Mike Matusow recently spoke with Gambling Insider, claiming that while Ike Haxton is reported to have won $32 million at Triton, he is actually down $8 million. Public records do indicate that Haxton has a net loss of $7.72 million when all buy-ins are factored in. However, these figures reflect gross tournament results rather than personal losses, which the term 'fake' suggests.
Matusow, known as 'The Mouth,' has been vocal for over a year about the misleading nature of high-roller poker profits, but he recently named names. In a post on X dated August 20, he criticized fellow high-roller Seth Davies for his lack of knowledge on the subject. On September 2, Matusow elaborated in direct messages to Gambling Insider, stating, 'If Ike Haxton, who I really like and is a great player, is listed as winning $32 million at Triton but actually lost $7.5 million, which is a $40 million swing, isn’t this the definition of fake?'
While Matusow’s claim of an $8 million loss has been repeated, his gross figure is inaccurate. Triton’s own player statistics and the MTTDB database show Haxton’s winnings to be around $23 million, not $32 million. Nevertheless, the loss figure is indeed closer to reality than many critics believed, and importantly, it is publicly available information.
In June, MTTDB released the Triton Files, which provided a detailed analysis of a decade's worth of Triton results. Matusow referenced these files, which indicated that only a handful of players are profitable at Triton. The Triton Files ranked Haxton as the third-largest net loser in the tour's history, with total winnings of $23.1 million against buy-ins of $30.83 million, resulting in a net loss of $7.72 million and a negative ROI of 25%. These figures were further corroborated by SomuchPoker a week later.
However, it’s important to note that the term 'loss' may be misleading. The $7.72 million figure is a gross tournament result, which accounts for winnings minus buy-ins, and does not reflect Haxton's personal financial situation. In high-stakes poker, players often sell portions of their action to backers, which means the actual amount they personally lose can be significantly less. For instance, if Haxton retained a third of his action, his personal exposure would be much lower than the gross figure indicates.
Matusow's phrasing of being 'down $8 million' suggests a cash-game loss, which is not applicable here. The figure in question is a tournament result that is publicly documented, alongside other players like Nick Petrangelo and Santhosh Suvarna, who also show significant negative balances in tournament play. Interestingly, according to the HighRollPoker database, which tracks cash-game performance, Haxton appears to be slightly up, with a profit of around $95,000, although these figures are based on limited data from 2024.