He’s no F-18, doesn’t have tiger blood flowing through his veins, and (more than likely) doesn’t carouse with escorts and adult film stars.
And while Huy Nguyen may not share any of the characteristics that have made actor Charlie Sheen one of the top news topics of 2011, the 25-year-old accountant from Norman, OK is nonetheless winning. And with his second WSOP Circuit Event Ring victory at Harrah’s St. Louis Thursday night, make that bi-winning.
In January, Nguyen beat out 807 players at the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Choctaw, taking home $232,706 in prize money and his first WSOPC gold ring. After taking a break from the WSOPC, Nguyen made his return to the Circuit Events here at Harrah’s St. Louis and outlasted a 204 player field in Ring Event #6 to take down second gold ring.
The $555 buy-in, No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed Event generated a total prize pool of $97,081, from which 21 players would take home their share. Day one ended with play down to two tables.
Day two play began promptly at 2:00 pm. After a few hours, the elimination of two-time WSOP Circuit champion, Drazen Llich in seventh place set the stage for the final table. Local resident Cory Drury had a sizable lead over the remaining five players.
| Name | Hometown | Seat | Chip Count |
| Jennifer Reel | DuQuoin, IL | 1 | 184,000 |
| Jeff Welch | Greenfield, IN | 2 | 331,000 |
| Jim Mink | Houston, TX | 3 | 405,000 |
| Huy Nguyen | Norman, OK | 4 | 263,000 |
| John Dahlberg | St. Louis, MO | 5 | 399,000 |
| Cory Drury | St. Louis, MO | 6 | 878,000 |
Final table play got underway with blinds at 6,000/12,000. Jennifer Reel nursed her short stack as long as she could but finally succumbed to the felt in an all-in with pocket sevens vs. Huy Nguyen’s pocket tens. Nguyen spiked a ten on the flop, leaving Reel drawing to two miracle sevens, neither of which came on the turn or river. Reel is an auditor from DuQuoin, IL. Her second-ever WSOP Circuit final table earned her $4,694.
After doubling a number of short-stacked opponents, including Nguyen and Jim Mink, Drury fell from the top to near the bottom of the chip leader board. All-in for his remaining chips, he got none of the mercy shown to his opponents earlier in the evening, and like that, the final table chip leader was gone. Drury is from St. Louis, MO. He collected $6,177 for fifth.
John Dahlberg was the next player the hit the rail after moving all in with vs. Welch, who turned over . The board was no help to Dahlberg and the 27-year-old St. Louis resident’s run was over. Fourth place paid $8,268.
Shortly after Dahlberg’s elimination, the final three players took a dinner break and returned to blinds of 12,000/24,000. Jim Mink was the three-handed short stack, but was able to double through Welch to stay in contention.
The hand of the night went down when after a flop of , Welch moved his nearly 700k stack in the middle with in the hole, leaving Nguyen to make a huge decision. After tanking for a few minutes, Nguyen called and was drawing to a flush with . The turn was the , fulfilling Nguyen’s draw, but also double pairing Welch. The river however, was a benign and Welch’s run was finished. Welch is from Greenfield, IN. He took home $11,258 for third.
Nguyen had just over a 2-1 advantage over Mink when heads up play began later in the 12,000/24,000 level but was able to distance himself from his opponent to more than a 7-1 lead. In the event’s final hand, Nguyen moved all-in with . Mink made the call, but was trailing with . The board came down to seal it up for Nguyen.
Mink is an oilfield consultant from Houston, TX. Back in February, he won the H.O.R.S.E. event at Harrah’s Tunica. Incredibly, Mink, who generally plays a conservative game, had a flight to catch back home to Houston and with only a few blinds left at the end of day one, made three consecutive all-in pre flops. In each of those hands, he was able to double up and cruise into day two with a sizable stack. Mink’s runner-up finish earned him $15,592.
For his win in Ring Event #6, Nguyen picked up a second WSOPC gold ring and added $25,241 to his total earnings. With his Main Event win in Choctaw, he will be among the 100 players competing for their share of a $1 million dollar purse at the WSOPC National Championship to be held at Caesars Palace in May.
Still to come are 16 events and 4 ring events. See the complete Harrah’s St. Louis Circuit schedule and previous results here. The WSOP Circuit at St. Louis runs through April 12th. You can find the complete 2010/2011 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.