Minh
Nguyen, From Bell Gardens, CA Wins
$1,500 Seven-Card Stud Eight or Better
Event at 2003 World Series of Poker
The
money is wonderful, but the bracelet is
more important.
-- Minh Nguyen (after winning his first
World Series of Poker gold bracelet
in the Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better
event)
One
might assume that being lowest on chips
coming into the final table is a enormous
disadvantage. After all, the players with
the fewest chips are most likely to be
eliminated. But don't tell that to Minh
Nguyen. He came into the final table of
the $1,500 Buy-in Stud Eight-or-Better
event with the fewest chips, then proceeded
to overcome the odds and win his first
gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker.
Even more remarkable, he accomplished
this feat in record time -- in just over
three hours.
Coming
into Day Two, the chip leader was the
formidable Randy Holland -- a two-time
gold bracelet winner who won this same
event in 2000. Holland came into the final
table with $63,300 in chips to Nguyen's
$20,200. In between, were six other very
talented players also striving for victory,
all with more chips than Nguyen.
When
we were eight-handed, I was lowest on
chips," said Nguyen. "But after I doubled-up
twice, I never looked back."
Indeed,
Nguyen scooped two very large pots early
that effectively crushed the hopes of
his opponents on them on the rail. He
seized the chip lead mid-way through the
final table, and by the time there were
three players remaining, Nguyen had a
seemingly insurmountable chip lead of
more than 5 to 1 versus his two remaining
opponents.
Robert
"Bo" Toft, who plays regularly in Atlantic
City appeared to pose the biggest threat
to Nguyen, along with Robert Mangino who
was making his second WSOP in-the-money
finish with this event. But Toft took
a horrendous beat that knocked him out
and left Mangino heads-up against Nguyen.
In the key hand, it appeared that, at
the very worst, Toft would split the pot
with Mangino. Toft made a full house in
the first five cards, while Magino was
drawing to a low. But Mangino also had
a pair. Sixth street gave Mangino two
pair. Then, Toft watched in horror as
Mangino caught another big card and made
a higher full house to bust Toft in third
place.
"What
can I say, I got unlucky," said Toft afterward.
Toft, one of poker's true gentlemen, collected
$26,500 for third place.
As
heads-up play began, Nguyen had a commanding
12 to 1 chip lead over Mangino. No doubt,
Mangino needed a lot of help to overcome
the disadvantage. But, it was not to be.
Just ten minutes later, the final hand
of the tournament was dealt.
Mangino
made three 5s by sixth street as his cards
were (5-Q) 5-J-4-5 -- with one card still
to come. Meanwhile, Nguyen had a high-low
split powerhouse, with both a made-straight
for high as well as a low: (3-5) 6-8-7-9
Mangino need to pair up to survive in
the tournament. Unfortunately, an ugly
unhelpful king appeared on seventh street
for Mangino, which meant Nnguyen's straight
would scoop the last pot of the night.
The win gave Nguyen his first victory
at the World Series of Poker. Mangino,
who sells gold equipment to professional
golfers, collected $53,000 for second
place.
Vietnamese-born
Minh Nguyen first came to the United States
in 1980. "When I was in the Army, we played
a game called 'follow the deuce," said
Nguyen. "The card that came up (on the
board immediately) after the deuce was
wild. The game was just like seven-card
stud, but there were wild cards."
Nguyen
worked in cardrooms in Washington State
before finally settling down in the Los
Angeles area several years ago. He credited
(the "other" Nguyen), Men "the Master"
Nguyen for teaching him how to improve
his game.
Up
to this day, Nguyen had enjoyed mixed
success at the World Series of Poker.
He finished 24th in the main championship
event last year and had made it into the
money in several other big events. But
this win was by far his biggest -- both
monetarily and in terms of prestige. Even
more incredible was the fact that Nguyen
staged a dramatic comeback by overcoming
seven other players with more chips at
the final table to win the championship.
If there's a lesson here to be learned
here, it is that anything is possible
at a World Series of Poker final table.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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