In 1967, he dropped out of school at age 13 and became a bus driver to help support his family.In early 1978, a staunch anti-Communist, he escaped from the Communist Regime of Vietnam by boat and sailed with 87 compatriots to Pulau Besar in Malaysia.

Later in 1978, he received political asylum from the United States and settled in Los Angeles, California. Later, in 1986 he would become an American citizen.

In 1984 he went on a junket to Las Vegas, Nevada and played poker for the first time in his life. He would continue to go every weekend and lose hundreds of dollars, earning him the nickname "Money Machine". He quickly mastered the game, however, winning his first tournament in 1987.

With his poker winnings, he would open up a dry cleaning business and furniture store, but sold them in 1990 because they took too much of his time and didn't make enough money. Through these businesses he would, however, meet and work with many Vietnamese people who would later fall under his tutelage, such as his cousins David "The Dragon" Pham and Minh Nguyen.

In 1987, he married his wife, Tuyet Van Nguyen. He currently has eight children. Three boys and five girls .Three of his daughters have the same birthday, december 22nd. All of them are four years apart

Nguyen has over 120 finishes in the money from 2000 to 2004, and during his career spanning over 17 years he has won more than 75 tournaments.

Nguyen is known for tutoring players, many of whom go on to be successful in their own right. He is believed to have trained more tournament winners than anyone else, according to Benny Binion Behnen, grandson of Benny Binion. However, the poker school's reputation has been tarnished by unsubstantiated rumors that his students dump chips to others..

In 1991 one of his students gave him the nickname "The Master", and now he is widely known as "Men the Master". He donates a portion of the money he earns through tournaments and tutoring to charities in Vietnam, and in 1996 built a kindergarten in Vietnam.

Nguyen won the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year award in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005.As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,400,000.