If the monotone chants of “RIG-BY! RIG-BY!” mean anything to you, you may have been in the Rio Amazon Room in Las Vegas during the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. It was here that Pittsburgh’s Nicholas Rigby became a household name in the poker world for his loose-aggressive, bluff-intensive playing style.
And if the name Rigby doesn’t ring a bell, the phrase “Dirty Diaper” might. It’s the nickname for deuce-three offsuit, which may be a rag holding in most poker games but may as well be the nuts in home games back in the Burgh. And thanks to his TV time on the feature table, it is also Rigby’s signature poker hand.
After several deep Main Event runs in Las Vegas, Rigby is tried his luck on the World Poker Tour (WPT) and used his aggressive play and loose image to build up a top stack on Day 1b of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship in Hollywood, Florida.
Read About the Day 1b SHRPS Highlights!
Opponents Get Dirty
As he built up a stack before dinner break on Day 1b, it dwelled on Rigby that the Dirty Diaper was had come back to haunt him.
“I’ve had it played on me five times,” he told PokerNews. “I think they’re five-for-five with it. Its powers are shifting. I haven’t played it often; I think I’ve only had it twice.”
Despite getting the Dirty Diaper shoved in his face, Rigby managed to score several knockouts at what he described as “a fun table” with “a lot of conversations.”
“We had a lot of knockouts today, so a ton of chips at our table,” he said. “People were getting picked off one by one. (I) just picked up some hands before dinner break.”
Screwing His Neighbors
Rigby had another memorable feature table moment at the 2023 WSOP when he busted poker titan and coach Chance Kornuth on Day 5 of the Main Event in a 200 big blind pot. Rigby woke up with aces at the right time as Kornuth held ace-king suited and went with it in a hand widely discussed throughout the poker world.
But there’s no bad blood between Rigby and Kornuth, who was also in the Day 1b field at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.
“I’ve talked to him this trip, but no, I haven’t brought up that hand,” Rigby said. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to remember it.”
While Rigby spoke with PokerNews, his friend Griff wandered over and started filming, noting that “the guys will love this.”
The guys in question are Rigby’s Pittsburgh pals who enjoy playing the card game “Screw Your Neighbor,” which Rigby explained the rules of.
“I don’t play much cash, I play a lot of Screw Your Neighbor with my buddy Griff,” said Rigby. “You don’t want to have the lowest card, you pass it to your neighbor on the left. Unless they have a king, it blocks it. This little buddy right here, he doesn’t know that. So we took all his money.”
After he returned from dinner break on Day 1b, Rigby had an “awful level” that included “two coolers” that saw his hard-earned chips taken away. He advanced to Day 2 with over three starting stacks before falling ahead of the money.
Check out the WPT site for more updates on the SHRPS Championship with the money bubble approaching.