Staging one of the most amazing comebacks in World Series history, Scotty Nguyen captured the $2,500 pot-limit Omaha event to win $178,480 and his third gold bracelet. With three players left and $459,000 on the table, the 1998 world champion was down to only $19,000 after losing a $270,000 pot to Jim Lester, winner of the earlier limit hold’em event. Never losing confidence, he got off the canvas, fought back, and eventually knocked out both his opponents.
“I am the greatest short-stack player in the world,” he proclaimed afterwards. Who could argue with him? He had only $9,000 left in the final stages when he won the $2,000 Omaha hi-lo championship in 1997. And last year at Tunica, in a seven stud event, he had only $700 left with $3,000-$6,000 limits. “If I win this hand I’ll be the chip leader in ten minutes,” he promised. He won and delivered, eventually finishing third.
He also got a big assist from Lester, who made two huge mistakes that cost him the tournament. Scotty, with aces-up, bet a $90,000 pot on the turn. Jim, with kings, and draws to a flush and a straight, shoved in all his chips, but said “call” instead of “raise,” and failed to put Scotty in. On the river, Lester caught a third king, but neglected to bet, letting Scotty save that fateful $19,000.
Lester, a very gracious loser, later described his blunders as “technical errors.” He said he was so involved in the hand that he failed to do the obvious.
This rebuy event started out so agonizingly lacking in action that there was little hint of the fireworks to come. It took about 30 hands before there was a showdown, and after 100 hands had gone by, with about 16 all-in situations, there were still seven players left. When Amarillo Slim dropped by, tournament director Bob Thompson asked him to sit in and speed things up.
Bill Gazes, who had two WSOP final table finishes last year, put on a spectacular survival demonstration. Left with $1,500 after 26 hands, he eventually went all in and escaped eight times before finally finishing seventh.
Danny Dang, an L.A.-area pro, was first out holding 8-7-6-5. Nguyen, with 9-9-6-5, put Dang in for his last $3,000 and then flopped a set. Bob Walker, after several close calls, ended up eighth, two hours into the tournament. He was all in with Q-9-8-7 double-suited. The local pro missed the board and lost to two queens held by Frank Perry, a retired sheet metal worker.
When blinds went to $2,000 and $4,000, a chip count showed that original leader Captain Tom Franklin still was in front with $123,000, with Nguyen not far behind with $104,000. On the 101st hand, Tucson attorney Jeff Katz, making his first final table anywhere, called the captain’s raise and went all in. Sarkeshik, with two pair on a flop of 8-5-4, bet $25,000 and Franklin folded. A four on the turn filled Ali, and Katz was gone.
A couple of hands later, Gazes finally got nailed. Scotty raised to $14,000 with A-10-5-3 and hearts. Gazes played back all in for $25,000 with K-K-Q-10 and diamonds. Scotty flopped a set, and the field narrowed to five. Soon after, it shrunk more. Perry raised to $14,000, Lester re-raised $30,000 and Perry put in his last $24,000. They both had aces, but one of Lester’s was a suited spade, and two running spades gave him a flush.
Scotty then made a great play against Lester, the Cincinnati contractor making his third final table. After the flop was checked, Scotty bet $15,000 into a board of K-9-5-2 and two diamonds. Tom raised $30,000. Scotty came over the top for $61,000 all in and Tom folded. Scotty then showed A-Q-10-5 with diamonds. He later said he checked the flop, expecting that if he bet the turn, Lester would try a raise, and he could move in. “But I wasn’t throwing my money away,” he added. “I had outs with a flush and straight draw.”
With blinds at $3,000-$6,000, Scotty led with $149,000. Jim had $105,000, Ali $79,000 and Franklin was down to $28,000. Holding the same draws that Nguyen did, diamonds and a gut-shot straight, Franklin bet his last $8,000 against Sarkeshik on a flop of A-10-8. The difference was that he couldn’t make anyone fold with such a small bet, and Ali won with a paired ace.
Scotty took his big tumble when he raised to $18,000 pre-flop and Jim made it $42,000 to go. With $90,000 in the middle, Scotty bet the pot, and that’s when Jim, by then with the most chips, failed to put Scotty all in and out. But instead of rolling over, Scotty fought back like a pit bull. He immediately won the blinds three times in row with raises. Calling out his opponent’s hands (“You missed your straight, and you missed your flush”), he joked and laughed and played with a controlled frenzy, unerringly knowing when to move in and when to give it up. Building his stacks up, he went against Ali and took his last $40,000 with just an ace and a better kicker. He now had nearly $100,000. The turning point came when Scotty had A-Q-J-3 to Jim’s 5-5-8-3. The flop was 10-4-2. A five on the turn gave Lester a set, but Nguyen a straight. Scotty now had about $200,000. The two finalists agreed to play $10,000 dark pre-flop.
On a flop of A-6-3 and two diamonds, Scotty called Jim’s $20,000 bet. A three of diamonds on the turn gave Jim, holding a J-9 of diamonds, a flush. But it also gave Scotty a full house. On the river, Scotty bet all in and won a $138,000 pot.
Jim still had $8,000 left, but that was just a formality. Scotty took it on the next hand with aces-up, capping a remarkable performance that will be discussed for a long, long time to come.
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