Men Nguyen has been playing poker quite lucratively since 1985. Over the years, Nguyen has become an extremely accomplished professional poker player, having finished in the money more than 300 times in live poker tournaments; 120 of those prize purses came between 2000 and 2004 alone. Men Nguyen has racked up 53 1st-place wins, 6 World Series of Poker Bracelets, and a whopping $6,869,302 in total live tournament wins.

Nguyen was born in Phan Thiet, Vietnam in 1954. Times were very difficult for his family, causing young Nguyen to drop out of school, helping his family to make ends meet as a bus driver at the age of 13. Nguyen grew up as an avid anti-communist and managed to escape from Vietnam in 1978, traveling by boat with 87 other refugees to Malaysia. That same year, Men Nguyen receive political asylum from the United States, moving to Los Angeles, California to eventually become a US citizen in 1986.

Before becoming an official citizen of America, Men went on a junket to Las Vegas in 1984 where he found the action at the poker tables quite exhilarating. Though his first poker experience was not profitable, Nguyen returned every weekend thereafter, earning the nickname “Money Machine” because he would lose hundreds of dollars at a time. It wasn’t long, however, before Nguyen had developed his own niche for the game and began clearing the tables with success.

In 1987, Men Nguyen won his first poker tournament. With those winnings he opened a furniture store and dry cleaning business, only to sell them in 1990 because he found it took too much time, with hardly enough profit to be worth the effort. During that time, Men met a number of Vietnamese-Americans who he went on to tutor in the ways of winning poker. In fact, Men Nguyen has gained quite the reputation for teaching poker enthusiasts how to play and win at poker.

According to Benny Binion Behnen, grandson of famed casino owner Benny Binion, Men Nguyen is accredited with training more tournament wining poker players than anyone else. In 1991, one of Nguyen’s students gave him the nickname, “The Master”, which quickly evolved to his being labeled, “Men the Master” Nguyen. He reportedly receives a small portion of all his students’ poker tournament winnings.

Men Nguyen and the WSOP
With 305 live tournament cashes under his belt, it is little surprise that Men Nguyen has finished in the money in nearly every World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament since 1988. His first WSOP cash came on May 5, 1988, taking 9th place in the first event, Limit Hold’em, for a prize purse of $11,190. In 1992, Nguyen earned his first of six WSOP Bracelets in Event #6 Limit 7 Card Stud, pocketing $120,600.

The 1995 WSOP was very kind to Men Nguyen, cashing a total of 5 times, the last two being 1st-place finishes for $96,000 and $186,000 respectively, plus Nguyen’s second and third WSOP Bracelets. In the 1996 WSOP, Nguyen played just as skillfully, earning his fourth WSOP Bracelet among five finishes in the money, totalling near $380,000 in WSOP tournament winnings.

Nguyen’s fifth and sixth WSOP Bracelets did not come until 2003 - Nguyen’s most successful year at he World Series of Poker. Men finished in the money 6 times, four of those being final table finishes - two 1st-place and two 2nd place victories. Men earned more than $400,000 in the 2003 WSOP.

Men Nguyen and the WPT
Men Nguyen has experienced what seems to be countless 1st-place and in-the-money finishes since the first season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) in 2002. Men’s first WPT cash was a 1st-place win in Event #8 of the Legends of Poker tournament on August 7, 2002. Nine days later, Nguyen took down Event #16 as well, followed by a 4th place finish in Event #23, another 1st-place victory in Event #24 and a 4th place finish in Event #26. Needless to say, Men Nguyen took the WPT by storm. He was not yet done with WPT Season 1, earning many more cashes over the tour, including a 1st place finish at the Jack Binion World Poker Open (Event #14 PL Hold’em) in January of 2003, and three 1st place finishes in various events of he World Poker Challenge in March of 2003.

Season 2 of the WPT saw Men Nguyen taking 5 purses in the Legends of Poker tournament, 3 being final table finishes, one a 1st place victory. Two months later, Nguyen took another 1st position finish in the World Poker Finals, worth $54,536. In late February of 2004, Men took $25,000 for a 1st place win in Event #2 of the Shooting Star WPT tournament. Just a month later, Men Nguyen finished 1st in Event #14 of the WPT World Poker Challenge, and 8th overall.

Men’s success carried over into the 3rd season of the WPT, his most lucrative in December of 2004 at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Nguyen narrowed the field into heads-up play, but came just shy with a 2nd place win, taking home $156,059. Then again in March of 2005, Men finished 6th in the WPT Shooting Star Main Event for $200,000.

Nguyen has continued to find high profitability in the following seasons of the WPT. In its 4th season, Men Nguyen took 6th overall in the Five-Star World Poker Classic, WPT Championship of season 4, and $292,915 in winnings. Two years later, Ngyuen made his way into 3rd position for $241,193 at the World Poker Open Championship.