Home / Poker News September 2009 / Scotty Nguyen returns to action
Scotty Nguyen returns to action
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2009-09-06 12:49
Prior to the 2009 WSOP, Scotty Nguyen had made a statement so bold, most people would’ve considered it ridiculous had it not been the Prince of Poker himself who issued it. He said that he would quit playing poker if he couldn’t amass a hefty $4 million in winnings during the Series. Given the fact that poker is probably the one thing that he does best, many people were skeptic about the announcement in the first place. Scotty would never quit poker. He probably has enough money to never have to work in his life, but for better or for worse: poker has pretty much become a part of him. Kind of like Nicholas Cage’s character in the Lord of War, he no longer does it for the money, he does it because he’s so darn good at it.
Sure enough, those who bet on Scotty’s return to the green felt were right. The Prince of Poker couldn’t stay away from the game that makes him who he is, despite the fact that he had accumulated only $33,668, well short of his declared target. About a week ago, Scotty was back in action, playing in the Legends of Poker event.
When asked about his retirement, Scotty said that he did indeed retire, but the Legends of Poker represented the perfect opportunity for a return so he seized it. The event was indeed the first one he’d played in the wake of the 2009 WSOP, after he hadn’t only failed to win as much as he said he would, but completed one his least lucrative Series ever.
When asked about reasons why he fell so short of his target sum, he said that it all happened on account of the stress. Had he not made the public statement regarding his 2009 WSOP goals, he would’ve been able to focus better and he would probably have been much more successful. He said that he felt he was under a relentless pressure to perform, and the target sum was always in the back of his mind. He doesn’t regret flinging promises around so nonchalantly though. He said that if the Series were just beginning, he’d make the same promise over again. Never the one to be excessively modest, the Prince of Poker said he wasn’t ever going to predict himself a loser.
To make it crystal clear that he’s always ready to put his money where his mouth is, Nguyen had made a prop bet prior to the 2009 WSOP with Mike Matusow that he would win $3 million in tournaments within 3 years. Given the fact that he’s already collected around $700k (winning the LA Poker Classic’s $9,900 HORSE event, and finishing 6th in the $25,000 WPT Championship) he’s well on his way there.
The WPT’s Legends of Poker wouldn’t be the event to add another chunk to Scotty’s already impressive winnings, thus forwarding his cause in the Mike Matusow prop bet though. He busted out on day 3, just short of the money.
