Men Nguyen Named Player of the Year

Once again, he is “The Master.”

Even though he busted out of the Five Diamond Poker Classic championship event at the Bellagio on Day Two, Men Nguyen’s closest competition for the Card Player “Player of the Year” crown, John Phan, left on Day One, all but sewing up the title for the fabled poker player. Or, that’s what everybody thought.

There were still two players left on the final day of the tournament that had a chance to catch “The Master” in the standings with a first place finish in the $15,000 event, but while they had excellent tournaments, Michael Gracz and John Gale came up short.

But, as Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

Maybe they hadn’t gotten enough of their poker fix, or maybe Phan wasn’t ready to concede defeat, but after the Five Diamond, both Phan and Nguyen jetted to Atlantic City to play in the 2005 Trump Classic. They started with a bang, both making the final table of the $300 No-Limit event. Phan’s third place finish normally would have been enough to close the gap, but Nguyen won the whole thing to widen his lead. It was Nguyen’s astounding sixteenth final table this year, second only to John Hoang’s seventeen.

So, the scene was set for a showdown in the $5,000 Main Event, right? Wrong. Neither player made the money and neither earned “Player of the Year” points. Men Nguyen finally clinched the title.

This was Nguyen’s fourth “Player of the Year” title and his first since 2002. For his accomplishment, he will be awarded the $10,000 into the 2006 World Series of Poker. Additionally, all players who earned points in this year’s standings will be invited to play in a private $100,000 freeroll at online poker room, Bodog.com. The top 100 finishers will also receive an invitation to an awards banquet in 2006.

Card Player 2005 “Player of the Year” Top Ten

(Rank/Player/Points)

1. Men Nguyen -- 4,604
2. John Phan -- 4,428
3. Allen Cunningham -- 3,841
4. Michael Gracz -- 3,8404
5. Michael Mizrachi -- 3,801
6. Tony Ma -- 3,450
7. Ted Forrest -- 3,448
8. Gavin Smith -- 3,418
9. Max Pescatori -- 3,381
10. John Hoang -- 3,267

Originally published December 23, 2005