Three-Handed Nightmare

The final table of the world championship of H.O.R.S.E. was epic for more than just the obvious reasons. It proved to be an epic battle of stamina and endurance for the final three players, who accounted for more than half of the table's 314 hands.

With Erick Lindgren handcuffed on the short stack, Scotty Nguyen and Michael DeMichele spent most of the shorthanded affair taking shots at each other after trying to pick up dead blinds and antes. In the end, Nguyen's position on the young cash-game pro proved to be the deciding factor, as he won two key monster pots to take an overwhelming lead in the match and force his opponents to play for second.

In the first hand, with the limits at 150,000-300,000 in Omaha eight-or-better, Nguyen raised from the button, as he had been doing nearly every rotation, and DeMichele three-bet him from the small blind. Nguyen made the call and the two players saw a flop of 9 7 2. DeMichele continued with a bet, and Nguyen called. The turn was the 5, and DeMichele bet once again. This time, Nguyen studied his opponent and his stack before making the call. The river paired the board with the 5, and DeMichele fired yet again. Nguyen instantly raised, and after getting called, he revealed A-8-6-3 for the nut low and the nut straight. The massive pot took 1.5 million out of DeMichele's stack and forced him to tighten up a bit as Nguyen continued to control the table.

The hand that vaulted Nguyen to his unmatchable lead came in limit hold'em, with the same betting structure. This time, Nguyen got aggressive earlier in the hand, when he was out of position. DeMichele raised from the button and Nguyen called from the small blind with the Q 10. The flop came 9 6 2, and Nguyen checked. DeMichele bet, and Nguyen didn't hesitate to check-raise with his flush draw and two overcards. DeMichele called. The turn was the J, giving Nguyen even more outs with an open-end straight draw. He bet and DeMichele called once again. The river was the Q, and Nguyen put in yet another 300,000. DeMichele made the call and dejectedly mucked when he saw Nguyen's hand. Just like that, another 1.2 million was gone from DeMichele's stack, and suddenly Nguyen held more than 80 percent of the chips in play.

From that point on, Nguyen played Lindgren and DeMichele against each other, with neither wanting to bust out in third place and miss the nearly $500,000 in prize money differential. After Lindgren faltered, it took only 11 hands for the larger-than-life Nguyen to claim victory.

In the end, the "Prince of Poker" used a combination of his cards, position, aggression, and a little bit of fear to earn his fourth career bracelet, and as a result, he now holds two of the most prized titles in poker.