1998
World Champion Scotty Nguyen
Wins Omaha High/Low Event
Las Vegas pro Scotty Nguyen bulldozed
through an extremely tough field of 39
players, and won his first event at this
year's Four Queens Poker Classic. Nguyen
was perilously close to the felt at times
during the final table, going all-in twice
and surviving both occasions, before gaining
momentum midway through the five-hour
battle and breezing to a $17,020 payday.
When Nguyen acquired a big stack of chips,
he became demonstrably more animated and
talkative, baiting his opponents into
making several mistakes. Nguyen -- master
of the one-liner -- always seemed to say
the exactly right thing at the right time
to squeeze out the extra profit when he
held a powerhouse hand, and was able to
move his opponents off superior hands
by with sheer intimidation by threatening
to raise and re-raise if anyone dared
play a hand against him. It was a masterful
performance, for which Nguyen has earned
both the universal respect of his peers,
a world championship, and dozens of other
major tournament wins.
Eight
players arrived at the final table, which
began with blinds at $150-300 and betting
limits at $300-600. Making the final table
would be bitter sweat for three players,
since only the top five players received
prize money. For this reason, play was
fast but extremely tight in the formative
stages. Herbert Owenby, a crafty Tennessean
came in as chip leader with $18,250. Randy
Holland, the veteran Southern California
pro arrived second with $12,650. All the
other players needed to catch a hand early.
Nguyen took an early beat when Italian
poker player Max Pescatori doubled up
with As and 9s. Nguyen lost his second
consecutive hand in a multi-way pot when
chip leader Owenby made trip 10s which
scooped a large pot and put the former
World Champ down close to the felt with
only $2,500 in chips.
Norbert
Hoetling, from Essen, Germany was the
first player to say "auf wiedersehen"
when he took his last stand and lost to
Owenby's two-pair, Ks and 7s. Hoetling
(final hand not shown) played well enough
to make the final table, but exited without
nary a Deutschmark in 8th place.
The
other European finalist was the next player
to make an unwanted exit. Max Pescatori,
from Milan, Italy looked down to see A-K-x-x
and moved all of his remaining chips into
the pot when the flop came with two kings
(giving him three of a kind). However,
Pescatori failed to improve while Brian
Nadell spiked a club flush on the final
card. Pescatori said "ciao" and didn't
even drag a single Lira for a nice effort.
A short time later, Las Vegas-based tournament
pro An Tran took a very tough beat when
his king-high flush was sawed-off by Randy
Holland's ace-high nut flush. The big
hand put Holland up close to the co-chip
lead with Owenby. Then, Brian Nadell made
a move by dragging a few chips and drew
close to the chip lead. A few hands later
Eddie Fishman, decked-out in a muscle-shirt
and sporting a new tattoo of a smiling
devil on his left bicep, went out in the
dreaded position that every poker player
fears -- on the bubble (in 6th place,
but no prize money). Fishman, who won
a gold bracelet in Omaha high-low at this
year's World Series of Poker, moved his
last chips into the pot with K-K-7-4,
which were cut up and digested like hungry
wolves by Nadell and Nguyen who split
the pot with a high and low hand better
than Fishman's. Hey Eddie -- it might
be a good idea to get rid of the tattoo.
The devil thing 'aint working.
Five players were now in the money. Chip
counts stood as follows:
Herbert Owenby -- $17,500
Brian Nadell -- $15,300
Randy Holland -- $12,500
Scotty Nguyen -- $11,000
An Tran -- $3,400
With blinds at $300-600 and betting limits
at $600-1,200 An Tran picked up a monster
flop holding K-K-J-7 (two hearts) and
watched as the board came K-6-5 (with
two hearts). It seemed Tran would at least
get half the pot, and might even scoop
(trip kings and a flush draw) -- but Holland
had other ideas. Holland held 2-3-4-x
and was delighted to see an ace come on
the turn which gave him a made low. Then,
the river came with a 7, which game Holland
a straight for high. It was a brutal series
of beats for Tran, who won $74,000 only
a week ago in the no-limit holdem event
here at the Four Queens, and he went out
in 5th place and collected $1,900.
