Men Nguyen

Men Nguyễn
Men Nguyen at the 2006 World Series of Poker
Nickname(s)	The Master
Hometown	Los Angeles, California
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)	7
Money finish(es)	70
Highest ITM Main Event finish	4th, 1996
World Poker Tour
Title(s)	None
Final table(s)	4
Money finish(es)	13
Information accurate as of 2010-09-12.

Men "The Master" Nguyễn (born 1954 in Phan Thiet, Vietnam) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player.

Early years

In 1967, he dropped out of school at age 13 and became a bus driver to help support his family. In early 1978, a staunch anti-Communist, he escaped from the Communist regime of Vietnam by boat and sailed with 87 compatriots to Pulau Besar in Malaysia. In 1978, he received political asylum from the United States and settled in Los Angeles, California. In 1986 he would become an American citizen. In 1984 he went on a junket to Las Vegas, Nevada and played poker for the first time in his life. He would continue to go every weekend and lose hundreds of dollars, earning him the nickname "Money Machine."^[1] He quickly mastered the game, however, winning his first tournament in 1987. With his poker winnings, he opened a dry cleaning business and furniture store, but sold them in 1990 because they took too much of his time and didn't make enough money. Through these businesses he would, however, meet and work with many Vietnamese people who would fall under his tutelage.

Professional poker career

Nguyen has over 120 finishes in the money from 2000 to 2004, and has won more than 75 tournaments. Nguyen is known for tutoring players, many of whom go on to be successful in their own right, including his cousins David Pham and Minh Nguyen. At one time, Benny Behnen, grandson of Benny Binion, believed Nguyen trained more tournament winners than anyone else. Men receives a portion of some of his students' winnings.^[2] In 1991 one of his students gave him the nickname "The Master," and now he is widely known as "Men the Master." He donates a portion of the money he earns through tournaments and tutoring to charities in Vietnam, and in 1996, with the earnings from his final-table finish in the World Series of Poker, built a kindergarten in Vietnam.

Nguyen won the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year award in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005 and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished tournament players in the world. While allegations have been made regarding Nguyen's possible involvement with tournament cheating,^[2] nothing has been proven and Nguyen has consistently denied any such actions.^[3] As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,700,000.^[4] His 69 cashes as the WSOP account for $2,689,275 of those winnings.^[5]

World Series of Poker bracelets

Year	Tournament	Prize (US$)
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
2010	$10,000 Seven-card stud	$394,807

Notes

1. ^ PokerPages.com interview
2. ^ ^{a b} Kaplan, Michael (2003-05-15). "Dealing With the Master". LA Weekly. http://www.laweekly.com/2003-05-22/news/dealing-with-the-master. Retrieved 2008-01-22. 
3. ^ Cardplayer.com: An Open Letter
4. ^ Hendon Mob tournament results
5. ^ World Series of Poker Earnings, www.worldseriesofpoker.com

External links

• Official site
• World Poker Tour profile

Persondata
Name	Nguyen, Men
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1954
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death