This article first appeared in the Jul/Aug 2015 issue of WGM.
In poker, as in life, everyone has a story to tell. Yet few have a story as truly remarkable as that of Vietnamese-born American grinder Phong “Turbo” Nguyen.
“Turbo”, as he is most commonly known at the tables, was just five years old when he fled Vietnam by boat with his uncle – the terrified kid not only risking life and limb but also leaving most of his family behind to seek a better existence elsewhere.
Now a regular on the Los Angeles poker scene, it was during the recent APT Vietnam at Ho Tram Resort Casino that WGM bumped into “Turbo” and learned of his incredible tale of survival.
"Turbo" hitting the felt in the Ho Tram Poker Room Image: Ian Javier
“I grew up only 30km from here in a little place on the river near Vung Tau,” he explained. “I left here by boat with my uncle in 1980 and I actually remember him taking me out in the middle of the night. All my family are fishermen, so when you’re a fisherman you know how to handle a boat so he was the man. He got to choose one person to go along with him and that was me.
“The war had just ended and everyone was trying to get to a better world, a better place and better opportunities so I was fortunate enough to be able to get over [to the United States]. We survived. We were shot at by the Viet Cong because they don’t just let you get away. It’s a Communist country and you’re trying to get away from it.
“We took a big chance but we survived. A lot of people didn’t make it so I feel blessed. A lot of the people that left immediately after the war in 1975 went by plane but for me it was life and death just to get there. I don’t remember exactly what happened along the way but you hope to get picked up and I think that’s what happened to me. We stayed in the Philippines and then my Dad (Minh) sponsored me to go to America.”
Phong quickly settled in with his father in California’s Orange County alongside a rapidly expanding community of fellow Vietnamese refugees, but in the ensuing years his home country was also changing. In 1986, the Vietnamese government implemented a number of economic and political reforms that gradually saw internal conflict subside and diplomatic relations surge to the point where, 20 years after he left, Phong became one of a number of former refugees to make the journey home.
“To go back for the first time was really weird,” he recalled. “I mean, I came back and I found my Mom (Bang) and I found my Grandma for the first time in 20 years! I was five years old when I left, I was a little kid, and I came back as a grown man. I found my sister. My whole family was here, it was just me and my dad that made it to America, so it was nice to be able to go back home and see them.”
As it turned out, his family weren’t the only Vietnamese to inspire Phong in the ensuing years. Shortly before his first trip back to Vietnam, he watched on as Scotty Nguyen stormed to victory in the 1998 World Series of Poker main event. In 2006, Nam Le staked his claim by winning the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star and a year later JC Tran won the WPT World Poker Challenge – since going on to add another WPT title and two WSOP bracelets to his list of achievements. Phong was hooked.
“That’s how it all started for me – watching TV and seeing those guys,” he said. “I saw Scotty Nguyen win the main event and that was unbelievable. Then JC Tran and Nam Le, they’re my heroes. I looked up to them growing up and I still look up to them. The way they carry themselves, they’re very classy.
“So I try to be like them although I have my own traits. In L.A. people know me and they love playing with me because I have fun. That’s how I got my nickname. I learned how to play cash games playing US$10/$20 at the Commerce which was a real big game but I didn’t know any better at the time. People would see me being really aggressive and this one guy goes, ‘Hey slow down Turbo, every hand you’re bluffing’ and it just stuck. Every morning he’d be like ‘Hey… Turbo!’ and that’s where it came from.”
These days, Phong specialises in smaller stakes tournaments, describing himself as the “ultimate grinder”, and it was the chance to partake in his specialty so close to the town where he was born that made APT Vietnam an irresistible attraction.
“As soon as I heard about the event I was going,” he said. “The value isn’t as good money-wise coming from America but the value of me being here with my family is priceless.
“For all those years … see back in those days, when you leave, there is no return date. You don’t return and you don’t really want to return. So for it to progress to being able to come back and then to actually play poker here – it’s very special to me.
“I look out the window every morning and see the same water that gave me the opportunity to escape. It’s come full circle. It’s a Cinderella story for me.
“It’s funny, I recently got married and brought Mom over to the US on vacation on a temporary visa and now she’s got a permanent visa so she’s living with me permanently. I take care of her and she’s got a better life now. But this tournament means so much to me that I’ll keep coming back every chance I get. Whenever Ho Tram runs a poker tournament I’ll try to be here!”