Herbert Owenby's good fortune turned bad
over the next hour. Owenby, who arrived
as chip leader often avoided confrontation
and kept his stack as consistently high
with conservative, risk-free play. However,
Owenby -- a physical education teacher
-- started to sweat when he was quartered
out of a big pot (holding A-2 with Holland)
while Scotty Ngyuen was jamming the pot
with raises on every round with a full-house.
For the first time, Nguyen seized the
chip lead and the entire complexion of
the final table changed from that moment
on.
Bolstered by a steady pipeline of his
trademark Michelob (beer) Nguyen used
his chip advantage and bravado masterfully
over the final hour and a half of play.
Nguyen began chattering whenever he was
involved in a hand, threatening to come
over the top of anyone who dared stick
chips in the pot. When Nguyen scalped
Holland out of another big pot, the heat
on the other players was turned up even
higher. Sensing his opponents' weakness,
Nguyen incited his opponents into folding,
saying "Go ahead and fold, I'll let you
win the next one." With several missed
draws and hopeless hands, most of the
time the tactic worked. However, to no
one's surprise -- Nguyen never made good
on his promise to let his rivals "win
the next one."
The
fateful hand of the tournament occurred
when Owenby put his final chips into the
pot. Nguyen re-raised pre-flop with A-2-2-J.
He got a crying call from Nadell, still
with plenty of chips, sitting to his left.
The flop came 9-9-J and Nguyen bet out
like he had the stone-cold nuts. Nadell
smooth called. A harmless 3 came on the
turn, and again Nguyen fired a big bet
into the pot. Nadell called again. A queen
came on the river. Showing no fear, Nguyen
bet out again. Nadell hesitated and said
aloud, "There's no way he can bluff in
this situation," as his cards reluctantly
hit the muck. Nguyen swelled up like a
proud peacock and flipped over nothing
more than a pair of jacks (no low possible)
and somehow knew his hand was good. Herbert
Owenby (hand not shown) exited the final
table in 4th place and collected $3,780.
It was a monster pot that foreshadowed
the end was drawing near.
Now,
Nguyen wanted to play for all the prize
money -- no second or third place. He
baited and coaxed savvy tournament veterans
Nadell and Holland -- who bantered back
and forth in a verbal tennis match with
Nguyen. After losing a series of pots,
Holland was left desperately short-stacked
and was dealt his final hand of the night.
He moved his last chips into the pot when
he flipped two pair -- 2-5-7-Q with a
board of 2-7-J. However, the curtain call
came with two running spades to give Nguyen
a flush -- which bounced Holland out of
the tournament. The talented California-based
pro took 3rd place and $5,670.
Down
to the final two players, Nguyen started
with a 3-1 chip lead, which Nadell gradually
whittled down to 2-1. At one point, it
looked like a classic duel might materialize,
but Nguyen Was determined not to let that
happen. With his chips scattered haphazardly
all over the table, Nguyen was having
the time of his life -- talking it up,
laughing, and drinking -- and showing
a supreme sense of confidence. Nadell
made a sincere effort to make it a contest
at one point, but was simply overwhelmed
by Nguyen's rush of cards and ceaseless
aggression. Nadell managed to survive
four all-ins, but was crippled by Nguyen
late when he missed a straight draw and
a low, as Nguyen's A-A scooped a pot that
put a dagger in any hopes for a Nadell
comeback. The final hand of the night
was dealt when Nguyen held A-4-6-7 and
watched with delight as the flop came
A-A-4. Nguyen had flopped a monster full-house,
which essentially made Nadell's hand worthless.
Nadell had no chance to make a low and
accepted defeat in 2nd place. As consolation,
Nadell took home $9,460.
With
a Michelob in one hand, and his other
arm wrapped around his wife -- who proudly
watched from the rail during the entire
final table -- Nguyen put on a clinic
for winning tournament poker. By sheer
force of personality, unbridled talent,
and raw determination -- Scotty Nguyen
proved once again, why he's one of the
best poker players in the world.
Nolan Dalla
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