Scotty Nguyen said he would retire if he didn't make at least $4 million at the 2009 WSOP. Apparently retirement didn't suit the Prince of Poker. (Video Courtesy PokerListings.com)
Back in March of this year Scotty Nguyen must have been feeling pretty good about his game when he told PokerListings cameras that he would quit poker if he didn’t make at least $4 million at the 2009 WSOP. Well things didn’t go quite as planned and Nguyen ended up having what he described as his worst WSOP ever with just one cash of $33,668 from an 11th-place finish in the $10K Stud World Championship.
It seemed hard to imagine the Prince of Poker just walking away from the game that has provided him with almost $11 million in tournaments winnings. And to very few people’s surprise, Scotty Nguyen has returned to playing tournament poker.
Last week Nguyen took a crack at the WPT Legends of Poker, the first tournament he’s played since the WSOP.
When asked by PokerListings about his return he replied laughing, "People retire and then they come back right?"
"This was the worst World Series I've ever had just because of that statement - the $4 million," he said. "It was always stuck in my head, I was always thinking 'I got to get there, I got to get there.'
"You see baby, when you have to do something, there's more pressure on you and that's the wrong thing. It was stressful. In poker you can't have that stress."
Scotty’s run at the Legends of Poker didn’t turn out to be his comeback tournament however. He busted just shy of the bubble.
