Published on March 6th, 2008 11:21 pm EST
Men "The Master" Nguyen doesn't exactly have the best reputation in the poker world.
If he's not slow-rolling people at the 2008 World Poker Open and fingering the audience, then he is being verbally abusive to dealers at his table.
There have been some pretty serious allegations of cheating made against the "Master" in the past. Daniel Negreanu and John Juanda have both publicly questioned Men's ethics in the past. I have included a link to a public exchange between Negreanu/Juanda and Nguyen that took place 6 1/2 years ago (link at the bottom).
Anyways, we won't rehash all of that. If you want to find out more about some of the allegations leveled against Nguyen in the past (such as dumping chips to his "horses" who are short-stacked, smuggling chips out of smaller events to use in bigger ones and instituting certain rules as to how backed players must play against him in cash games), then all you have to do is poke around a bit with Google and you will find plenty of interesting reading material. I don't have any first-hand knowledge of whether he has cheated in the past or not, but there are plenty of people out there who seem to think that he has.
Anyways, that brings us to Justin "Zeejustin" Bonomo accusing "The Master" of cheating in his most recent blog posting.
Some people might immediately write off Bonomo's opinion, given the fact that he was busted for cheating himself in the past. Bonomo has apologized for his past actions, and has been largely welcomed back into the poker community.
In his blog posting, Bonomo briefly touches on some of the allegations that have been made against Nguyen in the past. Then, he goes on to talk about an experience in a $200/$400 mixed cash game with Nguyen.
Bonomo details a hand that occurred between Nguyen and an "older Vietnamese" player at the table that Nguyen was staking. The staked player was playing extremely tight and raised. Three players, including the "Master", called. After the first draw (they are playing Badougi), the staked player bets out and everyone calls again. Bonomo says that based on his previous action at the table, the only way that this staked player would be playing his hand this strong is if he had a strong hand.
The players draw again, and the staked player fires out once again. Men raises and the other two players fold. According to Bonomo, the staked player had a "very pained and angered" look on his face, and ended up folding after the "Master" said "You know that I got the goods!"
One of the allegations leveled against Nguyen in the past is that he would set up certain "rules" that his backed players must follow in a cash game. One of those "rules" was that if a staked player and Men were involved in a hand together, then the staked player MUST fold if Nguyen raises him. No matter what the player has in his hand, even if it's the absolute nuts. That's what Bonomo is saying happened in this particular hand - the staked player had a strong draw that would never merit folding in this situation, and that he was forced to fold due to his staking arrangement with Nguyen.
If you want to read the entire blog posting, I have included a link to it at the bottom, along with the infamous exchange between Negreanu and Nguyen a number of years ago.
"Zeejustin" Blog Posting
Negreanu vs Nguyen
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Filed Under: Poker Scandals
Men "The Master" Nguyen doesn't exactly have the best reputation in the poker world.If he's not slow-rolling people at the 2008 World Poker Open and fingering the audience, then he is being verbally abusive to dealers at his table.
There have been some pretty serious allegations of cheating made against the "Master" in the past. Daniel Negreanu and John Juanda have both publicly questioned Men's ethics in the past. I have included a link to a public exchange between Negreanu/Juanda and Nguyen that took place 6 1/2 years ago (link at the bottom).
Anyways, we won't rehash all of that. If you want to find out more about some of the allegations leveled against Nguyen in the past (such as dumping chips to his "horses" who are short-stacked, smuggling chips out of smaller events to use in bigger ones and instituting certain rules as to how backed players must play against him in cash games), then all you have to do is poke around a bit with Google and you will find plenty of interesting reading material. I don't have any first-hand knowledge of whether he has cheated in the past or not, but there are plenty of people out there who seem to think that he has.
Anyways, that brings us to Justin "Zeejustin" Bonomo accusing "The Master" of cheating in his most recent blog posting.
Some people might immediately write off Bonomo's opinion, given the fact that he was busted for cheating himself in the past. Bonomo has apologized for his past actions, and has been largely welcomed back into the poker community.
In his blog posting, Bonomo briefly touches on some of the allegations that have been made against Nguyen in the past. Then, he goes on to talk about an experience in a $200/$400 mixed cash game with Nguyen.
Bonomo details a hand that occurred between Nguyen and an "older Vietnamese" player at the table that Nguyen was staking. The staked player was playing extremely tight and raised. Three players, including the "Master", called. After the first draw (they are playing Badougi), the staked player bets out and everyone calls again. Bonomo says that based on his previous action at the table, the only way that this staked player would be playing his hand this strong is if he had a strong hand.
The players draw again, and the staked player fires out once again. Men raises and the other two players fold. According to Bonomo, the staked player had a "very pained and angered" look on his face, and ended up folding after the "Master" said "You know that I got the goods!"
One of the allegations leveled against Nguyen in the past is that he would set up certain "rules" that his backed players must follow in a cash game. One of those "rules" was that if a staked player and Men were involved in a hand together, then the staked player MUST fold if Nguyen raises him. No matter what the player has in his hand, even if it's the absolute nuts. That's what Bonomo is saying happened in this particular hand - the staked player had a strong draw that would never merit folding in this situation, and that he was forced to fold due to his staking arrangement with Nguyen.
If you want to read the entire blog posting, I have included a link to it at the bottom, along with the infamous exchange between Negreanu and Nguyen a number of years ago.
"Zeejustin" Blog Posting
Negreanu vs Nguyen
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Filed Under: Poker Scandals
