Mike Matusow to play in the Mansion Poker Superstar Challenge (or not)

So is he or isn't he? Depends on who you ask. A few weeks ago a new poker site trying to make a splash jumped on the PR wagon to promote their new sponsored TV show, The Mansion Poker (MP) Superstar Challenge. It was a weak attempt at marketing to start with so I'm not going to give them anymore mention here. The big deal that came of the PR blunder was they (Mansion) claimed that several of the Full Tilt Poker Pros were going to be playing in this tournament.

So for those that already know, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman, and Howard Lederer all play under the Full Tilt flag. Howard even owns a percentage of the holding company for Full Tilt!

So what's the twist in this story you ask? Good question, because up until now things have been status quo. However, Full Tilt today released a statement disputing the claims of Mansion Poker. Full Tilt says that no such commitments were made and in fact, MP didn't even ASK Mike The Mouth to appear on this show.

Shady tactics or a big misunderstanding? You be the judge.

FullTiltPoker.com Responds to Mansion Poker PR

14 June 2006

LOS ANGELES, California – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The following is an open letter to the poker industry from Fulltiltpoker.com management in response to a Mansion Poker press release dated June 9, 2006.

"On June 9, 2006, Mansion Poker issued an inaccurate press release regarding their upcoming Mansion Superstar Challenge. The release stated that Team Full Tilt member, Phil Ivey is confirmed to participate in a series of elimination tournaments. This is untrue.
The improper release also stated that Team Full Tilt members Howard Lederer and Mike Matusow had been "…hand selected to fill the all-important shoes of poker "wingman." Again, this is untrue.

Not only did Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer and Mike Matusow never agree to participate in this event in any way, they were not even contacted by Mansion Poker about participating.
A fourth member of Team Full Tilt, Jennifer Harman was in discussions to participate in the event, however, due to Mansion Poker's obvious disregard for the truth and egregious actions, she will no longer participate."

"Team Full Tilt," is a select group of the world's finest professional poker players, including Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon, Clonie Gowen, John Juanda, and Mike Matusow. Full Tilt Poker offers players the unique opportunity to Learn, Chat and Play poker with the best poker pros in the game.

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