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In the spotlight: Scotty Nguyen

Thuan “Scotty” Nguyen (born October 28, 1962 in Nha Trang, Vietnam) is a Vietnamese American professional poker player who is a five time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event and the 2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship.

This win also made him the first and currently only player to win both the WSOP Main Event and $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. events. He also stated that the only type of World Series of Poker event he has yet to win is 2-7 lowball. Nguyen is one of the most active players in professional poker today, and from 2000 to 2004 he finished in the money in more than 100 events.

Nguyen is noted for playing with lots of emotion. On the final hand of the 1998 World Series of Poker’s Main Event, a full house was dealt on the table (9-9-8-8-8). Nguyen made the memorable quote to his opponent Kevin McBride: “You call, gonna be all over, baby!” McBride called, saying “I call. I play the board.” Nguyen beat McBride with a better full house (9-9-9-8-8).

Nguyen’s Main Event triumph in 1998 was followed immediately by tragedy—the very next day, one of his brothers was hit by a car back home in Vietnam, and killed. For this reason, Scotty does not wear his 1998 WSOP championship bracelet.

Nguyen made an appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in April 2004.

After making several World Poker Tour final tables, Nguyen eventually won a WPT event in January 2006, defeating Michael Mizrachi heads-up in the fourth season Gold Strike World Poker Open on the very first hand of heads-up round. With this WPT victory, Scotty became one of only 5 people to win both the main event of the World Series of Poker and a World Poker Tour title.

Nguyen earned a second place finish at the 2007 World Series of Poker in the seven card stud high low split eight or better event won by Eli Elezra. Scotty stated after the event that he hadn’t played cash games in over two years because he enjoys a friendly environment which is difficult in serious cash games. Scotty also nearly made the final table of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing in 11th place out of a field of 6,358 and earning $476,926.

At the 2008 $50,000 World Series of Poker H.O.R.S.E. event, Nguyen exhibited what many have considered objectionable, and even rule-breaking behavior. In the broadcast of the prestigious event, Nguyen is shown drinking numerous alcoholic beverages while swearing and scolding others at the final table, drawing criticism from commentators.

Following the event, Nguyen issued an apology to his fans and stated that the event’s editing depicted him unfairly. He also cited issues like exhaustion, frustration with the perceived gloating of Michael DeMichele, and pressure to succeed as reasons for his unconventional behavior.

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,700,000.

Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Professional Players 

In the spotlight: Dan Harrington

Dan Harrington (born December 6, 1945 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is a professional poker player. Harrington chose his own nickname “Action Dan” even though he is known for being a tight conservative player. He is a distant cousin to both professional golfer Pádraig Harrington and NFL quarterback Joey Harrington.

Currently residing in Santa Monica, California, Harrington is a former champion backgammon player, U.S. chess master (he won the 1971 Massachusetts State Chess Championship), and bankruptcy lawyer. During his time at Suffolk University, he was part of an MIT team that gained an advantage over casinos at roulette. Shortly after the MIT team disbanded he was part of a different one which specialized in blackjack. He also played poker against Bill Gates while Gates was at Harvard. Some of his earlier poker experience came from the Mayfair Club in the mid-1980s where he played with Howard Lederer, Steve Zolotow, and Erik Seidel. In addition to being a successful professional poker player, Harrington also works in real estate and the stock market.

Sporting his iconic green Boston Red Sox cap, Dan Harrington is known as a crafty, tight-aggressive player, employing starting hand standards that are stricter than most professionals. When he reached the final table at the 1995 main event, he set the runner-up, Howard Goldfarb, to bluff for all his chips in the final hand. According to Barry Greenstein; When Dan made it to the final table of the 1995 World Series of Poker, he proposed a nine-way settlement to the other players. He explained how they would each get enough money that they could invest it and be rich. Chuck Thompson, one of the players, rejected the idea and told the other players that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a million dollars. One by one, as each player got knocked out, Dan tried to sell the idea, even offering investment counseling. There were no takers and eventually Dan came away with the full million.

