Things you might not know:
- Nguyen dropped out of school at age 13 to become a bus drive to help support his family.
- Nguyen escaped Communist Vietnam by boat when he was 24 eventually receiving political asylum form the U.S. in 1978.
- Nguyen worked as a machinist, earning just $10 a day to start, but eventually earning $12 an hour once he was established in the U.S.
- Nguyen first went to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1984 on a junket and played poker for the first time in his life. He played $15-$30 Stud, losing several his chips and rebuying after taking money out on his credit card, thus earning his first nickname "Money Machine."
- Nguyen won his first tournament in 1987 and opened a dry cleaning business and furniture store which he closed 3 years later because they took too much time and didn't make enough money compared to his poker.
- Nguyen went on a streak between 2000-2004 where he cashed in 120 different tournaments and won 75 of them.
- Nguyen has tutored numerous Vietnamese players, including his cousins David Pham and Minh Nguyen and more recently Can Kim Hua.
- Nguyen was give the nickname "The Master" in 1991 by one of his students.
- Nguyen has three daughters, each born on the same date but in different years.
- Nguyen donates a portion of his winnings to help various causes in Vietnam, helping finance tow different schools and offering tutelage to recent Vietnamese immigrants coming to the U.S.
- Nguyen brought 14,000 kilograms of rice to poor Vietnamese families in the spring of 2006.
- Nguyen is a practicing Buddhist and incorporates elements of that philosophy into his poker playing and teaching.
- Nguyen at times can be charismatic, funny and friendly, while at other times he can be loud, brash and abrasive at the poker table enjoying smoking and drinking a Corona quite often.
- Nguyen has been accused of involvement with tournament cheating and angle shooting, but no concrete proof has indicated it for a fact.
- Nguyen credits much of his success at his ability to read other people.
- Nguyen has won four of his seven WSOP bracelets in seven-card stud tournaments.
Men "The Master" Nguyen has had a profound affect on the Vietnamese-American poker community, influencing and inspiring many future poker players. He is a complex character, at time charming and at other times boorish, but never boring. Nguyen in one of the true tournament grinders, playing a serious volume of all level of events each year.
Nguyen profile piece and funny episode at the WSOP:
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