Scotty Nguyen The Prince Of HORSE Poker

Scotty Nguyen, known as the “Prince of Poker”, should have been on top of the world after his win at the 2008 World Series of Poker $50,000 buy-in HORSE poker event. Instead, he’s begging his loyal fans for forgiveness after his irrational and drunken behavior at the final table was aired on ESPN for the world to see.  Now fans are left wondering, is Scotty the “Prince of Poker” or the “Punk of Poker”.
Scotty has been one of the most colorful and popular poker players to emerge as a celebrity since the poker boom began. His fun, carefree attitude, and signature word “baby”, has made him a star in the poker community. So, was his behavior just an isolated incident that was blown out of proportion? Or is Scotty’s drunken behavior something that is typical of his personality, and just happened to make television this time?

I’ll be honest; I’ve been a huge Scotty Nguyen fan since I first watched the 2004 World Series of Poker. I usually don’t miss an episode of the WSOP on Tuesday night, but somehow I missed the airing of the HORSE poker event. So, I was skeptical about what I was hearing about Scotty. I figured people were just exaggerating the claims that he was rude and belligerent at the final table.

I found this video of the 50k HORSE final table that depicts each of Scotty’s outbursts. Scotty Blows Up At the Table I wish I could report that they were minor; however, that’s not the case. After watching the video for myself, I feel like Scotty’s not the person I thought he was.  DeMichele makes a comment at around the 4:30 point that mimics what I was thinking. He said, “I thought you were an ambassador of poker, I’m disappointed in you Scotty.”

After watching him berate Erik Lingren and Michael DeMichele repeatedly, it’s obvious that Scotty stepped over the line. Saying things to get inside your opponents’ heads is one thing, but his behavior was completely inexcusable. As I searched for more details about the Prince of Poker’s drunken incident, I found an interesting post by a PokerPages  reporter Mike Paulie. In his article, Scotty Nguyen: Price of Acting Badly, he eludes to the final table incident being typical behavior for Scotty.

“Needling opponents at a poker table is an accepted tactic when used in moderation. It works. You saw young and inexperienced Michael DeMichele nearly fall apart. He was made desperate to beat Scotty Nguyen in a hand, if not for the title. That’s how successfully the ‘Prince of Poker’ had gotten under the newbie’s skin. If it were only a tactic, then congratulations to Scotty for an Oscar-worthy performance. But it wasn’t just an act. Especially when Nguyen starts drinking, he turns mean, unnecessarily offending everyone at the table.

Now the entire poker world has seen Scotty the way we reporters have seen him many times. His ambassador status – on the vaunted Chip Reese trophy no less – should be seriously jeopardized. ”

These are harsh words, but a good indication of what has been going on behind the scenes. Even after finding this video where Scotty apologizes for his behavior, I don’t think I’ll think of him the same way. Scotty Apologizes

What do you think? Was Scotty’s behavior at the 50k HORSE event acceptable, or did he step over the line? Should his new name be the “Punk of Poker”?