By Joe Zusman | February 15, 2008

Men “The Master” Nguyen, widely revered as one of the most fearsome cash game and tournament players in the world, has had an impressive start (to say the least) so far this year.

So far in 2008 Nguyen has managed to take home nine cashes, and these winnings did not come from small tournaments either: one of his cashes was at the Borgata Winter Open main event for $64k and the other was at the final table of the 2008 World Poker Open for a smooth $241k.

Not all of his cashes have been just for making it to the final table. Men “The Master” Nguyen knows how to win tournaments and has conquered four so far this year in WPT preliminary events. Three of the four events were at this year’s LA Poker Classic.  

He started out by winning the $500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event at the World Poker Open this January for $15k. Then, only five days later, Nguyen took down a much larger event when he won the $1500 No Limit Hold’em buy-in event for an impressive $81k. He even defeated one of his protégé players – David “The Dragon” Pham – in what proved to be a rather competitive final table.

As if winning all those tournaments wasn’t enough, the apparently unsatisfied Nguyen also won the $3500 buy- in Limit Hold’em event. There were only 52 players on site competing at the tables but the talent pool was deep, making Nguyen’s $42k victory no small feat, especially considering it was his third victory of the tournament.

Nguyen is not exactly what you would call “popular” in the poker world. For various reasons, Nguyen has become one o f the least liked players in the world. He may not be well-liked, but he is surely making a mark so far in 2008.

Since 2000 Nguyen has cashed out at over 120 tournaments. He is widely known for tutoring players, many of which have gone on to become some of the most successful players in the business. Some of these players include his cousins David Pham and Minh Nguyen, both formidable and well known players. Men receives a portion of the money his students win and for this reason was given the nickname “The Master” back in 1991.

Nguyen’s rise to success is an amazing tale. He escaped from Vietnam in 1978 and received political asylum in the US. It was during those early years in America where he learned how to play poker. He is known for donating a portion of his winnings to Vietnamese charities and even had a kindergarten built there in 1996. He also won Card Player Magazine Player of the Year award in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005.

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