Men “The Master” Nguyen was born in Vietnam, in 1954. Forced by the circumstances to become a bus driver in order to help support his family, he dropped out of school in 1967, aged 13.
Being an anti-communist, he took the road out of the communist country so many other countrymen of his had attempted. It was 1978 when he fled via a boat to Malaysia, where he was granted political asylum by the United States.
He moved to the US that same year, and set up camp in Los Angeles. It wasn’t until 1986 that he became a full fledged citizen of the United States.
He first played poker 1984 in Las Vegas, and was instantly hooked by the possibility of making money through a game. At first though, the making of money proved a rather illusive goal for the Vietnamese-American immigrant. Not fully familiar with the intricacies of the game, he kept on losing money every weekend, earning the not-so-flattering nickname “Money Machine”.
The Money Machine would soon break down however, and instead of giving money out it stated to rake money in. He won his first major tournament in 1987. The steady trickle of poker wins gave him enough funds to start up a dry-cleaning business, one that he would abandon in 1990, when it became obvious it would pretty much be a waste of time for him to do anything other than playing poker for a living..
His first WSOP bracelet came in 1992, in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event, in which he won around $120k.
1995 saw him win two bracelets, one in the $2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event and one in the $2,500 Limit Holdem one.
Further WSOP bracelets collected in 1996 and 2003 round his bracelet count to 6.
He has an impressive number of 62 WSOP money finishes. The highest he’s ever reached in a WSOP Main Event was a 4th place attained in 1996.
He’s also mustered 5 WPT final tables and 8 money finishes.
Accused with tournament cheating by some of his peers, Men Nguyen has won 74 tournaments during the 4 years spanning from 2000 to 2004, and finished in paying positions in 120 of them.