2010 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Scotty Nguyen is offering his fans the chance of a lifetime to play against him in the coming months. According to Nguyen’s official blog, the “Prince of Poker” will be skipping the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe this year in order to play smaller buy-in events all over the United States. The 1998 WSOP Main Event champ made his eagerness to meet his fans from all over public, saying on Twitter this week, “Don’t forget baby! gonna skip wsope and instead travel for my fans baby!”
Nguyen hasn’t announced an official travel schedule just yet, but his first stop will be in Durant, Oklahoma at the Choctaw Casino for the T.J. Cloutier Classic. Nguyen and his wife Julie will arrive on September 23rd and stay through the $1,650 Main Event, which gets underway on September 25th. The Choctaw Casino, which is located about an hour from Dallas, Texas, will also be hosting its first-ever WSOP Circuit Event in January, giving Midwest poker players a lot to look forward to in the near future.
Nguyen’s appearance at the T.J. Cloutier Classic should attract a solid field for the Main Event, as it gives locals an opportunity to play with a world-class player near their hometown. He’s likely to visit several more casinos and will make announcements when schedule decisions are finalized.
Nguyen has been reaching out to his fans with even more regularity than usual lately, becoming an avid user of social networks like Twitter and even hosting live chats with fans on his official website. Nguyen has always been one of the more approachable players on the tour, signing autographs and chatting with anyone watching him from the rail.
Some might feel his upcoming poker excursion with fans is a ploy to clear himself from his belligerent behavior at the 2008 WSOP $50,000 HORSE final table, but Nguyen has normally been very generous and charitable with those on and away from the table.
Nguyen is one of ten finalists for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010, which will be voted on by a 33-person panel. He’s up against poker luminaries such as Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, and Erik Seidel. Nguyen’s poker resume speaks for itself: five WSOP bracelets, including Main Event and $50,000 HORSE titles; a World Poker Tour victory; and more than $11 million in tournament earnings, which is good for fifth all time.
His actions at the $50,000 HORSE Championship, during which he drunkenly berated poker pros Erick Lindgren and Michael DeMichele at the televised final table, will certainly be on the minds of the panelists for years to come. However, his rapport with the general poker public is hard to ignore, and skipping one of the year’s biggest poker events to give back to his fans only further shows his bighearted nature.
If he doesn’t receive a nod into the Hall of Fame this year, it will only be a matter of time before we see Nguyen enshrined with the rest of the legends of the game, baby.