Poker Player Scotty Nguyen Under the Gun

1
What’s the mistake you made at the poker table that you spent the most time thinking about afterward?
Well, it’s not a single hand, it’s a whole day—at the 2004 Mirage Poker Showdown, when I come in fifth out of six at the WPT final table. I got like 2.2-million in chips to start the day, and the second place got like 900,000, and I come out fifth! I got half of the chips with six players left, and I come out fifth. That never, ever happens. I just made mistakes. I was running over the game, and I tried to bluff people out, things like that. First place was over $1-million, and I blew it. I just played so bad. The whole time, baby, I don’t know what I’m thinking. It’s just one of those days that I made mistakes over and over. The hand I’m supposed to raise, I didn’t. The hand I’m not supposed to raise, I raised. Whatever I do is wrong. If I didn’t play any hands at all, I would have finished a lot higher.

2
Is there anyone in the world you wouldn’t call “baby”? The Pope or the President, perhaps?
I have one person I don’t call “baby”: my mom. My mom call me “baby.” I think that’s the only person I don’t call “baby.” My sister I call “baby.” My brother I call “baby.” My friends, everybody. It’s just my mom.

3
In the National Heads-Up Championship, was Ernie Durack better than you expected, did you play badly, or were the cards just stacked against you?
Oh, I played so bad, trust me. You know why? Because when you play with somebody you don’t know, you underestimate them. I got too confident. I didn’t play my game at all. I try to make moves with very, very good players, but I can’t make those kind of moves with people I don’t know. With people I don’t know, I give them chances to get there, and when they get there, I pay them off. I even said that to him. I said, “I bet you have this hand, the nuts.” And I still call him. You underestimate people like that. When I play with the best players, it brings out the best of Scotty Nguyen. But when I play with somebody I don’t even know, a qualifier, someone like that, they just throw me off, every which way. But baby, I promise you, if I had a chance to play with him again, not in a million years can he beat me again. You can put that in writing. So let him call me up and challenge me.

4
Who holds his liquor better: You or Men The Master?
Oh, gotta be Men, baby. Oh my God—this guy, he can drink from when he opens his eyes until he goes sleep. I only drink when I’m at final table or final two tables. Him, at the start of the tournament, you have like 11, 12 hours to play, he drinks the whole time. But that’s not me. You know why? Because I drink to enjoy it. I drink very slowly. I don’t drink just to get to get drunk. I drink to enjoy, calm me down, to relax me. He drinks all day long.

5
Most people know that Daniel Negreanu does a great impression of you. Can you do an impression of him?
Hell no! Me, I’m so bad about copying things. But Daniel is the best at it. Nobody even comes close. Daniel is perfect. You know, baby, Daniel, they made him that way. He can copy almost everyone. That makes him special. He can do almost everybody. He’s amazing.