Men "The Master" Nguyen


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.

WSOP Bracelets

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

COMMENTS:

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so he was player of the year 10 years ago,,us nobody's would win some if we played for 30 years,what a whiny azz drunk that belittles everyone,,sore-azz loser

headlessman1964 on December 31, 2006

at a tourney, he's always yelling at dealers and arguing with people, he always gets into something.
Extremely good player. Very very good at his reads. Not a guy you want at your table

DonkeySlayer on October 5, 2006

DRUNKERT! Good player with no class. I'd like to kick him right in the throat when he makes his comments

bad_dog76 on August 14, 2006

I forgot To remind you the reason they called me the black widow is cause I was a little stuck up thing that wore all black clothes....

SweetieDi on July 30, 2006

Do you remember the silly little girl from the Bicycle Casino? Well that little girl is now 32 years old! I wanna thank you for hooking me up with Hasan. I moved to Switzerland over 7 years ago and thats why you haven't seen me, but Hasan and me stay in close contact. In fact I saw his brother Asad and Mom a couple years ago as they came to Zürich. If you are interested in seeing photos of how the older Black widow/ Diana looks now then e-mail me at.... [email]diana.supermega@bluewin.ch[/email]

I still got long hair and I'm still thin... if you wanna talk e-mail me and I'll send my phone number per e-mail cause I don't want the weirdos on this site calling me. Take it easy. Diana

SweetieDi on July 30, 2006

Poy 2005!

????? on December 15, 2005

An Alcoholic!

????? on October 31, 2005

Men Flops A Set First Hand Into A Tourney, Im There, Hes In The Blind, Has J-2, The Other Blind 4-5, Flop Come 2-2-3, Both Guys Go Nuts, Men Gets The Donkey To Go All In He, He Does, And The Donkey Catches A Ace On The River....then Runs Around Doing The Kirk Gibson Fist Pump Yelling "i Beat The Master, I Beat The Master" What A Fuking Donkey, Poor Men Had To Endure This Donkey As He Left The Tourney

THE MASTA on July 28, 2005

i know ur too old to understand computer abreviations, Greg.

JetsFan315 on July 20, 2005

Check it - Men Nguyen is da shit, beotch. I have no respeck for special beef noodle soup. I dont even like soup. First it's too hot, then it's too cold, the next thing i know im like, fuck it, give me a bagel.

Ali G on July 19, 2005

I agree with noodle soup, what a classless act men is.As for JetsFan315,can you repeat your comment. This time in English.

Greg on July 17, 2005

hey noodle soup men would woop ur ass, so what if he smiles after a win, have u seen mattias anderson.and men is better then all of u cause they r all like millionares and u r just guys who got sucked out on and where then broke so u think that one bad beat means that if u had ur bankroll back u can beat any1

JetsFan315 on July 12, 2005

the master has left the building. better luck next year mehn. good luck to your pro career. its an excitingone

loveland on July 8, 2005

"Posted by: BIG_Balls on Jun 07, 2004 Should be Men "Disaster" Nguyen, this guys a joke Phil Ivey RULES!!!"

Phil ivey is still really,really good but Men is also really good. he is no where near a joke. and one more thing, angry hard, ur the one who needs a boot up ur ass, u said that about every1

JetsFan315 on July 7, 2005

What A Sore Loser. Have U Seen The Way This Guy Smiles And Cracks Jokes When He Wins, And The Way He Goes All In -gives Away To A 5yo He Has D Nuts. The Way He Describes His Ethics When Choosing A Suitable Student For Teaching His Poker Secrets,is All Undermined By The Way He Reacts When He Loses. Im Not Talking About Bad Beats, Just Simply Everytime He Loses A Pot. His Cheesy Smile Quickly Turns Into A Sour Dark Frown Of A Typical Viet Triad Clan. Master Haha What A F..n Joke!!!!

special beef noodle soup on July 7, 2005

good plaer but needs a boot up his ass. badly

angry hard on on July 5, 2005

I guess that stereotype about asians are good at math is true. How can it not be.....u always see atleast a couple of them at every final table.....god dam pot odds!

sikofitall on July 4, 2005

I think Men has a secret psy ops degree or something. He makes psychic plays and his table presence is astounding. truly a great among greats(Le is a lucksack I'd give up alot to learn from Men)

Rat on June 13, 2005

This guy cracks me up! I forgot who knocked him out of the main event this year but Men was PISSED! He looked like he wanted to punch the guy. Unfortunately for Men he couldn't punch his was out of a wet paper bag!

