Scotty Gives Omaha Lesson!
By Max Shapiro
Scotty Nguyen
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Thuan "Scotty" Nguyen, who says he's won more Omaha titles than anyone else, added another win to his resume as he captured event number six in Legends of Poker, Omaha high-low. Coming to the table far behind chip leader Neal Lorsbach, he showed the most aggression as he took command of the table and powered his way to victory.
That field shrunk to nine after Vince Burgio and Jeffrey Liebster, dead even in chips, tangled. Liebster bet all-in for his last $2,200 with A-2-5-6 and Burgio, with A-Q-10-6 double-suited, had a tough decision but finally called. Liebster took the lead with aces and deuces when the board showed 9-K-A-2, but a king on the river gave Burgio aces and kings with a better kicker.
At the final table the limits started at $2,000-$4,000. The very first hand was a logistical nightmare. Bong Jong, owner of a gift shop, raised. Lorsbach, a stock trader, re-raised. Brent Carter and Herb Thomas, a teacher and a mathematics/science coordinator for the L.A. School District, both went all-in. The board came A-J-8-Q-4. Lorsbach took the hight with aces, king-high, and Thomas, Carter and Jong all had 5-3 and split the low.
Four hands later, it was Jong and Thomas who jumped in the water all-in, and Song and Nguyen went after them like sharks. On a board of 5-7-K-10, Song, with a set of kings, bet out. When a four came on the river, Nguyen, with A-2, bet. Each had a nut hand and suddenly two were gone. Bong, with more chips, salvaged eighth place.
Jim Miller, a shift manager at the Hustler Casino, was next to go all-in. "I have a flush draw," he announced when the flop showed 10-J-10 with two clubs. "I have a straight flush draw," Scotty replied. No clubs came, but a nine on fourth street paired Nguyen, all he needed to hustle Miller out of the tournament.
With limits at $3,000-$6,000, Burgio, struggling short-chipped, finally threw in his last ones with 9-8-3-2 in a pot against Kevin and Scotty. Song had A-J-10-4 and made an ace-high straight to vanquish Vince. Carter, meanwhile, who started with only $3,700, went all-in for the second time in a pot with Nguyen and Song. The flop was 6-K-A. "Any low card," pleads Carter, holding 3-4-5-7. Scotty makes a straight, but a seven on the river gives Brent his low. Folding his big and small blinds, he's left with only $800, but proves harder to kill than a vampire. Instead, Larry Reynolds, who's in the liquidation business, is next to have his assets liquidated. Reynolds, with 2-3-4-Q, calls Song on a flop of 8-3-4. Song has the nut low with A-2, and two running kings also give him a set of kings and a scooper.
Carter is all-in once again for his $800 in the big blind. Song is visibly upset when Lorsbach, instead of checking the pot down to gang up on Brent, raises. "Is this your first tournament?" he mutters, reluctantly folding. Neal has A-A-10-5 and Carter has Q-9-5-2. Song gets really unhappy when the board comes 6-J-5-10-Q. Not only does Carter win and stay alive with queens and fives, but Song would have made a winning straight! No matter. On the next hand, Carter is all-in on the small blind with A-10-9-4. This time Lorsbach does the job right. He has A-4-10-9 and makes trip nines to finally put the vampire in his coffin.
Scotty, meanwhile, has been doing a lot of betting and raising, putting his two final opponents on the defensive. When he river-bets $6,000 into a pot of more than $30,000 with the board showing J-A-8-K-J, Song, suddenly getting low on chips, has to fold. Kevin finally risks his last chips with an open-end straight draw against Lorsbach. He misses and loses to Neal's three sixes.
Heads-up, a super-confident Scotty has well over twice as many chips as Lorsbach, winner of an Omaha high-low tournament last month at the Orleans. Limits are now$5,000-$10,000, and the confrontation is short. On the first hand, Scotty bets on the river and Neal folds. On the next hand, Neal raises with K-K-7-2, and Scotty calls with J-K-6-5. Scotty flops a third jack, puts his opponent all-in, and it's all over except for taking pictures.
Biography - Scotty Nguyen
Though Scotty Nguyen, 38, has won titles in every category of poker except lowball, high-low stud and razz, Omaha remains his favorite. "I like it because it's a complicated game and it confuses people," he explains. "There are so many ways to make a hand that players can make mistakes, and a good player can take advantage of them."
Scotty, the 1998 World Series Champion, has pretty much abandoned side games for tournaments. "I want to compete with the best and prove I'm the best. I'm self-confident, but I respect other players and never put them down. I don't try to run over players. I have hands, and if they want to beat me, they have to show me their hands." Nguyen, listing his occupation on his bio sheet as "making babies," is good at that, too. He and his wife now have five children, the youngest being Tiffany, six months. The one unachieved goal he keeps promising his wife is an all-around title.
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