Pro Player Commits Suicide

[RavenKitty]

It is sad that no one could help him with his depression. A young man that apparently had a loving family.

what is even sadder is that there are people like this all over the country maybe even people you talk to daily and when they cant get help its almost suffocating to the point that they give up all hope

[RoyHobbs]

pretty crazy

[IWASLION]

Tragic. What a shame. That day fucked up alot of lives. I used to be a full time online player after graduating from the mid-level limit cash games @ Fisher hall in Flint Mi. After a couple years I moved out to Vegas to play more live games (and to get away from the depressing state Flint is in). It didn't take long for me to begin to hate the desert. Just walking my daughter home from school was like a survival trek. I started to have fantasies of living in the Pacific northwest where its always cool and moist. So after the WSOP in 2007 was over, I put all my bankroll online and moved to Portland Oregon. I got settled in and played small local poker-room tourneys for fun and a little socializing, but my bread and butter was PLO games on Absolute. Life couldn't have been better...till that day. Now I struggle paycheck to paycheck working like a dog for a guy that I resent enriching. They took a middle class family and put us in the bread line. I wish the media would pick up stories like Matt's so that we could get some kind of dialog going on the subject. Meanwhile slot-junkies and horse-molestors can do all the gaming they want, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

RIP Matt Roth

[wagon596]

Tragic. What a shame. That day fucked up alot of lives. I used to be a full time online player after graduating from the mid-level limit cash games @ Fisher hall in Flint Mi. After a couple years I moved out to Vegas to play more live games (and to get away from the depressing state Flint is in). It didn't take long for me to begin to hate the desert. Just walking my daughter home from school was like a survival trek. I started to have fantasies of living in the Pacific northwest where its always cool and moist. So after the WSOP in 2007 was over, I put all my bankroll online and moved to Portland Oregon. I got settled in and played small local poker-room tourneys for fun and a little socializing, but my bread and butter was PLO games on Absolute. Life couldn't have been better...till that day. Now I struggle paycheck to paycheck working like a dog for a guy that I resent enriching. They took a middle class family and put us in the bread line. I wish the media would pick up stories like Matt's so that we could get some kind of dialog going on the subject. Meanwhile slot-junkies and horse-molestors can do all the gaming they want, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

RIP Matt Roth

I'm sure the Media would spin it ,,,that it was online poker that was the root cause,,,not "Black Friday".... Said it before, the Government has no right to tell me how or where I spend my money !!!!!!!

[marlais]

I don't think online poker or Black Friday were the root causes...the root cause was depression. Easy access to guns didn't help. It sounds like this guy certainly had enough reasons to be depressed, but it could have been anything else just as easily, from getting in a fight with your girl, to having your dog hit by a car, to losing your kid to cancer. It's hard to dig yourself back out.

[ddavey25]

Never heard about this story before....Very sad and another reason to hate the US...Just because of a greedy ass government a poor kid takes his life.

[lespaul]

I don't think online poker or Black Friday were the root causes...the root cause was depression. Easy access to guns didn't help. It sounds like this guy certainly had enough reasons to be depressed, but it could have been anything else just as easily, from getting in a fight with your girl, to having your dog hit by a car, to losing your kid to cancer. It's hard to dig yourself back out.

let me guess, you must be for gun control? if he hung his swelf would you say he shouldnt have had rope around him? it is very sad he gave up, but if he was gonna do it he was gonna do it...guns had nothing to do with it except thats what he used

[IWASLION]

let me guess, you must be for gun control? if he hung his swelf would you say he shouldnt have had rope around him? it is very sad he gave up, but if he was gonna do it he was gonna do it...guns had nothing to do with it except thats what he used

This is probably not the right place for a political discourse.

[ren0ks]

I played with Matt a bunch of times back in the pokerstars daily 109's. he was a solid player. never got the chance to meeet him but thats sad to hear.

[marlais]

let me guess, you must be for gun control? if he hung his swelf would you say he shouldnt have had rope around him? it is very sad he gave up, but if he was gonna do it he was gonna do it...guns had nothing to do with it except thats what he used

I didn't say one word about gun control. Do not give guns to your suicidally depressed friends. I would also say that his friend should not help him obtain rope to hang himself with (or pills, or drugs). People using some common sense would save a lot of lives.