He is still out there, still playing poker. Last year he won a WSOP bracelet and the NBC Heads Up Championship... this year I think his biggest "thing" was at the WSOP: he was in a tournament, it was late (down to two tables I think?), he had a big win, he got up and ran around the room screaming his head off and telling everybody how great he was, he wound up being penalized for a full round, came back after the penalty, was pouting over the penalty and acting like a spoiled brat, blew off all his chips, was knocked out quickly and then blamed the tournament director for him not winning.
^^ I hadn't heard that story before. Link to story above: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/columns/story?id=5449689
There's a thread on 2+2 about him in news views and gossip. I guess he was telling everybody who would listen at the WSOP he's broke and his house is for sale. Probably not a big deal as I'm sure he can get backers to stake him.
Also heard that he was broke even after his last big cash in a tourney. Apparently it's ppl staking him in cash games and tourneys. But as the saying goes, never trust or believe a poker player.
It's amazing that he could go broke after the lucrative deals some of those guys had with Full Tilt. Even a mediocre poker player should have been making a killing.
For many of them thats why they are having problems now: when Full Tilt was running strong quite a few players were getting some pretty big cheques every month and they saw it as a revenue stream that would never end, only keep growing over time... To that end, most didn't bother to save any money and just spent it freely, knowing that there would just be more next month... eventually developing a lifestyle and gambling habits that relied on that money (IE: if I have no outside source to replenish my bankroll if I lose then I have to play good and keep learning how to play better... but if somebody is going to give me $10K a month for free then I don't have to worry about being the best because if I lose my money I just get more next month). And so when that money stopped coming in a lot of these guys went broke because they continued to keep spending and playing and didn't adjust their games/lifestyles.
Most of these poker pros are serious degens. They bet on every single thing and a bad swing will wipe them out. They can preach proper bankroll and all that in the seminars that they teach but I'd be honestly surprised if even 5% of them follow their own advice. Im sure the list is a lot longer but Lindgren, Esfandiari, Ivey, Durr, Greenstein, Gold come to mind as players that have felted in life before. They usually find a way to bounce back only to get felted again because of their lifestyle choices. Its sad really.
I really hate to hear that he is having trouble. I really liked his book, "Check-Raising the Devil." The writing had a certain naivete and sincerity to it. I know it had co-writers but I hope most of it was Mike. I made my library buy it. I wish he'd write more; his blog seems dead and his twitter feed is downright bizarre. I guess I liked his antics and showmanship too, like when he wins a pot and then breaks out into song, it just cracks me up, but now I feel kinda guilty about those laughs. I dunno, poker is really hard mentally for a healthy person. If you are already bipolar, I can see how it wouldn't be the best career choice.
Is it me, or could Mike and Dave from Storage Wars be twin brothers??? Look the same and yes, act the same, too.
This is just my 2c worth. I may be wrong but...It is a vicious circle with these guys. Back in the early days money just flowed from one player to the next and back and forth it went. Money management was never in the old school player's vocabulary. If you were broke you would borrow from whomever was flush at the time and when that person was broke they would borrow from the next guy and so on and so on. They all relied on new blood coming in which is why Vegas was the perfect hunting grounds for tourists who could inject new money into the game. The problem has arose since poker has boomed and there are so many players that come from all over the world and then leave with the cash. It is one of the reasons these guys are so heavy into prop bets as poker in and of itself is not profitable to 90% of them. I think of it like a card room with a single table of the same players coming every night to play and the money flowing back and forth then all of a sudden the owner installs ten tables and 10x more players who come and go taking the money with them. Not sure if this makes sense but I hope you get my drift.