Unregistered on June 8, 2005

I wanna see Scotty vs Men in the finals...that would be a good match

Grover on May 10, 2005

he is good...interesting, and doesnt forget where he came from. I respect this man.

jambees on May 10, 2005

This guy is top notch, just look at who he teaches. I would say only Varkhoni is better than him.

loser on May 8, 2005

Drinks at the table, the sign of a true champion.

loser on May 2, 2005

I think he's cocky. My friend who I play a weekly game with once saw him throw up all over the ground without leaving his poker seat.He simply barfed, said sorry, then went right back to playing. Didn't wash his hands, or offer the cocktais waitress and th estaff to help clean up his own puke. Pretty classless in my book.

Bend the Master Over on March 17, 2005

Poker winner...need I say more?

Unregistered on March 14, 2005

yes you also need to say that he only wins at poker because he cheats....russ georgiev told me all about this cheating scumbag....just goes to show that you cant trust asian males, but you can fuck the hell outta a female asian

iveyfan05 on March 14, 2005

I rule and would definitely beat any of you in a NL...school is in session.

Unregistered on February 27, 2005

Men The Master is one of the greatest poker players of all time. He rules.

Robby on February 17, 2005

Men is cocky, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that, ecspecially in no-limit hold em. But if I was at a table and he started talkin some of the trash he does to me I'd follow him into the parking lot and and cave his head in.

Greg on February 14, 2005

no matter how good you are theres always somebody thats gonna hate for some reason so relax and play some holdem why they call it holdem man i fold more than i hold.

bruce on January 8, 2005

cant believe theres actually people out there who think that all these big names cheat.Just because they take all your money doesnt mean you need to call them cheaters

Unregistered on December 27, 2004

your a dumb ass he doesnt cheat and i now where u read that at in an article on the internet. If that happened, men the master would be banned from playing any tournaments u idiot. Do your research.

pokerstar18 on December 20, 2004

Its easy to make it to so many tables when you have your cronies dumping chips to you. no joke. they all share a room and during breaks they all go up and then dump chips to those who they feel have the best shot. surprisingly,(?) they often give it to men. this guy is absolutely terrible for the game. (if you dont believe, look up what happened at Foxwoods when they lit thier room on fire and Foxwoods found a shitload of chips in the room). Hes a scumbag and he actually doesnt give nearly as much money back as people seem to think. Also, he is more a businessman than a player, funding other viet. players then taking a share of thier profits. Buddhist my ass)

A Cheater on December 17, 2004

Very true

Very true on December 1, 2004

great player, but i cant stand him..cocky and a prick, but he has the skills to back it up....

djnpa_30 on November 30, 2004

Busted out with pocket aces that made a set...I HATE POCKET ACES!!!!!!!!

Men the Master in the WSOP on November 9, 2004

hey dnikolic if you want to win the most out of your friends DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT learn to play like a pro. some one the hardest games i've played as a semi pro have been against beginners, some of the easiest, for lack of a better term, they were far from easy, games i've played were against top notch players. playing like a pro will get you in trouble with morons who think a QJ offsuit is a great hand.so i've gone all in with AA hoping for maybe one caller winth maybe JJ or QQ or just the blinds as many pros will hope for, but i get called by the QJ and he catches 2 pair or a straight. it's frustrating. i've been beaten by a guy with J 4 suited because he catches a backdoor flush. or I bluff at a pot with a pair on the board or an Ace and the guy calls me down to the river with a high card that beats mine. It is frustrating.

Sammy the Brick on November 3, 2004

one more thing, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT READING THESE GUYS. like i said to them a J 4 Q 7 Q 10 are all monsters and forget about Ax offsuit a throw away for a seasoned player but for them a monster. read these guys and you'll get the signs of them having a monster, and it's not true, in their mind their cards are monsters. whats more, those annoying Ax offsuits are a danger.

sammy the brick on November 3, 2004

Met you at the Bike during the Legends....admire your play, enjoy your table banter, you always make me smile. Hope to see you at the WSOP in Tunica in January.....

rivahqueen on October 9, 2004

Fans of Men The Master - come visit Men's official website located at [url]www.menmaster.com[/url]

Unregistered on September 26, 2004

I KNOW HOW TO PLAY OR INOVATE POKEr and play games.WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS HOW TO PLAY EVERY GAME I KNOW ITS NOT THE SAME BUT

dnikolic206 on September 24, 2004

Sorry If I Made Myself Misunderstood. I Got Boys That Think They Know How To Play But They Dont And I Want To Win The Most Amount Possible I Can Play But I Need Someone To Show Me What I Need To Do To Surpass Them And Play Like A Profressionial

dnikolic206 on September 24, 2004

ivey is a great player also but does not have as many titles as men, he's been playing longer, ivey will have more wsop bracelets in his career he has 4 now.

pokerstar18 on September 21, 2004

All you can eat???? What is this? Pizza Hut?BTW.. so Z grade actors are automatically crap poker players? What you failed to mention is that Z grade actor came 2nd.

