| "I CAME TO PLAY, BABY" Scotty Nguyen
Welcome to Dr. Scotty Nguyen's office--a major tournament Final Table. Here you will have your temperature taken on every hand.
FINAL TABLE
Seat/Player/Hometown/Chip Count
Seat 1 Allen Cunningham, Marina del Rey CA, 113,000
Seat 2 George Maxwell, Las Vegas NV, 186,000
Seat 3 Billy Duarte, Berthoud CO, 47,500
Seat 4 Nash Rizk, Las Vegas NV, 52,500
Seat 5 Jason Strochak, Ft Lauderdale FL, 163,000
Seat 6 Van Nguyen, Toronto, Canada, 41,500
Seat 7 Scott Fischman, Las Vegas NV, 95,500
Seat 8 Scotty Nguyen, Henderson NV, 122,500
Seat 9 Dino Fazlibegu, Manalapan NJ, 54,000
Ante 500 Blinds 1,500/3,000 9 minutes left in this level.
The Festa al Lago III Final Tables have produced a lot of poker star power this year. We had WSOP Champion Doyle Brunson yesterday. Today brings Scotty Nguyen. Along with Scotty, Scott Fischman, Allen Cunningham, Billy Duarte and first event winner Van Nguyen.
Yet the newbies and tourists are holding there own in these contests. It's amazing to watch how cool some of these unknown players are under some intense pressure put on them by the pros. Sometimes it seems they actually don't understand the moves that are being made against them, so they aren't affected.
For the first time in the whole tournament we get through the initial orbit without losing anyone. We're playing 1k ante, 2k/4k blinds before the conga line forms. It isn't until hand 16 that Van Nguyen leads the exodus to the door. Van only has 19k left under the gun. He's going to try to create some equity by going all-in. Van stalls in traffic with the K 8 of Diamonds when only two diamonds come on board. Jason Strochak, in the big blind, has pocket 7's which facilitate Van's breakdown.
A few minutes later, a guy with my new favorite name in poker--Nash Rizk--hits the cold, hard pavement face first. (How cool is that name? Sounds like a character out of a dime-store poker novel.) Scotty Nguyen is testing the waters in these early hands to see who wants to play with him. Scotty does this. It doesn't mean he has a good hand. Scotty makes it 12k to go. Nash goes all-in, over the top, for his last 22k with A Q offsuit. Scotty doesn't have the best hand preflop, but Nguyen's K J off is matched by a King and a Jack on the flop. Nash, in 8th, is going to have to Rizk his cash elsewhere.
Tivo forward to hand 35 where the venerable (meaning old) Billy Duarte is playing yet another of his premium hands. The first three hands we saw from Billy were A K's or an A J suited. When Scott Fischman makes it 13k to go from early position, Billy tries another of his Grade 1 hands, the A J of Hearts, and launches it accompanied by his only 40k. Sadly for Billy's tenure at this table, Scott has THE Grade 1 hand, pocket Aces. Billy makes a few shekels for 7th.
This is Allen Cunningham's second Final Table and his second disappointing result. This time Allen remembered to bring some chips with him, but it didn't matter. He couldn't find a hand or make one. It's good to see Allen looking so well and obviously being so happy. When he doesn't win, he just shrugs and heads off to the next event. Very healthy. Allen knows he always plays well, his fortune is assured. Today it takes Allen only 42 hands to dispose of all his beginning 113k. Pretty impressive to lose that quickly. He's all-in from the small blind calling an intimidating 4k with Q 9 off. Dino Fazlibegu has A 6 off on the button and the Ace walks Allen out of the area in 6th.
Everybody plays good for a while until they just can't stand the company any longer. On hand 65 an amazing thing happens. The beginning chip leader finishes 5th. 186k down the toilet in two hours. You have to have NO cards to accomplish that. George Maxwell gets to brew some coffee at his house. He's got grounds for divorce. His cards abandoned him. It's so frustrating. You are king of the hill on the first day and buried under the hill the next. A legitimate dream of $160,000 and a seat in the WPT Championship turns into a paltry $17,000 for 5th place. After being practically blinded off for two hours, George has only 15k left for an all-in with the 10 8 of Diamonds. Scotty Nguyen's in the big blind with K J off again. This time only the King comes, but that's plenty. Bounce back, George. It only gets better.
