Super Bowl Sunday was exactly that for Thomas marduk Nguyen. While the rest of the world was watching the Pittsburgh Steelers pull off a late win against the Arizona Cardinals, Nguyen captured first place in the Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars for $105,000. Six months earlier, he won the $750,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker. With two major titles under his belt, the Moraga, California native sat down with PocketFives.com to discuss his recent success as well as whose game he respects the most.
PocketFives.com: Tell us about your win in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up.
Nguyen: I was fourth entering the final table with about 25 big blinds. There weren't a ton of major hands that occurred at the final table because I was able to pick up a ton of small pots and not get into any huge confrontations. When I did play a big pot, I had it almost all of the time, making some big flushes and full houses to take down pots.
With about 200 players left, I min-raised with A-8 suited with about 50 big blinds and was 3bet by a player with about 17 big blinds. He only made it 40,000 over my 20,000, so I decided to take a flop for such a cheap price, planning just to check/fold most of the time. It came 7-6-5 with one diamond and I put him all in for just a little bit over pot, figuring I can just win it here versus any unpaired hands he might have and I still have a lot of equity if he has something like Q-Q. He actually had A-A, which killed a few of the outs I thought I had, but I got lucky and rivered a four to win the pot.
It just goes to show you how luck plays in these big tournaments. Even though it wasn't for all of my chips, it still would've been a significant hit to my stack and I couldn't have used those extra chips in spots where I normally would have folded or done something different with a smaller stack. Other than that, I just stuck to my game plan of taking lots of small stabs and not risking a ton of chips in order to minimize variance and maintain my stack.
PocketFives.com: What was your reaction when you won and what plans do you have for the money?
Nguyen: I was obviously pretty ecstatic when I won and it was a really nice bankroll boost. I don't have any huge plans for the money right now and I don't think I'm going to be buying some super expensive watch or a new car any time soon. I plan to keep a healthy amount in the bank and use the rest to keep playing tournaments.
PocketFives.com: Talk about your performance in the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) events.
Nguyen: I try to play as many events as I can each time FTOPS rolls around. Just over a year ago back in February, I won a satellite into the $216 Six-Max event. I took 10th in that tournament for $4,800, which was pretty huge, as my bankroll at the time was around $700. From there, I was able to work up to the higher buy-ins and to where I am now.
PocketFives.com: This was your second Sunday Major win. How does it feel in comparison to the first time you won?
Nguyen: It's a great feeling to win any tournament, especially a big Sunday event. I’ve had some close calls lately, but hadn't won a tournament since the $750,000 Guaranteed back in August. This is obviously related to how infrequently I play, and the large fields in the tournaments that I do play, but it's still great to come out on top. It's a lot of fun to run hot and make it deep in a big tournament, especially since the Warm-Up has 10,000 chips like some live tournaments and the blinds get pretty huge towards the end. The money is pretty nice, too.
PocketFives.com: How often do you play?
Nguyen: I'm a student right now, but poker is my main source of income. I usually only play on Sundays, except for when there are major FTOPS and WCOOP events on weekdays.
PocketFives.com: How did you get started in poker?
Nguyen: I first started playing in $0.25/$0.50 cash games and $5 sit and gos with my older brother and his friends back in high school. I had a lot of fun playing and was a pretty consistent winner. I later decided to throw $200 onto PartyPoker to play $0.50/$1 Limit, running it up to $600 before I busted. I re-deposited on a different site to focus more on multi-table tournaments and haven't looked back since.
PocketFives.com: How have your friends and family reacted to your success?Nguyen: I am blessed to have a family that supports me playing poker, even if they are pretty shocked when they ask about my losing days. I am a pretty reserved person and generally like to keep a low profile, so most of my friends don't even know that I play poker or about the success I've had doing it. Tommy Nguyen is actually just a name that JCarver (pictured at right) randomly came up with and it just stuck. Other people started calling me Tommy and it sort of took a life of its own. I don't mind it and it offers me more anonymity, allowing me to distance my personal life from poker.
PocketFives.com: Whose tournament game do you respect the most?
Nguyen: I'm obviously pretty biased about this one, but if I had to pick a single person, I would definitely pick my good friend and mentor, JCarver. He has had such a huge impact on my game and I attribute basically all of my success in poker to him. I'd also like to give a big shout out to Hein Meijer, who is a great player and also a great interior designer. All three of us are members of the Bad Beats Crew, where we blog about poker and various other topics.
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