In It to Nguyen It: Prince of Poker Seizes $2 Million and Marquee Title of PL.com's Live Series Coverage

He's a former Main Event champ and one of the most popular players ever to play the game. Still, Scotty Nguyen hadn't captured World Series gold since 2001 and a critical error late in last year's Main Event left him, as far as he was concerned, with something to prove in 2008. He did so in spades on Day 31 of PokerListings.com's live 2008 World Series of Poker* coverage, outlasting one of the toughest fields ever to scoop nearly $2 million and one of the most prestigious titles in poker - the $50k H.O.R.S.E. World Championship.

And now I'm the only man that's ever done that. And also (I wanted it) for Chip Reese. The man was a legend. The poker world just misses him so much. He was a good player, and a gentleman. I wanted to be the first man to win his trophy, to remember him.

Curao, Netherlands Antilles (PRWEB) July 1, 2008 -- He's a former Main Event champ and one of the most popular players ever to play the game. Still, Scotty Nguyen hadn't captured World Series gold since 2001 and a critical error late in last year's Main Event left him, as far as he was concerned, with something to prove in 2008.

He did so in spades on Day 31 of PokerListings.com's live 2008 World Series of Poker* coverage, outlasting one of the toughest fields ever to scoop nearly $2 million and one of the most prestigious titles in poker - the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship.

Battling virtually all of the toughest players in the world over five days, including Barry Greenstein, Erick Lindgren and Huck Seed at a marathon final table, Nguyen also became the first-ever player to have his name engraved on the new Chip Reese Memorial Trophy - an honor clearly not lost on him as he explained in a post-win interview: "This is what I want, baby. It's my dream to win this event. You know, the Main Event - I already have it. The H.O.R.S.E. event, that was so important to me. I wanted to be the only man to ever win the Main Event at the World Series and the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. and a WPT Main Event.

"And now I'm the only man that's ever done that. And also (I wanted it) for Chip Reese. The man was a legend. The poker world just misses him so much. He was a good player, and a gentleman. I wanted to be the first man to win his trophy, to remember him."

Despite playing until 5 a.m. before the winner was decided, Nguyen's immense popularity was clear as many fans stuck around to see him pull it out. A huge roar went up when the final card hit the felt, giving him the win, and there's a simple reason for that Nguyen says, "The fans are No. 1 for a poker player. Without the fans, I'd never be who I am now. You would never have Scotty Nguyen, or Phil Hellmuth, or Daniel Negreanu, or Layne Flack."

"It's important to give fans what they want - a good game, a good show. The fans fly in from all over the world. They fly in from Germany, Australia, London, Paris, just to come and see you. They ask you for pictures, autographs, and you can't say no to them. I always stop," Nguyen continues. "That's why wherever I go - the home team, baby! I'm the fan favorite, baby!"

The full interview with Nguyen, and interviews with all bracelet winners in 2008, can be found in the PokerListings.com player interview section.

Live 2008 WSOP* coverage continues daily at PokerListings.com with updates, blogs, player interviews and photos directly from the Rio for all ongoing events.

Feature events on Tuesday include two more prestigious final tables in Event 50, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship, and Event 51, $1,500 H.O.R.S.E, along with action in the final two tournaments before the Main Event begins on Thursday - Event 52, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and Event 53, $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout.

Live coverage is capped off by the PokerListings.com daily video recap with host Amy Macbride, bringing viewers up to speed on all the day's big winners, critical hands and major talking points.

Visit the PokerListings.com World Series coverage section to access all features.

About PokerListings.com:
PokerListings.com (http://www.pokerlistings.com) was launched in 2003 and quickly became the largest online poker guide in the world. It provides poker players with in-depth reviews of all major online poker rooms, the world's best sign-up bonuses and promotions, breaking poker news and detailed content on strategy, tours, tournaments and the game's best players. PokerListings.com also has the best live poker tournament reporting on the Web, with unrivaled year-round coverage from the World Series, the World Poker Tour, the European Poker Tour and more.

(*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ('Harrahs'). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerListings.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.)

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