Player Profiles

Carlos Mortensen: El Matador

In the world of poker, Carlos Mortensen is hard to miss. The half-Spanish, half-Danish player (whose nickname is “El Matador”) is one of the stars of the tournament circuit, putting together a powerful combination of exciting style, cool demeanor, and more than his fair share of good looks.

Mortensen is best known in the poker world for his victory at the 2001 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, where he won $1.5 million, along with the prestige of winning poker’s biggest event. Until Australia Joe Hachem won the Main Event in 2005, Mortensen was the only non-US player to win the event.

Mortensen also won $1 million at the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship in 2004, with more than $3.5 million in career tournament winnings through 2005.

Mortensen was born in Ecuador in 1972 to a Spanish mother and Danish father, moving with his family to Spain when he was 15 years old. Originally a chess-player, he first played poker at his chess club and was soon hooked.

When he first began to play, playing poker for real money was technically illegal in Spain, a fact that didn’t stop him from losing $100 the first time he played. He returned the next day, ready to win his money back, and hasn’t stopped playing poker since.

Mortensen quickly decided to pursue poker full-time as a profession, quitting his job and playing full-time. He and his wife would soon move to the US, the world’s poker capital, with only “$2,800 and a backpack”, according to Mortensen. He quickly learned English and immersed himself in the world of poker, building the skills and experience that would enable him to win the WSOP Main Event just four years later.

Today Mortensen travels frequently between the US and Europe to play in tournaments, often with his wife by his side.