Card Player Readers Sound Off About Scotty Nguyen's Televised Antics

Many loyal Card Player readers were upset with Scotty Nguyen's behavior during the recent televised World Series of Poker $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship, and they let their opinions be known by flooding our offices and inboxes with correspondence. During the event, which aired on ESPN, Nguyen directed abusive language at the tournament staff and the other players, and, on frequent occasions, violated the written and unwritten rules of tournament conduct.

Nguyen posted a heartfelt apology on CardPlayer.com, saying, "I know my actions at the table were wrong. For that, I would like to apologize to everyone, especially the fans. I make a big mistake, one I am very, very sorry for." The entire episode underscored the need to re-examine the way tournament officials enforce conduct rules in a consistent manner. Major tournaments like the World Series of Poker have a clear set of rules related to player conduct. However, a gray area exists related to interpretation and enforcement of such rules. Check out Page 24 for more on the rules that govern the WSOP.

We would like to thank all of our readers for the outpouring of letters on this topic. Nearly all of you commented on how tough the event was to watch. Many of you thought Nguyen's actions cast poker in a negative light outside of our industry, and that if a "non-pro" player would have behaved like this, punishment and penalty would have been inevitable. Nearly all of you commented that despite the intense pressures that players face when battling for huge prize money, the poker table still should represent a reasonably pleasant environment for play without verbal attacks. We couldn't agree more.

Also, many readers asked why our magazine overlooked Nguyen's conduct. After his win, he was featured on the cover of Card Player Vol. 21/No. 16. In that issue, we dubbed Scotty the "King of Poker," and remarked that with his win, he became "both the players' and people's champion." We received more than a few questions about whether or not we saw the tournament or just reported on the results. Unfortunately, due to strict WSOP media guidelines, Card Player was unable to observe the tournament live, and instead reported on the event from a media room that was not equipped with an audio feed.

While Scotty's accomplishments and victory do indeed prove his talent as one of the game's best, the outpouring of commentary by all of you fans goes to show that conduct and sportsmanship are just as important to our community as results.