Juan Carlos Mortensen is known in the poker world by his middle name Carlos. He was born in Ecuador in 1972. When he was 15 he moved to Madrid with his family. His education culminated with a university degree in physics and mathematics. He married Cecelia Reyes, who is now a professional poker player. At one time Carlos was doing three jobs in order to make ends meet. Then in April 1997 he discovered poker.

Some friends invited him for a game of Texas Hold’em and he lost $100. Within four days he had decided to play poker for a living. He was so good that players were reluctant to play against him. Carlos realized that in order to fulfill his dreams he would have to go to America.

During his first trip he had his ups and downs but returned to Spain $10,000 richer. Impressed by his play some poker players agreed to finance him for WSOP 1999. In addition to costs Carlos would get a share of the winnings. Carlos failed at the WSOP, but remained in the United States to play poker. Moving to Los Angeles he won $40,000 at the Commerce Casino. In 2000 Carlos returned for the WSOP on his own finances. In 2001 he permanently shifted to America and began playing there. At the Bay 101 Shooting Star championship he won a seat in the WSOP Main Event and the rest is history.

In the WSOP 2001 Main Event Carlos was up against poker professionals like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Alan Cunningham. Yet reached the heads up against three bracelets winner Dewey Tomko and defeated him. Carlos is the only Hispanic to win a WSOP Main Event. In 2003 Carlos won his second WSOP bracelet. Though he has not yet won another bracelet Carlos has performed well in other live poker tournaments. In 2004 he won the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship. In 2006 Carlos made three final tables. 2007 was a good year for Carlos. He came first in the WPT Five Star World Poker Classic in Las Vegas in 2007, winning the huge prize of almost $4 million. He also became the first poker player to win the World Championship events at both the WSOP and the WPT. Other poker tournaments that Carlos has done well in include the World Heads-Up Poker Championship and the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. Carlos’ total live poker tournament earnings are about $8.5 million. He has had 69 cashes and 12 first place finishes.

Carlos does not have a significant presence in online poker.

Carlos is also known as El Matador, probably because of his loose play, bluffing tactics and the ability to remember his opponents’ tells and playing styles. When bored at the poker tables Carlos creates interesting pyramid like structures with his chips, listens to his iPod or plays chess or sudoku on his PSP.

Carlos lives in Henderson in Nevada. He likes to bowl and zip around on ATVs. In 2006 he and his wife were divorced.