Scotty Nguyen

Scotty Nguyen Profile Summary

Scotty Nguyen’s Net Worth in 2024: $12 million

Scotty Nguyen is a Vietnamese American professional poker player. He’s been hugely successful with WSOP tournaments and has won 5 bracelets and 71 cashes. Nguyen is famous for being the first and only player to win the WSOP Main Event and $50,000 Players’ Championship. He’s also well known for his elaborate get ups during play. It was during the 2001 WSOP where he gained his nickname, “The Prince of Poker” for wearing extravagant jewelry. His net worth is estimated to be over $12 million.

You call, it’s gonna be all over baby!

What does Scotty Nguyen Do?

Scotty Nguyen plays poker professionally. His last documented live poker tournament was in December of 2023. He’s been playing poker since he was young and was expelled from school for skipping class to play underground poker games. Nguyen went to dealer school at age 21 and was later employed at Harrah’s poker room in Las Vegas. 

A no-limit Hold’Em tournament at Lake Tahoe in 1985 elevated his career. He didn’t enter with much money but left with a cool $7,000. He turned that into $1 million and he began to get noticed, playing poker with David Grey and Johnny Chan. He went on to be a five-time WSOP bracelet winner and 1998 WSOP Main Event Champion. In 2008, he won the $50,000 Players' Championship

How did Scotty Nguyen make his money?

Scotty Nguyen has been playing poker since high school. He grew up in Vietnam, but his mother sent him out of the country as a teenager. He started in Taiwan and eventually was sent to the US where a host family took him in. He became more interested in playing poker than going to school and eventually went to dealer’s school. 

In the mid 1980’s, he had won over $1 million and then lost it. He was drinking and taking recreational drugs, which is believed to have contributed to his losses. At the end of the 1990’s, Nguyen had straightened up his act and began winning big in WSOP and other tournaments. Some of his biggest wins include:

• 1997 - $2,000 Omaha 8 or Better - $156, 959
• 1998 - $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship - $1,000,000
• 2001 - $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha - $178,480
• 2001 - $5,000 Omaha Hi Lo Split Eight or Better - $207,580
• 2008 – 39th Annual WSOP Event #45: $50,000 H.O.R.S.E - $1,989,120

In total, he won $12,726,992 from live poker tournaments. Half of his earnings came from WSOP tournaments. Nguyen also leveraged his fame by doing commercials and appeared in the poker movie, The Big Blind. He also worked with World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour Boot Camp, and Activision. He also got paid to promote many regional casinos.

What’s Scotty Nguyen’s Game of Choice? 

Poker has always been Nguyen’s number one game choice. He has made appearances in blackjack tournaments as well, but he’s focused mainly on poker tournaments throughout his career. 

What is the Highest Amount He Won in Poker?

Scotty Nguyen came in first and won $1,989,120 while playing poker in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship in 2008.

How DoesScotty Nguyen Like to Spend His Money?

When Nguyen was young, he purchased a Chevrolet Camaro and a Corvette as well as a condo. He lived in Caesars Palace for awhile, gambling nightly. He spent the beginning part of his career losing what he’d earned. Scotty Nguyen was known for drinking, always having a beer while he was playing. He also dabbled in recreational drugs. Nowadays, there’s little that’s publicly known about what he does with his money. 

Key Gambling Stats

• Highest win - $1,989,120
• Tournament wins - 47
• Total cashes - 313

What We Can Learn From Scotty Nguyen 

Scotty understands that poker is fickle but that it brought him fame and fortune. He’s never grown tired of the game and still has a lot of passion for it. He once said,

 “I’d like to be remembered as the most badass poker player.” 

Nguyen also says that maintaining your chip stack is important and that pretty hands don’t pay the bill. When he wins a pot that pays the bills, he lets the chips come to him. Nguyen recommends playing one hand at a time. Instead of focusing on winning hand after hand, it’s good to win one hand an hour especially when playing pot-limit and no-limit. 

If you’re looking for more underhand tactics, it’s worth pointing out that Nguyen has been known to rattle his opponents at critical moments. During the final hand of the 1998 WSOP’s Main Event and Nguyen moved all in while his opponent Kevin McBride was thinking about his play. Nguyen pressured him saying, “You call, it’s gonna be all over baby.” McBride took the bait and Nguyen ended up beating him with a better full house.

Don’t Hate the Player, Don’t Hate the Game

When it comes to gambling, Nguyen has never stopped learning. He learned from great players during his early years and takes notes from the young players of today. He doesn’t get mad at them, and he doesn’t hate other players for beating him out. His advice is to love the game and not hate anyone. He says that if you hate the game and the players, you won’t make it in poker.

If you’re feeling inspired to try your luck based on Scotty’s advice, practice with so a no deposit poker bonus online. Everyone has to start somewhere.