Thuan B Nguyen, better known to the poker world as “Scotty” Nguyen, is one of the game’s more colourful characters. No stranger to controversy, Nguyen is rarely far from the spotlight and has a reputation as a loveable rogue, but behind the laughing and joking lies a steely determination, brought about through a tough upbringing, as well as a fiercely competitive nature.
Scotty Nguyen was born and raised in Vietnam, the eldest of thirteen children. Aged just eleven, Nguyen and a brother attempted to flee the country for Thailand, only for their makeshift vessel to become lost at sea for 23 days. A Taiwanese ship rescued the survivors and Nguyen found himself doing six months hard labour.
Eventually moved on to Orange County via Chicago, Nguyen saw out his schooldays before moving to Las Vegas to find his fortune. Starting out as a table cleaner at Harrah’s casino, Nguyen spent the next ten years working hard and learning poker, quickly establishing himself as an up-and-coming prospect.
In 1997, the same year that his poker idol Stu Ungar reclaimed the World Series of Poker Main Event title, he won his first WSOP bracelet, in Omaha Eight or Better. But it would be the following year when Scotty’s legendary status was sealed, when he took down the World Series of Poker Main Event himself, telling his heads up opponent Kevin McBride, “You call this one, and it’s all over, baby” – McBride called and Nguyen wasn’t lying.
That is far from the end of the Scotty Nguyen story though. “The Prince of Poker” went on to carve out an impressive poker CV, with a further three WSOP titles, including the prestigious $50,000 HORSE World Championship. Nguyen is also one of only a few players to have won the WSOP Main Event as well as a World Poker Tour title and his career earnings from tournament poker are well in excess of $11 million.
Still a terrific competitor, Scotty’s next aim is the Poker Hall Of Fame, for which he received a nomination last year but missed the cut, with drunken misbehaviour at the 2008 WSOP still fresh in the mind. He said, “I would never be disappointed if I don’t get nominated because … you have to work hard for it. If this year, I don’t get in … I’ll work harder and harder”.
Nguyen recently announced plans to publish a book about his amazing life story, which he would like to be written by one of his army of fans. “The fans are everything”, he said, before explaining, “The people of the United States of America allowed me to become who I am, so I want to give one of the fans an opportunity to make it big in life, the same way they gave me a chance to make it big. That’s what happened, baby”.
Scotty Nguyen’s book is sure to make for an excellent read.
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