MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – DUNG “GOMER” NGUYEN
Name: Dung “Gomer” Nguyen
Birthplace: Vietnam
Childhood: Immigrated to the U.S. a three-month old, grew up in New Orleans
Family: The 9th of 11 children (both parents deceased)
Current Residence: Wichita, Kansas
Profession: Odd jobs
Marital Status: Single
Children: None
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE WINNER
Q: You almost made it look to easy. It really just was amazing. You just never were in danger it seemed.
N: Part of it was just falling right today. I don’t know, maybe it was just destiny. And I wasn’t even going to play, my buddy over there talked me into playing and it was like destiny or something, I don’t know.
Q: Tell us more about the story, you weren’t going to play. What did your buddy say to you, what was the tipping point that made you decide to play?
N: We were just walking down the hallway and my friend was like are you going to play in the tournament and I was like no I don’t think so. He’s like man I really think you should play. I was like ok, and he said that he would take half of my action and I said alight. Then, I just decided to play. Coming in after first day after dinner break I only had 4,000. I thought I was done. Coming back from dinner break and I doubled up three times in a row and then that’s it, it was all from there. Everything just felt right.
Q: So your saying that $600,000 in prize money -- you’re like getting 300,000 and he’s getting 300,000
N: Yep.
Q: Now after that point you said you know things started going your way -- you held the chip lead from the start of the final table to the finish. Can you talk about how you felt coming in, if you felt confident with holding the chip lead?
N: Well I was really nervous actually. I mean like I said before I don’t play many tournaments and this is as deep as I have ever gone in any tournament, so I was pretty nervous. I came to the final table with the chip lead I know I was just going to keep playing small pot poker with them. I mean I just play my own style. I know the kids nowadays they like to shovel, pre flop, and three bet. I more like to call and I just kept the pot small and everything was just falling right.
Q: So you weren’t going to play the event you obviously came out here with a bunch of your friends what were your plans and what’s it like to win a bracelet with them here?
N: (Laughs) They are actually not out here for me. They came out here just to play, too. I come out here for the World Series; I come out here every year. I don’t play many events I play a little bit of poker sparingly here and there and that’s it. My boss comes out every year, so I come out here every year with him.
Q: How did you get the nickname “Gomer?”
N: Actually, it’s just a nickname I picked up while I was in high school. A friend of mine saw I shaved my head one day and I looked like “Gomer” from the Army. He said that I looked like “Gomer Pyle,” and he just kept calling me that and now all my friends call me “Gomer.”
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