Who is Men Nguyen

Men will not tolerate anybody soft-playing him. He says: "A tournament will not be won or lost in one hand! When someone does not play his hand strongly against me, it is so obvious and it makes me look bad. It harms my reputation. I am Men the Master, and whatever I do, everyone is watching. Do you think I want someone soft-playing so that people will talk about me? Some people are jealous of my success and I try to be nice to everyone. The last thing I want is for someone to try to be my friend by not playing hard against me."

The Master is a practicing Buddhist and incorporates elements of that philosophy into both his poker playing and teaching. He has a reputation for being one of the very best poker teachers in the industry, though he has exacting standards for his students, specifically regarding honesty.

Men is known to have learned each new variant in his poker repertoire by watching others play. He says of himself: "I'm a hard worker, and I work hard at playing poker."

I think Men has one of the greatest personalities in poker. He is charismatic, funny, and friendly. I have never been to a tournament table that he has been on where he was not the center of attention. This of course is one of his assets in being such a successful tournament player. People focus on him and try to outwit him and he knows this and uses it to his advantage.

Men Nguyen has an interesting story about how he got started playing poker. He came over in a boat from Vietnam. He stumbled on poker during a trip to Las Vegas and was hooked on the game. He would go home and think about what it would take to become a great poker player. He played every weekend and a year later, he entered his first tournament. He has not looked back since.

Some of his accomplishments include first place in Seven Card Stud and Lowball at the 2003 World Series of Poker, first place in the Omaha HiLo and the Pot Limit Hold`em events at the World Poker Challenge, first in the mixed games at the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino, and first in Limit Holdem at Foxwoods World Poker Finals. His final table appearances could fill several pages on this site. In 2002 he was ranked number five on Card Player`s list of the most successful tournament players in poker. In 2001, he was ranked number one. He was also player of the year in 1997. He has truly earned his name: "The Master"