Carlos Mortensen is an interesting player. He's one of the most feared and winningest pros on the live tournament circuit but he keeps such a low profile we often walk right by him at live events.

He's not a talker, and with the exception of the occasional dry one-liner when he's forced to fold a hand or when he picks up a big pot, it's rare to hear him speak.

Mortensen just took down his third WPT open main event title at the World Poker Tour Hollywood Poker Open in Indiana. That ties him for most WPT wins along with with Gus Hansen.

Mortensen is a big name, no doubt, but we don't think he gets the credit he deserves. We're going to take a closer look at his record, and why he belongs among the most elite live poker tournament players on the planet.

This is the story of a truly successful poker player.

The Beginning

Rumor has it that in the late 90s Mortensen moved from Spain to the US to pursue his poker career.

His first WSOP cash was a final table in 2000 in a $3k No-Limit event. He finished 7^th for $22k and change. He managed to stack another $20k or so in cashes before the end of the year.

It looked like he was off to a good start, but 2001 would be the year that really cemented his future as a professional poker player.

I like to stack the chips.

 

In the first few months of 2001, before taking down the WSOP Main Event, Mortensen stacked more than $160,000. He won a $300 prelim at the LA Poker Classic for $116k plus a $1k No-Limit event at the Bay 101 Shooting star for another $44,000.

Then he went to the World Series of Poker and won $1.5 million at the big dance.

In the years between that and his next truly big score Mortensen made over $760,000 in tournament cashes. In that time he was at two WSOP and one WPT final tables, winning his second bracelet in the process.

More Major Tournament Wins

It was in Las Vegas in October of 2004 when the Matador took down the $10k Doyle Brunson North American Championship for a cool million.

Fast forward two and half years and $990,000 more in earnings and we find Mortensen at the $25k WPT Championship. First place was an astounding $3.97 million. Ship it to Mortensen.

Mortensen had two of the three biggest titles in the poker world, and his chance at the third had slipped through his fingers just months before when he finished 11^th at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo.

Not Slowing Down

Carlos Mortensen continues to post huge results wherever he goes. Case in point, the most recent WPT main event in Indiana.

He is a beast at the live tournament tables. People are scared of him, and for good reason.

We'll be following Carlow Mortensen and everyone else with our live coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker so don't miss it.