Nguyen sounds and looks like a ‘win’ in Binion’s poker

Thursday, May 14, 1998 | 10:09 a.m.

The prince wants to be the king -- the king of poker, that is.

Scotty "The Prince" Nguyen, a 35-year-old South Vietnamese refugee who over the last few years has built a reputation as a skilled tournament poker player, held a sizable lead going into today's final round of the World Series of Poker.

Nguyen (it's pronounced "Win" and is as common a last name in Vietnam as Smith is in the United States) entered the fourth and final round of the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold 'em world championship with $1,184,000 of the $3.5 million worth of chips in the game at Binion's Horseshoe.

"You know I want to be the king," a jubilant Nguyen said after knocking out two players with a flush on "the river" -- poker jargon for fifth and final community card -- to take the lead over the remaining four players at the end of Wednesday's third round.

The four-day event, the finale of the month-long 21-event granddaddy of all gaming tournaments, began Monday with a record 350 players vying for the $1 million first prize.

But, by late in Round 3, Nguyen, a Henderson resident, found himself in danger of losing a slight lead by playing more like a jester than a member of a royal family.

He tried to muscle in on a $480,000 pot with a marginal hand of jack-eight to Dewey Weum's pair of kings. The five community cards helped the Monona, Wis., gambler go from the verge of elimination into fourth position.

It also caused Nguyen to lose a lot of ground to Kevin McBride of Boca Raton, Fla., and T.J. Cloutier of Dallas, who were second and third, each with more than $800,000 in chips, going into today's final round.

"I made a mistake -- that's all I can say," Nguyen said. "It was embarrassing. I won't play like that tomorrow. But, I said after that hand that I would get those chips back."

A few hands later, he did.

Jan Lundberg of London went all-in with a $71,000 bet on a pair of pocket 10s and Nguyen, holding ace-queen of diamonds, called. Then, Ben Roberts, also of London, made a $56,000 all-in raise and Nguyen again called. Roberts held the best possible starting hand -- a pair of aces.

The "flop" (first three community cards placed face up simultaneously) came 4 of diamonds-5 of diamonds-Queen of hearts. A meaningless Jack of spades came on the "turn" (fourth community card).

Lundberg needed a 10 of hearts to win. Nguyen needed a queen or any diamond. Roberts needed anything else. A deuce of diamonds fell on the river and the field was reduced from seven to five.

Lee Salem of San Diego was in fifth position Wednesday with just under a quarter of a million dollars in chips.

The game will end today when one player has all of the chips. However, each will receive cash prizes ranging from $190,000 to $1 million.

Nguyen, was born in South Vietnam in the 1960s during the prolonged war that divided that Southeast Asian nation. He came to the United States in 1977 and attended school in Chicago.

In 1984, Nguyen became a professional gambler. In 1996, he won the $500 buy-in limit Texas hold 'em title at the Queens Poker Classic at the Four Queens. Last year, he won the $2,000 buy-in Omaha hi-lo split title at the World Series.

His lifetime World Series earnings stood at $244,462 entering today's final round.

Here's a roundup of Wednesday's third round action (lifetime World Series of Poker winnings in parentheses):

* 6. Ben Roberts, London, England, $150,000 ($150,000); 7. Jan Lundberg, London, England, $112,500 ($167,400); 8. Mark Brouchard, Paris, France, $75,000 ($75,000); 9. Paul McKinney, Princeton, W. Va., $57,500 (57,500).

* Each of the following won $40,000: 10. Susie Isaacs, Las Vegas, ($137,256); 11. Bobby Hoff, Cerritos, Calif., ($291,413); 12. Mike Laing, Franklin, Pa., ($379,230).

* Each of the following won $35,000: 13. Paul Kroh, Logandale, ($35,000); 14. Mark Weitzman, Long Beach, Calif., ($98,125); 15. Danny Dang, Los Angeles, ($244,322).

* Each of the following won $30,000: 16. Sooyoung Kim, Kent, Wa., ($96,753); 17. Kathy Liebert, Las Vegas, ($159,270); 18. Tommy Jin Joo, New York, ($30,000).

* Each of the following won $25,000: 19. David Kim, Atherton, Calif., ($36,200); 20. Vince Burgio, West Hills, Calif., ($397,048); 21. Thor Hansen, Oslo, Norway, ($235,631); 22. Jack Keller, Lake Cormorant, Miss., ($1,579,330); 23. Rod Peate, Redondo Beach, Calif., $462,460; 24. David Mosley, London, England, ($55,562); 25. Eskimo Clark, New Orleans, La., ($319,216); 26. Jack Fox, Reno, ($27,500); 27. Farzad Bonyadi, Los Angeles, ($470,000).