Juan Carlos Mortensen

08.01.2008

With the nick name "El Matador" many things can be understood about the professional poker player Juan Carlos Mortensen. One obvious thing is that he is Spanish and the other that he, just as the matador, acts without fear by the table. He is also known for good tactics when it comes to bluffing and he has a rather interesting chip-stacking style, building tall strange looking shapes.

Mortensen started his life in Ambato, Ecuador in 1972. His last name comes from a Danish father that worked as an international diplomat before settling in Ecuador for family and farm life. The family later moved to Madrid, Spain and it was from there that he made his move to the US in the late 1990s in order to play poker. When he came he didn't know a word of English and he has attributed some of his success to this. Not being able to understand people so easily in the beginning made him have to focus intensely on their faces. This way he trained his ability to read people by their eyes and looks. Mortensen learnt to play by the table and not by reading as many of the other greatly skilled players. He was very careful to study the style of the other players and analyze their games rather than making small talk with them.

Mortensen's approach has paid off nicely and he is considered one of the best players in the world today. By his total earning of more than $8,300,000 he ranks number 5. His greatest victory came in April, 2007 when he won the WPT World Championship / WPT Event Season 5 (a No Limit Hold'em Championship). With this victory he scored $3,970,415 which dramatically increased his total winnings. This was the greatest prize sum he had won so far but it wasn't the first time he scored a big amount. In 2004 he won the Fest al Lago III / Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship – WPT Event Season 3. He walked away with a prize sum of $1,000,000. In 2001 he won even more in the 32nd Annual World Series of Poker Event 27 – WSOP World Championship (No Limit Hold'em). By placing number 1 he was the winner of $1,500,000.

Mortensen has been an active poker player since 1997 and he has a remarkable list of achievements. His big break came in 2001 with the victory in the World Series of Poker but the results he produced the year before are also of high caliber and certainly indicated where he was heading.

While things worked out really nicely at the poker table, the dinner table at home wasn't running as smoothly. In 2006, he divorced his wife and fellow poker player Cecilia Reyes Mortensen. While Cecilia is now known simply as Cecilia Reyes - minus the Mortensen -she is still recognized as a skilled poker player. Carlos Juan Mortensen continues his career from his base in Las Vegas and it looks like we will see more great results by this interesting player.