His solid play allows him to make it to many final tables at large events. He won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event in 1995 for $1,000,000 and made three other main event final tables, placing 6th in 1987 for $43,750, 3rd (out of 839 players) in 2003 for $650,000, and 4th (out of 2,576 players) in 2004 for $1,500,000. The same year as his main event win, he also won a bracelet in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event for $249,000 and the Seven-card stud event at European Poker Open in London. He made his first final table at the World Poker Tour (WPT) in 2005, winning $620,730 for his second place finish to Minh Ly in the Doyle Brunson North American Championship. In 2007, he won the Legends of Poker for a prize of $1,634,865.

As of 2008, his live tournament winnings exceed $6,500,000.

Harrington, Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortensen, Scotty Nguyen and Joe Hachem are the only five people to have won the World Series of Poker Main Event and a World Poker Tour title.

Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Professional Players 

In the spotlight: Mike Matusow

Michael Matusow (born April 30, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow’s nickname of “The Mouth” reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table. He is also known for sometimes ruining hours or days of good play with a single spectacular misjudgment, (known as a “Mike Matusow Blow-up” or “Mike Matusow Meltdown”).

Matusow began playing poker seriously in the early 1990s, first while working as a poker dealer, then as a professional player.His successes include being a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and the winner of the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. He has played in many tournaments around the world and his winnings (as of 2008) total over $6,800,000.

Matusow suffered from bullying when going through school and did not attend college. He attempted to get work as an auto mechanic, but did not complete the required studying for the job. He later worked at his family’s furniture store.

Matusow’s first experience of poker was playing video poker in the Maxim Casino at the age of 18, which he played regularly, to the extent he suffered from repetitive strain injury in his shoulders and arms. He occasionally stole money from his mother’s purse and at one point attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Matusow was taught Texas hold ‘em in 1989 by a rounder named Steve Samaroff. Early in his career, he won 51 out of 53 sessions and $250,000. (It was first believed that he had won 81 out of 82, but he corrected that statement on the Rounders Poker Show.

At the 1998 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Matusow paid one-third of Scotty Nguyen’s entrance fee into a satellite event for the $10,000 no limit Texas hold ‘em main event. Nguyen went on to win, and gave $333,333 to Matusow in return for his partial stake. In 2001, he finished 6th place in the WSOP $10,000 no limit Hold ‘em main event. Matusow says that the decisive hand was when he was bluffed by eventual champion Juan Carlos Mortensen, but did not trust his instincts to call. At the 2004 WSOP main event, Matusow was a focal point of ESPN’s coverage, as he verbally attacked eventual champion Greg Raymer.

In the 2005 WSOP, Matusow finished 9th out of 5,619 players in the main event, winning $1,000,000. Several months later, he won the WSOP Tournament of Champions in a heads-up battle against Hoyt Corkins, earning another $1,000,000 in the process. He also placed third in the Tournament of Champions the following year, winning $250,000. At the 2008 WSOP, Matusow won a third bracelet in the $5000 No Limit 2-7 Draw with rebuys event defeating Jeff Lisandro heads up for the $537,862 first prize. Later in the same year he finished 30th out of 6,844 players in the Main Event, making yet another deep run in the Main Event.

In October 2004, Matusow made his first World Poker Tour (WPT) final table at the UltimateBet Aruba Classic, earning $250,000 for 3rd place. In 2006, he finished runner-up to Tony G in the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II in heads-up play.Matusow also appeared in Poker Superstars III, where he made it to the Elite Eight. In the winner-take-all championship match, Matusow beat seven other players to win $500,000. He also appeared in the second, third and fourth season of High Stakes Poker.

In September 2006, Mike made his debut on the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona; however, he was eliminated on the first day. In early 2007, Matusow appeared on two episodes of Poker After Dark where he finished 3rd and 2nd respectively. He plays online poker under the following aliases: “dill pickle” (UltimateBet); “mrpokejoke” (PokerStars); and “Mike Matusow” (Full Tilt Poker, where he is also a member of “Team Full Tilt”).

In July 2007, Matusow won $671,320 after coming in second place at the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup III Championship after online pro Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul defeated him during heads-up play.

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $7,000,000.

Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Professional Players 

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