The Master Breezes to Win!
By Max Shapiro
Men Nguyen
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Men "The Master" Nguyen, gambling and catching cards at will, romped to an easy and convincing win in $500 limit hold 'em, event number 10 in Legends of Poker. He had close to half the chips on the table when the three finalists made a deal.
His job was made easier when top name players Jack Fox, Louis Asmo, Amir Vahedi, David Pham and Frank Rite dropped out in succession at the second table. On the other hand, The Master was playing under a severe handicap. They assembled at 3 a.m. when the bar was closed and his fuel supply of Corona had been shut off.
The nine finalists were set when Minh Ngo's K-J beat Mohammad Gomrokchi's K-8 of clubs. Casey Kastle then startled them by requesting that they disclose if anyone had a major percentage of anyone else at the table. Six players assured him they were playing 100 percent for themselves (though one said he was playing for his wife and another for his mother). One player acknowledged that he had a horse at the table but refused to provide any further details. When Kastle kept pressing him, he finally declared, "I don't have to tell you." "Is that your final answer?" asked Rico Rivera.
Three players busted in the first round of play. First was Dai Nguyen, a full-time player in the big blind with just 6-5. The board came 5-2-J-K. "I'm putting you in," said Warren Karp, a salesman in the computer industry. His Q-10 gave him two overcards and a straight draw, and a river queen cut the field to eight. Next to fall was "Miami John" Cernuto. Men raised and he shoved in his $2,800. Nguyen had only K-2 to Cernuto's A-6, but a deuce flopped and held up.
Two hands later, The Master gambled again. This time he had only 10-3 of spades. Computer student Michael Lubev, in the small blind, called all in with A-10. But once again Men paired his baby card on the flop to give everyone at the table more room.
A few hands later, Casey went to bat in the big blind with A-10. He called Rivera's K-Q raise, bet all in on a board of 2-3-9-10 and survived. Rivera was next to do a high wire act. Left with just $300, he first beat Les Tahada's pocket sevens by going in with J-10 of diamonds and flopping a ten. On the next hand, again all in, his pocket tens won when Tahada missed his straight draw. Then, on the next hand, he matched pocket sixes against full-time player Minh Ngo's A-Q of spades. Minh flopped a queen, and Rivera looks shaky until saved by a two-outer six on the river, "What a country!" he exclaims, his $300 now grown to $7,800. Karp dubs him "the $300 man."
Meanwhile, The Master has a close call. Karp calls Men's button raise with pocket deuces and flops quads. He slow-plays them and when Men bets a board of 2-2-5-Q, he check-raises and Men folds. "Good laydown, sir," says Karp, mimicking The Master's pet phrase. Men tells Karp that the queen frightened him. "If a baby card had come, you would have gotten all my chips." (Maybe.)
Soon after, Men shows why he's so hard to beat. Holding pocket tens, he bets into a flop of 8-J-3 and is check-raised by Tahata. Refusing to lay down his hand, he calls. When another jack turns and Tahara checks, Men bets out and wins after an eight comes on the river. "You never give me credit," he scolds Tahata, another full-time player who frequents $40-$80 hold 'em games.
Kastle, in the big blind, puts in his last chips with just 5-2. Men has him beaten with 9-6 of hearts, but once again pairs his small card on the flop to breach the Kastle walls and cut the field to six.
Minh finally has a real hand, A-K when he raises to $6,000 against Rivera. But he's still the underdog against Rico's jacks. No problem. The master flops an ace, check-raises him, then puts him all in. "Is this the end of Rico?" Yes!
Down to $3,300, Ngo suggests a chop. No harm in asking, but all that gets chopped is Ngo. He goes in with K-10 and flops a 10. Only problem is that Men has pocket queens.
Three-handed, Nguyen has $74,000, Tahata has $47,200 and Karp $34,900. They strike a deal and strike the lights.
Biography - Men "The Master" Nguyen
There isn't space to list all of Men "The Master" Nguyen's wins. His latest was the $2,000 stud event at Harrah's. He's also sixth-place money winner in all Legends events from 1995 through 1999. He said this tournament was a "piece of cake" for him, especially after Miami John got knocked out. One key hand for him was when he had A-K and outran Rivera's jacks. The other came when he called Tahata's check raise with pocket tens. "I had the second top pair, and when he checked the turn I knew he had nothing."
Men says a big part of his success comes from his willingness to go with very marginal hands in hopes of taking a big pot. "If I waited for aces, I'd ante myself off." But win or lose, he adds, players "love to play" with him because he's so much "fun" at the table.
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