This is a simple rule on how to win poker tournaments. When you have A K against Queens, an Ace or a King comes. When you have pocket Queens, they hold up. Got it? Well, Scotty Nguyen has it. A few hands after the Maxwell departure, Dino Fazlibegu follows suit. Dino only had 54k to start, so his 4th place finish isn't too surprising. The river card DID surprise Dino, though. Fazlibegu has played very few hands and when he turns one over it's big. So when Dino goes all-in early for 77k, Scotty has to know he is up against a monster. But Nguyen has A K off in the big blind, what are you going to do? Scotty calls and rivers a King to illicit a loud groan from Dino. Now we are three.
I asked all the Florida players I could find if they knew who this guy was, he's playing out of his mind. Jason Strochak has spent most of the Final Table with Scott Fischman in his small blind and Scotty Nguyen in his big. Yet for much of the day, Jason has remained the chip leader. No one had ever heard of Jason, but they will hear from him again. Jason is a player. For hours Scott and Scotty tried to break Jason. All those pro moves from Scotty, all the fire power right behind him, so much non-stop pressure? Nothing bothered Jason. A cucumber could take lesson on cool from this guy. "You play good," Scotty said to Jason at one point in admiration.
We went through the entire 5k/10k blinds without cracking any of the three. Only the 10k/20k blinds could end the show.
On hand 100, it looks like curtains for the unknown. His chip lead is gone when he goes all-in over a 30k bet from Scott Fischman. Jason has pocket 4's. Fischman calls with A Q off and catches an Ace on the flop. Suddenly Scott has over half the chips and a new attitude. Fischman seems to be waiting for Jason or Scotty to go out. Not unreasonable under the circumstances, but the defensive posture turns out to be unsuccessful. Both players take the opportunity to feast on Scott's stack while refusing to leave as Fischman planned.
As the time rolls on, we are having a few uncalled all-ins and precious few flops. Showdowns? Forget about it!
Finally some action. On hand 154 Scott Fischman gets what he thinks he wants. He's got Jason Strochak covered with the best hand preflop. Scott has A 10 off, Jason has the Q J of Diamonds and Strochak is all-in for 192k. "I just got tired of him reraising me every time I bet," Jason said on a break afterwards. Well, now the newbie is the chip leader again because a Queen hits the turn.
These things happen to other people, not Scott Fischman. As the youngest player ever to win two WSOP bracelets this year, Scott is used to having his hands stand up. Six hands later the stunned Fischman is out to sea in 3rd. Scotty Nguyen can play all night if need be. He keeps pounding those Michelob Ultras and talking trash. Two things happen at once. Someone brings dinner to Scotty at the table and he picks up pocket Queens. Before he can take a first bite, Fischman goes all-in for 130k in front of Nguyen, When Scotty calls instantly, you know you are in trouble. Scotty beamed up Scott's A 5 of Clubs when the flop came Q 7 7 for a full house.
Heads up, Nguyen has a 4-3 chip lead on Strochak. But he has a world of experience on Jason. When Scotty doesn't have to worry about a stack behind him, he can go into his act. He doesn't play the cards, he plays the player. He's stares at his opponent non-stop. He fakes bets to get a reaction. He tries to get the other player to talk. Every move is an attempt to take the patients temperature. Scotty wants to know if the guy has the hots for his hand.
Heads up it was unfair. Scotty may be the best in the world in this situation. Nguyen wins almost every pot, often with only a small bet on the river. Jason, who'd had so many cards all day, suddenly went dry.
Remember the rule for winning tournaments? First you have the A K catch an Ace or King against pocket Queens, then you have your pocket Queens stand up. Scotty did both and won as the rule forecasts. Nguyen took the chip lead when his Queens flopped a full house.
Only 16 hands later the board comes A Q 10 3 A. Scotty has ground Jason down to 140k. Like he did to Kevin McBride to win his WSOP title, Scotty talks Jason into going all-in with 10 3. As soon as the Jason's cards hit the table, Scotty exuberantly knocks all his chips into the pot. He has pocket Queens again for another full boat.
You may leave the doctor's office now. You must be well because you have no money left.
Mike Paulle
MikePaulle@PokerPages.com
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