A multi-millionaire thanks to his skilful poker playing, Men Nyugen, also referred to as ‘The Master’ in poker circles, is a dedicated poker star that has more than 350 cash game wins to this credit that contributed significantly to his sizeable bankroll of $8,644,929 only from poker games alone!

He lives in Bell Gardens, CA in the United States. Men moved here from Vietnam in 1978. He and his family were referred to as ‘boat people’ – refugees like 80+ others with them that braved the perils of the ocean for 5 days, eating only rice and limited freshwater till they reached a camp in Pulau Besar (located in the South Pacific) where they lived for six month. It was only after this ordeal that Men and his family was relocated to Los Angeles, after receiving political asylum.

He has seen a lot of struggle and strife in his youth and knew the burden of family responsibilities at a tender age. Men was only 13 (he was born in 1954) when he had to leave school to take up a bus driver’s job for supporting his family. This survivor’s streak emerged in him many times over to lead him to becoming the respected poker professional he is today with 7 WSOP bracelets underlining his star status!

He has 59 first place finishes at the age of 56.

His incredible card skills were something Men picked up to bring in some additional funding for the family and even today, he generously gives of his tournament winnings to other families in need, including several charities in the US as well as his homeland, Vietnam.

He is also ever ready to guide FullTiltPoker.net beginners understand the nuances of the game and not intimidated by newcomers to the game he openly declares is responsible for helping him make a new life for himself and his family in the US, where they’d landed as refugees with little hope of anything more than survival, fleeing as they had been from a cruel communist regime and little signs of improvement way back in 1978.

His earliest memories of living in the US were of working as a machinist on a paltry salary of $10 per day and looking for ways to supplement this wage. By 1985, Men participated in a Las Vegas junket playing Stud poker games $15-$30 that he lost initially; however, his interest in gambling was sparked. This signaled a change in his life and within a week, Men returned to the same place to win several games in a row!

He entered his first major poker tournament in 1987; by then, Men had picked up considerable skills playing street poker and learned to compose his features as well as his body for hiding poker tells or getting excited during competitive matches.

He had also learned how to analyze the game and which specific hands he could play better, so he began winning more pots and his first tournament win brought him $23,000, a princely sum in those days!

Men’s next win came courtesy a No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em event hosted at FullTilt. This fetched him $44,000, and the respect of thousands of poker fans because Men beat WSOP legend Johnny Chan!

He put his winnings into a dry-cleaning business and also set up a furniture store, which his family ran for a few years before the businesses never made as much money as gambling did, apparently!

Thereafter, Men Nguyen concentrated full-time on poker as a career and went on to win 6 gold bracelets in the World Series of Poker! Ever since, he has won more than $4 million as prize money, less the earnings from his cash games and income from mixed games played during the Legend of Poker series. It is no wonder that Card Player Magazine rated him Player of the Year for 4 years: in 1997, 2001, again in 2003 and finally in 2005!