the late 1990s to play poker.[ citation needed ] He won $1,500,000 at the 2001 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Mortensen defeated a then-record field of 613 players, including a very tough final table that included professional players Mike Matusow (sixth), 1989 WSOP Main Event champion Phil Hellmuth (fifth), Phil Gordon (fourth), and Dewey Tomko (second). [2] In the final hand, Mortensen's out-drew and defeated Tomko's , when Mortensen's hand improved to make a straight. [3]
Mortensen won his second career bracelet at the 2003 World Series of Poker in the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event, earning $251,680. He defeated professional player Mark Gregorich heads-up to win the title. [4]
At the 2006 World Series of Poker, Carlos made three final tables. He finished in ninth place in Event #2 (No Limit Hold'em) winning $71,617. [5] He once again finished in ninth place in Event #6 (NL Hold 'em), earning him $73,344. [6] Mortensen came up just short of winning his third bracelet in Event #33 (Razz), where he finished runner-up to fellow professional James Richburg, earning him $94,908. [7]
Mortensen finished in 10th place in the 2013 WSOP Main Event, being the "Final Table Bubble Boy." [8] [9]
Mortensen was considered to be the last big-name poker professional to win the Main Event at the World Series of Poker, until Koray Aldemir in 2021.[ by whom? ] As a result of the poker boom, which ignited itself two years after his win, when Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event, the fields in that tournament have increased exponentially, making it extraordinarily more difficult for individual players to maintain consistent success in it. [10] [11] [12]
Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
---|---|---|
2001 | $10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship | $1,500,000 |
2003 | $5,000 Limit Hold'em | $251,680 |
In 2004, he won the World Poker Tour (WPT) Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship for $1,000,000. [13] Mortensen won the Season Five World Poker Tour championship event for a $3,970,415 first place prize, his largest tournament cash to date, and his second career WPT title, making him the first player in professional poker history to ever win the World Championship events at both the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. [14]
In 2010, Mortensen won the Season Eight WPT Hollywood Poker Open. [15]
Mortensen has made the prize money in the World Heads-Up Poker Championship, and was a semi-finalist in the second season of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. [16]
Mortensen had a good run at the 2007 European Poker Tour Main Event in Monte Carlo finishing 11th. [17]
In 2006, he and his wife, fellow poker player Cecilia Reyes Mortensen, divorced. [18] [ citation needed ]
As of August 2017, his total live tournament winnings exceed $12,100,000. [19] His 21 cashes as the WSOP account for over $3,200,000 of those winnings. [20]
Erik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Dan Harrington is a professional poker player, best known for winning the Main Event at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career. He is also a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.
Philip Stewart Gordon is an American professional poker player, commentator and author.
Erick A. Lindgren is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $10,500,000 in tournament earnings during his poker career. As of April 2020 he is 85th on the all-time money list of poker.
Michael Matusow is an American professional poker player residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "the Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table.
Duane "Dewey" Tomko is an American former kindergarten teacher turned professional poker player, based in Winter Haven, Florida.
Alan Goehring is an American retired junk bond analyst and trader from Henderson, Nevada. At the age of 37, he became a professional poker player.
Bon "John" Phan is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player based in Stockton, California, who is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and is a winner and four-time final tablist of World Poker Tour Championships.
Minh Hoang Ly is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player based in Temple City, California. He is a regular in "The Big Game" and is married to Lu Binh.
John Hennigan is an American professional poker player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who, in his career, has won six World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour (WPT) title.
Minh Van Nguyen, a Vietnamese American professional poker player, is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner residing in Bell Gardens, California.
An Tran is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Joe Awada is a professional poker player, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fred Goldberg is a professional poker player from Hollywood, Florida.
Phuong "Kenny" Tran is a Vietnamese American professional poker player from Arcadia, California who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em World Championship. Tran was born in Vietnam and gives 10% of his winnings to his extended family there. He is married and has 3 children. He first began playing poker in 1992 at a bowling alley while working at McDonald's.
Matt Keikoan is an American professional poker player who has won two World Series of Poker bracelets; his first was in the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event and his second was in the 2010 World Series of Poker $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship.
Ralph "Rep" Porter is an American professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event, the 2011 World Series of Poker $2,500 Seven Card Razz event, and the 2016 World Series of Poker $1,500 Seven Card Razz event.
Peter Vilandos was a Greek-American professional poker player. He was born in Greece and then resided in Houston, Texas. He won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker.
Matthew "Matt" Matros is a professional poker player and author from Brooklyn, New York, who has won three World Series of Poker events.
David Peters is an American professional poker player from Toledo, Ohio. One of the most prolific tournament players of all time, Peters' live tournament winnings exceed $45,000,000.