Men "The Master" Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player and is one of the most successful tournament players in history.
Born 1954 in Vietnam, Nguyen dropped out of school when he was 13 to help support his family. In 1978, while in his early 20s, he escaped from Vietnam by boat and arrived in the U.S. after spending time in a refugee camp and receiving political asylum. He settled in Los Angeles and didn't speak English but eventually got a job as a machinist and would later become a citizen.
Nguyen played poker for the first time during a trip to Las Vegas in 1984 and became hooked. He went back every weekend and lost money steadily. But he put a lot of mental effort into improving his game and he managed to turn things around. He won his first tournament in 1987 and by 1989 he had saved enough money to open two businesses - a furniture store and a dry cleaner. He later sold these businesses in order to to focus on poker and, in 1990, became a full-time professional player.
Within his businesses he had many Vietnamese workers who would become his poker students. Nguyen has taught some of the successful tournaments players in the game today how to play poker, including Hon Le. Nguyen and his students would sit around and talk strategy for hours. Because of his skill in developing players, one of his students gave him his non-popular nickname Men "The Master".
Nguyen won the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year award in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005.
Nguyen has a very strong personality and is often chiding other players at the table. At one time, there were allegations made against Nguyen that implied that he cheated during a tournament, but nothing has been proven and Nguyen has denied these claims.
Nguyen is a also a philanthropist who donates part of his winnings to charities in Vietnam and has signed endorsement deal with DoylesRoom.com
Nguyen has made hundreds of final tables, 12 WPT cashes, 4 final tables, 6 WSOP bracelets. As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,100,000. His most impressive statistic may be that he is in second place on the all-time list of number of WSOP cashes with 65. Surprisingly though (perhaps), Men has not had a tournament cash of over $295,000.
Year | Event | Prize |
---|---|---|
1992 | $1,500 Seven-card stud | $120,600 |
1995 | $2,500 Seven-card stud hi-lo | $96,000 |
1995 | $2,500 Limit Texas hold 'em | $110,000 |
1996 | $2,500 Omaha hi-lo | $110,000 |
2003 | $5,000 Seven-card stud | $178,560 |
2003 | $1,500 Ace to Five Triple Draw Lowball | $43,520 |
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