Unregistered on September 20, 2004

Phil Ivey?? WHo the hell is Phil Ivey. He's the chewing gum on the bottom of Men's shoe.

Unregistered on September 20, 2004

Leadly how many bracelets have you won? I thought so.

Big Daddy Idiot on September 14, 2004

Big_Balls... you think Men is a joke?? How did you work that one out. 4 bracelets. Gotta be top 5.

u lot are clueless on September 13, 2004

why do all these vietnamese players play so well? and why are they all named Nguyen or Men? one more thing, why do scottyy and Men look like and talk like latinos if they're vietnamese? i thought i was looking at my Uncle from Puerto Rico when i saw Men with the jewelry and crap on

Sammy the Brick on September 13, 2004

I have never see a more annoying stupid little man play poker, who got beat by a Z grade actor

Big Daddy Leadley on September 13, 2004

one of the best players ever. Has one player of the year award 3 times(97,2001, 2003) Has the record for most 1st, 2nd and 3rd places at the wsop, along with 6 bracelets, and at least 33 wsop final tables. As for the guy that said his team dumps chips to him, most likely not true i have read interviews with men he doesnt need to cheat he is so good. i can go on, 7 diamond rings from legends of poker, 2 bracelets from world poker open,14 gold watches more that 60 trophies. Do your research you guys

pokerstar18 on September 7, 2004

AlL U CAN EAT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MEN (WYNN) on September 2, 2004

cocky man but he can back it up, but hes hilarious, keep drinking men

yogi on August 9, 2004

Men could beat Ivey in his sleep

Unregistered on August 1, 2004

Men is alright but what about Scotty Nguyen. Dude is the Best bluffer ive ever seen, and the way he talks at the table, anyone should be scared to play him.

DJ. on July 26, 2004

Coronas Baby

game3333 on July 26, 2004

lol that would have been awesome

Unregistered on July 23, 2004

Yea, I saw Nguyen spit beer out of his mouth and made a little mess on the poker table. It was shown on ESPN. If he spit any further, he would have drench Ted Forrest.

Jay T. on July 21, 2004

Perhaps the most entertaining player I've seen on TV, though he was apparently drinking a lot in the last tournament I saw him in, which caused me to lose some respect for him. Contrast that with Daniel Negreanu, who's written about his experiences drinking and playing, and given up drinking when he plays.

SlfMade on July 18, 2004

That is one funny dude.

herman007 on July 7, 2004

He is a lot of fun to watch. Guys like Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer are so boring for TV. I also give him a lot of credit for being able to drink and play at the same time. I tried that one time and lost a lot of cash.

David on July 6, 2004

He runs most of the asian players. They dump chips to him watch some time. Read about his training methods in cardplayer, say four months ago.

Splat on July 2, 2004

Should be Men "Disaster" Nguyen, this guys a joke Phil Ivey RULES!!!

BIG_Balls on June 6, 2004

i enjoyed takin on mens little brother in a super sat 1 week ago. it was heads up play for about 10 minutes and i refused to chop when men the master offered and i was a 3 to 1 chip leader. sorry men.

the guy in the green shirt on June 2, 2004

Hon Le is Men's "padiwan learner," yeah baby!

Raiden_Fox on June 1, 2004

Truely an example of the American Dream.From a rice paddy to riches,I love this guy.May he win many many more tournaments.

Roy Batty on April 2, 2004

Men is one player I truly respect and admire. His dedication to the game, his personal donations to help others and his overall competitive nature makes him one heck of a "professional" player.

j.. on March 29, 2004

it was scotty who said that, but men is one of the best players.

pokerstar18 on March 23, 2004

Yeah, Men said "All you can eat, baby!"

Brenny on February 29, 2004

hey kckid, you got the wrong nguyen...that quote belongs to scotty...

mooreman on February 18, 2004

Push it in, man.

Prof Frink on February 13, 2004

Thats no limit baby!

KC Kid on February 10, 2004

He chops people down like Paul Bunyan

Klunk on January 31, 2004

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