Scotty Nguyen

If there is anyone in the world of poker who will forever be remembered for, not only his prowess in the game, but also for his flashy look and attitude, then it is Scotty Nguyen. This man has won 4 World Series of poker bracelets and has competed in many other important poker events. As recently as 2007 this poker genius almost made it to the final table of World Series again, only for him to get eliminated in the 11th place. However, some of his most famous wins include the 1998 world series of poker main event and the 2008 WSOP 50,000 US$ H.O.R.S.E. world championship. This latter win made him the first and so far the only player in poker world to win both the WSOP main event and the 50,000 US$ H.O.R.S.E. events. This poker legend is still actively involved in playing poker and he resides in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, to understand the genius behind this man, one must first get acquainted with his profile.

Scotty Nguyen was born in 1962 in Vietnam and ironically, this was around the time when the USA was spoiling for a war with his country Vietnam. Just like many other Vietnamese, he grew up in poverty and hardships, but his mother strived to get her son out of the war stricken country. After much struggle and convincing by other close relatives, Nguyen’s mother managed to get her son set out for the USA in search of a better life. Nguyen was only 11 years old by that time. Suffice it to note that his journey was not so smooth and his first stop was in Taiwan, where he was to escape from a refugee camp to go and work as a manual laborer. Scotty struggled with this manual work, until later when an American family offered to sponsor him. He was now 13 years old.

It is believed that America is the land of happiness, but when Scotty arrived, thing seemed different. It was not easy for a young boy of 13 years to cope with life in a new country, foreign language, culture and most of all, the extreme weather variations. To be precise, the climate in his new home in Illinois was cold and harsh, compared to his former home in the tropics in Asia. So this new kid requested for a new host family in a climate that was close to that in Asia. His request was granted and again Scotty Nguyen moved again, this time to the beaches of Orange County, in California. As fate would have it, Nguyen got bored with high school; he missed classes and became an enigma in his neighborhood. He started stealing bikes, breaking windows and other activities that can only be attributed to an upcoming criminal who begins at home, before venturing in the bigger world. But thank heavens, before Nguyen could carry on with his criminal activities, he stumbled upon poker and as they say the rest is history. His first poker experience was at a friend’s house and his passion for the game saw him in pool halls and backrooms where he tried to perfect his game.

At around 20 years old, he moved to Las Vegas where he took a job cleaning tables in a casino. He later took a job dealing cards and while at it, he perfected his game by learning from his customer’s mistakes and methods. It was at 23 years that Nguyen turned to professional poker and since then, he has many poker tittles under his belt. What distinguishes him from many other poker greats however, is the fact that Nguyen is humble, disciplined, charismatic and always puts his fans first in all his games. His opponents fear him and for a good reason. His style of play is unique and he always plays to win and he does exactly that. Some have described his style of play as loose and aggressive and he likes to end his sentences with the word “baby”. Scotty Nguyen is actually a thorough planner when he is plying his games and he always depicts a form of confidence and calm that sends shivers down his opponents and this endears him to millions of fans round the whole world. His most infamous phrase “You call, gonna be allover, baby!” Was made to an opponent called McBride, who called thinking he would share the pot with Scotty. Scotty later beat him with a better full house.

Indeed, Scotty Nguyen is an exceptional and professional poker player, who is in class of his own.

Posted by Joel on May 11 2010. Filed under Player Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry