WSOP Q and A -- Scotty NguyenThe Prince of Poker Talks About Main Event Day 1 |
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Scotty Nguyen has been one of the most successful and consistent players at the World Series of Poker over the last 14 years. Ever since his first cash in a 1995 $2,500 limit-hold’em tournament, the “Prince of Poker” has accumulated five gold bracelets to go along with 36 more cashes.
Amid Nguyen’s epic history at the WSOP, are some of the most memorable main event runs in recent years. Nguyen started off his success at poker’s richest tournament by taking home his second bracelet at the 1998 main event for $1,000,000.
Just five years later, Nguyen had another chance at a bracelet in the event that made him famous. In 2003, Nguyen finished in 18th place out of a field of 839 entrants.
The “Prince of Poker” didn’t have to wait long for a third opportunity to join the exclusive club of multiple main event winners. With a mountain of chips near the final table in 2008, Nguyen suffered a lapse in concentration that resulted with his elimination in 11th place. After wading his way through a minefield of 6,358 players, Nguyen took home $476,926 for his efforts.
The 2009 WSOP hasn’t been kind for the five-time bracelet winner. Nguyen’s only cash came in event no. 37 ($10,000 world championship seven card stud 8 or better) where he finished in 11th place.
Card Player caught up with Nguyen a couple days before the start of his main event this summer, and he talked about his day 1 strategy, as well as his quest for another deep run in poker’s most prestigious tournament.
Brian Pempus: Has it been a long world series for you?
Scotty Nguyen: Yes, that is the reason I’m playing on Sunday [day 1c]. I need time off to forget about how bad I’ve been doing. You know baby, this is the main event. This is the event every poker player dreams about. You can turn everything around with this tournament, from a bad series to a good series. When you do well in this tournament here baby, everything is erased. This is very important for me to have my head clear.
BP: Is there anything else that goes into a decision to pick a particular day to play? Do you feel that the tougher opponents are playing on a certain day?
SN: You know baby, when I pick Sunday I don’t even think about more pros or more amateurs. I just have my mind set for Sunday. I know that there is enough time to relax and get ready. I didn’t even think about the other players, or who is going to play in it. I don’t think like that. I want to block everything out and have nothing but happy thoughts on Sunday.
BP: You have cashed just once this series, is there anything you are going to be changing up for the main event?
SN: You know baby, all I want is justice. I don’t want luck. If I have a little luck behind me, there is no one that can stop me in every tournament and every event. You haven’t heard anything about Scotty getting lucky on this hand or that hand. There is nothing you can do especially in the game of no-limit [hold’em]. You can win a hundred hands, it always just takes you getting unlucky in one hand. You know baby, you cannot stop that. You know what baby, the main event can turn things around. This is the event people will remember. You know, Scotty was doing so bad, and look at the main event, he turned everything around. I come back stronger and bring back whatever belongs to me. When you are playing well, you are suppose to get rewarded and not punished, you know baby.
BP: Do you feel that running bad has affected your game?
SN: Never. You know baby all this year, I have overcome everything, bad beat, running bad, whatever it is. When you chose to become a poker player, you have to overcome it. You can’t keep it inside of you. You have to think positive, and about the next event and what you will do next. The next tournament is very important for me. Like I said baby, the main event, nothing will be in my mind anymore, nothing but happy thoughts.
BP: Do you think part of your success is being able to shake off those bad beats and still play well?
SN: I am the only world series champion consistent every year. People will hear about Scotty some way, some how, some where. He will do something big, something awesome, something people cannot do, you know what I mean. There is something always special. You can’t bring up bad beats all the time. When I get a break I am always by myself, in my car listening to some music, call my wife, text my son or my daughters. I don’t talk about hands in poker. When you have been in this business for 20 something years, there is nothing you haven’t seen, haven’t done or haven’t heard. I just put it in my head, go home, close my eyes and rewind it and ask what I should do when the situation comes again.
BP: Since the main event is so important for you and you already won it once, do you have a strategy to get out of the gates fast?
SN: One word baby: survive. You cannot win the main event the first day, you cannot win the second day, you cannot win the third day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day. When you get to the final table, that’s when you touch the key to open the treasure box, that’s when you dance. The first day is to survive, the other days you need to build your stack to dominate the game or whoever you are playing with. From the third day to the sixth day, everyone is going to have 300,000 or 400,000 in chips. So you need to get to at least average, so this way you can give yourself a chance to win.
BP: You are never worried about how short you might be on a certain day?
SN: As long as I have a positive chip [count], I am good. Your game is mentally better. You don’t need to try to win a million dollars in one day. If you try to play too many hands all it takes is one hand and you are gone. Survival baby.
BP: How do you try to take advantage of people that are trying to win on the first day?
SN: We all build our chip stacks with those type of players. They try to win so many hands and win the tournament that day. You sit there and study. You just wait and he can beat the other 7 or 8 players [at the table] every hand, and you know baby, if he lost one hand to me I am happy. When you win enough [chips], play better. When you have so many chips you get cocky, you think you are untouchable and you dance every song, you know baby. You cannot dance every song good, even Michael Jackson [laughing]. He can’t dance every song good.
BP: Is that the most common mistake you see people making on day 1 of the main event?
SN: Most of them don’t have the experience to play the tournament like I do baby. They don’t think that way. They want to call home and say I have 400,000 in chips and I’m winning like every hand. In order for him to being saying that, he had to have been playing almost every hand, you know baby. All it takes is one hand. I have that patience to sit and wait baby. I don’t have to beat all nine players. I only focus on one, and that guy is going to keep my day going. I need a hand once a round and if I spot one of the weak players at my table, I am good.
BP: How do people tend to play against you on day 1?
SN: They try to go after me, dance with me, talk trash to me. You know baby, that is the game of poker. When they say something to me like that or do something like that, I say, “bring it on baby,” with a smile or a friendly way to play the game. That is why people enjoy to play the game with me.
BP: On day 1, when do you tend to show your bluffs?
SN: Sometimes I do that so that all the players think Scotty is bluffing a lot. You have to mix things up. The next time I show them is going to be the nut. You will get paid off. If I bet 7,000 and the guy mucks it, I show my hand and its nothing. Next time when I have the nut, I bet 9,000. They think 7,000 was a bluff, what is 9,000? You know baby. You need to know when to show and when not to show. When you set up your strategy to control your table, what you need to do to run the table, [showing] is what you need to do.
BP: Do you think that bluffing is more important later in the tournament as opposed to day 1?
SN: The first day you cannot do so many bluffs. You don’t need to threw away chips with no hand, you know baby. The first day is so important. If you don’t survive the first day baby, the whole year is gone. The first day is surviving. Survive baby. You can feel it in your heart, you know you can take this pot away. When you’re in the game you feel it, you have to have that zone to do something like that. Other than that baby, survival.
BP: What kind of table would you want on your first day?
SN: I would rather play the first day with the players that like to dance a lot, like to see the flop a lot. Aggressive players, that how is you sit and win once a round. In the game of no-limit, you need to win one hand every two hours. You can blind off your chips and win one hand. You don’t need to win many hands. Let the chips come to you. When you have enough chips, you sit back and relax and let the chips come. You let everyone chase you. You let them try to get some chips back from you with no hand. You build a strong solid wall, a chip stack comfortably so they try to climb over it. That is my game plan.
BP: What would another deep run in the main event mean to you?
SN: After 2003 and 2007, I am so close. Everything is right there and ready for me. The treasure box is right there. I can almost see the key. I want it so bad. 2007, baby is right there. I just forgot all about the seventh day. Mistakes are good as long as you learn from them. You have to overcome it, come out just like a fighter. They knock you out, but don’t stay down. I will come back stronger and let them know Scotty Nguyen still has it.
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