Why are Vietnamese so good at poker?

**9999** · 10-07-2011, 03:30 PM

Scotty Nguyen is probably the most famous Vietnamese poker player. Though he's won unknown stacks his cash games, he's most famous for winning 5 World Series Of Poker bracelets since 1995. He won the main event in 1998, as well as the high roller 50K buy-in H.O.R.S.E event in 1998 and WPT (world poker tour) champion in 2006, being the only player to ever hit this trifecta.

Less famous but probably just as successful (or better), and much less extroverted, is Chau Giang. Chau plays and holds his own in the biggest cash games in the world. He's from a similar background as Scotty, who both fled from Vietnam to the USA with nothing, and made themselves playing poker. Both went broke several times and started again from scratch on their road to riches.

In any poker game involving women, the Viet chicks always own it. I remember watching a WSOP women's tournament event a few years ago where on the final table, 8 out of 9 finalists were Vietnamese, 3 Viet chicks took the podium, to spite there being less than 20% Vietnamese entrants. Possibly the best female player in the world is Mimi Tran. She knows her cards and is also a great meta-game player, fucking with all the white guy's heads. She doesn't havge the published tournament results of some other prominent female players, but Mimi plays in high stakes cash games that frighten most other ladys.

In poker you need to make general stereo-typical assumptions until you get more info on a player. The best assumptions are made by what the player does for a living, and their race or ethnicity. Lawyers play loose but cunning, Doctors play weak-tight, tradesmen make stupid wild plays, etc.

Thais are right up there with seppo niggas as the people you want at your table (provided they don't find a way to swindle you). They got a heap of gamble and none of the analytical smarts needed to beat the game. Jews are tough players but can't help talking all the time and give themselves away. Chinese are very good, but can't resist that big call with a marginal hand, and are very hard to bluff. Also tend to be superstitious. Scandanavians play way too loose. Poms whine when they lose hands and put themselves on tilt, etc.

So when you're in a game with a Viet or two, you know it's likely to be tough. I have no idea why this is, but they are definately disproportionately better than other races. They seem to have the right balance of fearless gamble and controlled risk, and seldom give away 'tells'. I've played with a fair few Viet players in both Sydney and Macau, and would definately be losing to them overall. In Macau, sometimes you can't tell if someone is Chinese or Vietnamese by looking at them, but when they start playing, you know.

sabaii sabaii · 10-07-2011, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by 9999

Poms whine when they lose hands and put themselves on tilt, etc.

I gave up Online poker due to my Gung Ho style and going tilt.

I never whinged though, cried a little the morning after, but never whinged

sabaii sabaii · 10-07-2011, 04:41 PM

My last online Poker night I started with 100 pounds, got it upto 6000 playing Texas Holdem No Limit.

Too much beer and greed soon put paid to that

the rivers killed me, lost with AK, AA and a flush

I felt ill for days and haven't played since

They keep sending me emails to come back

One of the latest ones told me my account was gonna be closed and I still have money in there.

I went and looked, 17 friggin pence

My only gambling vice nowadays is this

I'm shit at that too, but whats 20 baht a go

**BaitongBoy** · 10-07-2011, 04:53 PM

Enjoy watching poker on television...not done so for some time...
We had a great game going at home in Falangland every couple of months...good old home boys only, with a few newbies screened for admission occasionally...
Once had a real pro come and clean us out...but he really thought our games were top-notch, so he would always come back to have fun with us after the crazy games in the city where mega-bucks and foolish shite were involved...
We got him a few times, too...
Thanks for the reminder...I remember some fcking special battles...
If you left the house 'breaking even' you were a winner...but if you won only one of the nicer pots other than a 'split pot,' you were very happy...

**9999** · 10-07-2011, 04:55 PM

^^ I like playing the dice game it's fun. Pretty sure I've got the perfect strategy for it down.

Originally Posted by sabaii sabaii

They keep sending me emails to come back

lol that's not a good sign. Sounds like headsup might be more your style.

**9999** · 10-07-2011, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by BaitongBoy

Enjoy watching poker on television...not done so for some time...

Pokerstars.net the big game is the best show since High Stakes Poker IMO. Tournaments (or donkaments) are too full of luck and hype and you don't get to see the real skill shine like in cash games, but they seem to be the most popular for TV. Pokerstars.net The Big Game is a good hybrid format. Was actually watching Chau Giang play on that which inspired this thread.

**Rural Surin** · 10-07-2011, 06:34 PM

So poker players are now considered to be celebrities?

**FailSafe** · 10-07-2011, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

So poker players are now considered to be celebrities?

The poker craze is dying down a bit (the online cheating scandals and US federal legislation hurt it quite a bit) but the top players are definitely minor celebrities- tournaments are televised (in the US at least) on small satellite networks pretty much everyday.

**9999** · 10-07-2011, 11:03 PM

The celebrity thing is a bit of a joke. There's plenty of excellent players under the radar and they chooce to kep it that. I been playing since my early 20's and it was much easier back then. After the craze all sorts of books were written so the level of play is has improved exponentialy amounst the general public. Still, there's more liquidity now, so you can grind a lot more games and pick and choose your spots especially online. Probably works out better only the margin of value is decreased so the bankroll swings are much more vicious. 15 years ago if you knew what you're doing, you'd win nearly every session. Now a good player will win 6-7 out of 10, so the margins are slim but the action is higher. A lot of winning players in the early days are now break even or losers due to a failure to adjust. The online game has become very technical and you need datamining software to collect stats on players, and have those superimposed over the poker client so you can see your oponents stats hovering over their avator. That's what it takes to win these days. Unless you find weak spots such as Macau, probably the best plkace to find loose easy games these days. Online is the toughest environment

**9999** · 10-07-2011, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by FailSafe

The poker craze is dying down a bit (the online cheating scandals and US federal legislation hurt it quite a bit)

Looks like the US are about let it go again...They can't stop it and it's sensible to legalize it and then it can be regulated and serious companies will be given the licences, so big scammers such as Full Tilt and Ultimate bet will be a thing of the past.

**sabang** · 11-07-2011, 06:41 AM

I have never understood the appeal of poker. And what is it with poker players and bling?

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