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When looking to differentiate between the pro and amateur player, one should bear in mind the
final hand of the 1998 WSOP Main Event. In pairing Scotty Nguyen against Kevin McBride, the
fates seemingly chose two diametrically opposed players: Nguyen as the skilled, life-beaten survivor,
and McBride the naïve vacationing gambler.
Life experience seems to be a common thread between
the true greats; from it emerges the adaptability needed
to adjust to each situation. Nguyen epitomizes this
notion. At fourteen, he left Vietnam by boat with his
brother. After running out of gas, they were picked up
by a Taiwanese boat, made a stop at a refugee
camp, and finally settled in California. Arriving
penniless, he found a sponsor family, finished high
school, and joined the workforce, eventually making his way
to the table as a dealer. The rest is history: Nguyen has
won five World Series bracelets and has over $5 million in
career earnings.
The 1998 Main Event started auspiciously, with defending
champion Stu Ungar a no-show. The similarly diminutive
Nguyen was ready to run with the ball. Regardless of the
table, opponents, or deck, the cards were hitting him full on.
Twice he’d made four of a kind, only to find his opponents
moving all-in. In the final hand of the penultimate day of
play, he’d eliminated two players: Jan Lundberg and Ben
Roberts. That left just five players for the final table.
McBride started the final day by knocking out Lee Salem
and Dewey Weum, leaving Scotty, TJ Cloutier and himself to
play for the championship. Now it was the amateur who was
getting the cards, and he started pushing his experienced
opponents around the table. He couldn’t help getting a little
excited after knocking TJ out of yet another pot. “You taught
me well when we played at Commerce,” McBride called to
Scotty, sitting at the other end of the table. “I played with you
and I read TJ’s book. That’s all it takes. Win a super-satellite,
you’re here.”
Even the mighty Cloutier couldn’t stand up to the usurper,
leaving just “The Prince of Poker” to defend the tabletop
turf. Scotty started with the shorter of the two stacks, but
fought his way back to equality, and then raced right on past
it. McBride was hanging around, taking one particularly
memorable million-dollar pot (back when that meant something),
during which he went to the bathroom while Scotty
pondered an all-in call. Despite this, McBride slowly began
to realize he was being outplayed. It all came to a head in one
fantastic final hand.
Sitting in the small blind, McBride started things off with a raise to
$50K. Scotty called on the big blind. The flop came 9-9-8, giving
Nguyen three-of-a-kind. McBride had been playing check-and-call all
tournament, but as he came unhinged, he loosened. Scotty decided to
slow-play the trips and checked. McBride bet $100K and Scotty called.
McBride’s bet here was a classic weak-when-strong, strong-whenweak
play. He could easily have bet half as much and achieved the
same results without arousing suspicion of a bluff. Granted, he couldn’t
know he was walking into a monster, but with any bet over $50K,
the circumstances under which Scotty could call were constant. By
over-betting, McBride was setting
himself up for a bigger fall.
The turn brought the eight of
hearts, giving Nguyen a full house,
while McBride found himself drawing
to a straight and a flush.
Sensing Kevin would try to dig out
of the hole he’d put himself in,
Scotty checked again. McBride bet
another $100K trying to chase out
Scotty’s potential diamond flush or
a straight draw. In the face of two
pair on board, Nguyen would have
to have folded either draw. It was a
nice attempt on a not-so-nice read.
The river was where Scotty really
shone. The third eight meant Kevin
was playing the board. Scotty had
the bigger boat, but more importantly,
understood that McBride’s
tendency was to expect the bluff.
Nguyen bet $310K, enough to put
Kevin all in. With the pot now over
$800K, thinking that Scotty could
be bluffing for the huge pot, Kevin
should have smelled a rat. For
Scotty to only call on the flop, his
hand could be narrowed to those
with a nine, eight, two diamonds,
two straight cards or a pocket pair.
When Scotty called on the turn, it
likely eliminated the straight/flush
draws and lower pockets. That
means Nguyen likely had an eight
for the quads, a 9 or an goverpair
for the better boat. Of course, this is
a lot easier to dissect in hindsight.
As Kevin contemplated, Scotty
grabbed his beer, raised it as a libation to the poker gods, and casually
told McBride, “You call this one and it’s all over baby.” It was cool.
It was cocky. It did the trick. The goad was too much for McBride to
ignore, and he called. The tournament was over.
As he celebrated, Scotty was ushered to the chair next to Jack
Binion that is reserved for each year’s champion. As they posed for
pictures, Scotty leaned over to Jack and said, “This is my dream, to sit
next to you.” It was a subdued moment for one of the great characters
in the game. Scotty Nguyen. World Champion, baby!
Gary Wise writes the Wise Hand of the Day. Its archives can be found
at www.wisehandpoker.com
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