Poker Stories: Scotty Nguyen

Greg Mueller is a former professional hockey player turned high-stakes poker pro. Mueller, otherwise known as FBT or Full Blown Tilt in the poker world, picked up the game on a long road trip between games. After nine seasons, Mueller retired from hockey and took up poker professionally. In 2009, he made headlines at the World Series of Poker when he won his first two bracelets, taking down the $10,000 limit hold’em championship event and the $1,500 limit hold’em shootout. But although he’s managed to rack up more than $2.8 million in live tournaments, Mueller focuses primarily on high-stakes mixed games, battling it out with some of the best players in the world. Highlights from this interview include a love for fish and chips, why sporting events are his crack, the reason why European hockey players don’t fight, retiring at a young age, the origin of full blown tilt, the current state of the high-stakes poker world, why cash games are preferable to tournaments, the thrill of having other people win you money, paying friends to eat slugs, the difference between Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth, Phil in the third person, and why salads are for winners.

30 Okt 201753min

Tom McEvoy is the 1983 World Series of Poker main event champion, and a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. The 72-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan considers himself to be semi-retired from the game these days, but managed to win a total of four WSOP bracelets over the course of his career. McEvoy was working as an accountant in Michigan when he lost his job and decided to play poker for a living, which was considered an insane idea in the late '70s for a married man with three kids. In the years since, McEvoy wrote more than a dozen poker strategy books and was instrumental in making poker rooms smoke free. Highlights from this interview include saying no to the party of no, abandoning accounting, taking the paper boy's bankroll, a cross-country commute, being anti-cheating during a time of cheating, pushing smoke to the rail, the horror of working for Binion's, making mom proud on the front page of the Grand Rapids Press, cutting deals with Johnny Chan, knowing the value of bracelets, being a nationally ranked table tennis player, and getting offers from Erik Seidel NOT to write.

16 Okt 20171h 25min

Chris Moorman is the no. 1 online tournament player in poker history, and it's not even close. The 32-year-old U.K. poker pro has managed to rack up $14.2 million in online tournament earnings over the years, which is $3.3 million more than his nearest competitor. Now based in the United States, Moorman has proven that he is quite the live player as well, with $5.1 million in earnings. After a few years of close calls in big events, he finally picked up a marquee win of his own in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic main event, and just last summer, he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet. Highlights from this interview include playing cards with the elderly, why bullying leads to billiards, being no. 1, enjoying mince pie and Christmas pudding, having his dad act as his accountant, learning to close, an unsustainable stable of horses, writing his own book of Moorman, a fake friend named Adam, calling an audible on his proposal, a last longer to avoid a white suit, and the rush of bluffing Phil Ivey.

2 Okt 20171h 15min

Upeshka De Silva, known as Pesh, didn't really start concentrating on the live tournament circuit until 2013, but in the few years since he's still managed to win two World Series of Poker bracelets while banking nearly $2 million in earnings. De Silva's first bracelet came in a 2015 $1,500 no-limit hold'em event for $424,577. His second bracelet win happened just last summer, when he took down the $3,000 shootout event for $229,923. De Silva also made a deep run in the 2015 main event and final tabled the WPT Legends of Poker main event in 2016 for $198,720. Highlights from this interview include a brief stint in Sri Lanka, growing up with Supermom, playing in some secret Texas Texas hold'em games, getting dad bad beat apologies, a stable of unstable horses, filling up two wrists, a battle with ego, big fields vs. big buy-ins, hero calling Fedor, watching $100 turn into $45,000 in 15 minutes, the isolation of being a poker pro, and an aversion to country music.

18 Sep 201752min

Ari Engel is one of the hardest working grinders on the tournament circuit today. The former no. 1 online poker player in the world has been practically living out of a suitcase as he chases big cashes all over the globe. The 33-year-old has done quite well for himself, with nearly $5 million in live tournament cashes. He's currently tied for fourth place with eight WSOP Circuit titles and in 2016, he took down the Aussie Millions main event. Despite the fact that he didn't really concentrate on live poker until after Black Friday, Engel has somehow managed to rack up 284 live tournament cashes so far in his career, 48 of which came last year. To compare, 53-year-old Phil Hellmuth, who won the 1989 WSOP main event, has a total of 280 career cashes. Highlights from this interview include being a world-traveling child, Canadians with Australian accents, lazily finishing college in two years, inspiring his landlord to take up poker, being a poker workaholic, the positives of a fragmented online poker market, how to cash 48 times in one year, having the third worst set and still winning, and figuring out where to live in the world.

4 Sep 20171h 2min

Frank Kassela is a three-time WSOP bracelet winner and the 2010 World Series of Poker Player of the Year. In addition to $3 million in live tournaments earnings, Kassela is also a regular in the nosebleed-stakes mixed games that run in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. When he's not tearing up the felt, Kassela owns and manages several business throughout the United States. He's also passionate about politics, and even ran for Congress in 2013. Highlights from this interview include WSOP funk, channeling his inner-Forrest Gump, selling office supplies to feed the new baby, waiting in line to play slots, getting a poker education from Jack Keller, finding inspiration from Matt Damon, being the reason why Johnny Chan has a tenth bracelet, why PLO is the mixed-games gateway drug, running for congress, an obsession with Broadway, and losing a $350,000 pot to Rick Salomon.

21 Aug 20171h 8min

Tony Dunst knew he wanted to be a poker player even before he could legally enter a casino. His dream became a reality and the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-native has put together a solid poker resume with $2.9 million in live tournament earnings and another $1.9 million online. He won his WSOP bracelet in 2016 and even has a WPT title from 2013. These days, Dunst considers himself to be more of a broadcast personality than a professional poker player. After longtime commentator Mike Sexton stepped down from the WPT to become Chairman at PartyPoker, Dunst was promoted to the full-time commentator spot alongside Vince Van Patten. Highlights from this episode include taking over for a poker legend, why Phil Hellmuth is the way he is, the glamorous world of gambling, being a sandwich artist and selling shoes, being banned from Australia, loneliness in Shanghai, being backed by a 17-year-old, being a WPT employee and champion, and throwing half his buy-in in the trash.

7 Aug 201755min

Jonathan Little is a two-time World Poker Tour champion who was also named WPT Season VI Player of the Year. The Pensacola, Florida native has more than $6.5 million in live tournament earnings in addition to the millions he won online. Little has established himself over the last decade as one of the hardest working players int the game. When he's not on the road playing the circuit or doing commentary for live streams, Little lives in New York with his wife and son, working on poker training videos, hand packs, webinars and private coaching. He's authored more than a dozen poker books, including his latest, Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em: Strategies to Consistenly Beat Small Stakes Tournaments and Cash Games. Highlights from this episode include an eclectic childhood, mutes for all occasions, fueling planes at the airport in a hurricane, making $20,000 a month in college, getting fired from McDonalds, buying real estate at 18, the learning curve of his first year on the circuit, the secret of not wanting much, building his poker training empire, the benefit of being the ninth wheel, making a WSOP final table with his parents, and listening to classical music at the table to keep calm.

24 Juli 20171h 6min