WSOP Player Profile: Scotty Nguyen

WSOP Champions by James on October 24, 2008

Scotty Nguyen, a great poker player, has a very interesting story to tell. Born in Vietnam and settled in the US at the age of 14, he practically lived in a card room instead of hitting the books in school, which resulted to his expulsion. When he moved to Las Vegas in his early 20’s, he became a dealer and started to watch card players carefully, creating his own strategy how to play and win the game.

He went on to become a dealer at the tables in order to learn more for another couple of years before finally deciding to become a poker player. He knew he was on the right track when he was able to take down a World Series of Poker bracelet in 1997 when he won the Omaha 8 bracelet and $156,959. His biggest score in the professional world came in 1998. He was at the final table of the Main Event when he was up against Kevin McBride, moving “all in” on a board of 8-8-8-9-9. McBride was carefully considering his move when Nguyen dropped his famous line playing McBride with the words “You call this one, and it’s all over baby”, which actually worked as McBride did call and played the board. Nguyen had a J-9 for a full house and was named the World Champion of Poker. Nguyen’s line has become famous throughout the poker world and Kevin McBride for the most part has faded into obscurity.

His main even win was the 2nd of 5 bracelets. The 2001 $5,000 Omaha 8 or Better event was also a glorious day when he won 3rd bracelet. He also won the bracelet for the $2,500 PL Omaha event in the same year. His biggest triumph was in 2008 when he came out the top winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship wherein 148 top professionals gathered to compete in this World Series of Poker event. Nguyen was the last man standing bringing home a staggering $1,989,120 or roughly about 2 million dollars!

Scotty Nguyen became a legendary poker player and has 31 titles under his belt in almost all walks of poker, and still counting. To date, his value amounts to $10 million from his total winnings. He also defeated Michael Mizrachi in a single hand, winning the 2006 WPT Event held in Tunica, MS. Today, he says he is done playing cash games, as he finds them stressful. When he won the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event he stated that there isn’t much left for him to do in the poker word was to take a bracelet in the game of lowball. Of course, technically he still needs a win in Razz, but he might consider that covered with his H.O.R.S.E. win.

Scotty Nguyen is a living legend in the world of poker for his outstanding accomplishments in this field. His magnetic and enthusiastic disposition at the table totally deserves the attention of the crowd. Expect more of his presence as long as he still has the desire for playing poker.