Heading into the 2008 November Nine (the WSOP Final Table) third in chips was a young Canadian player with the perfect poker pedigree: Scott Montgomery, born in 1981 to a card-playing family in Perth, Ontario, grew up to study mathematics at the University of Waterloo (like other poker legends such as Bill Chen). In spite of having the genes and the mathematical skills, he didn’t take poker seriously until he moved to Japan to teach English; his career started with online play money games, and advanced to $1 hands at Ultimate Bet, where he plays as r_a_y.
When all was said and done in the 2008 WSOP, Scott Montgomery had himself four cashes, the biggest being 5th in the Main Event, netting him just over $3 million. His other three WSOP cashes included $18,771 at the $1500 NL Hold’em event, $18,833 at the $2,000 NL Hold’em and $36,096 at the NL Hold’em Heads Up Championship, and he even a sneaky run to the Bellagio to win $36,025 in the $5,000 NL Hold’em event of the Bellagio cup.
Although Scott Montgomery has been playing online since 2006, he did not start to make waves until 2008 when he cashed in his first major live tournament: a 5th place at the L.A. Poker Classic netted him $296,860. His total live earnings to date added up to $406,585 before the Main Event, where he has already earned $900,000 plus whatever else he wins at the final table.
Unlike many other Main Event players, Scott Montgomery bought in with his own cash; and unlike most of his final table opponents he already has experience with sponsorship deals, having worn Ultimate Bet badges for the L.A. Poker Classic.
A frugal person, Montgomery plays poker as “an easy way to make money” in a bid to retire early, and most of his large winnings are tied into long-term investments. Faced with a 100-day wait until the Final Table plays out, Scott Montgomery has no plans of taking up training or any special mentoring, although he concedes, “if somebody gave me any good suggestions on how to improve my game I would not turn them down.”
