Find out more about Tuan Lam here (national post article)

[mephisto]

Hey guys,

There was a really cool article about Tuan Lam in the national post sports section today (July 20th). I couldn't find the article online so here are some highlights. I thought he looked like a really cool guy before and now I respect him even more after reading about his life:

-He's 41 ! (big shocker)
-He escaped from Vietnam solo when he was 17 and lived in a refugee camp in Indonesia before coming to Canada.
-He's had many crappy jobs before finding poker (mowing lawns for $5/hr, mushroom farmer ($7/hr), metal factory ($10/hr) along with a second job at the same time (plastics company - $9/hr). He sent a lot of his money home to support his parents/family which left almost no money for himself.
-He currently lives in Toronto, has a wife, two children, and a minivan.
-Plans to send back $500k back to his home village, Bao Trinh, with some of it earmarked for a buddhist shrine.
-Insists that he wants a normal life.
-Article ends with him shopping around and falling in love with a 7k rolex watch, but then later deciding against it because it was too much.

Final sentence of the article: "Maybe after all these years, Tuan Lam hasn't changed so much. Every single dollar still matters."

[Femmeonfelt]

Tuan Lam is a friend of mine and he is a really great guy. Super generous to the hard working porters in the card rooms and just an overall good person! I am very happy for him and glad I had the chance to get to know him.

-Maria

[SpacaB]

sounds like a good guy

[burningyen]

Nice, congrats to him and his family. Sounds like it was a good bunch of guys at the final table.

[Jasper109]

Article (http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/sports/story.html?id=4b8c7a11-d8ca-490f-a308-8c51a226c596)

[mephisto]

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Article (http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/sports/story.html?id=4b8c7a11-d8ca-490f-a308-8c51a226c596)

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Nice find, thanks. If readers of this post have time to go beyond the original notes of the article, I highly recommend checking this article out, it's v. well written.

[Turn Prophet]

Too bad God didn't want him to win. That must mean he's a bad person.

[JOEL_]

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Too bad God didn't want him to win. That must mean he's a bad person.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please take your childish comments to another forum.

BTW, his win was for nearly 5 million bucks.

[RonWR]

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Too bad God didn't want him to win. That must mean he's a bad person.

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Please take your childish comments to another forum.

BTW, his win was for nearly 5 million bucks.

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I think he was being cynical, and anyway being god's 2nd favorite son would be fine by me /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[spaceman Bryce]

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Too bad God didn't want him to win. That must mean he's a bad person.

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I agree with this post so much. I mean Tuan Lam is obviously a truly great guy. Jerry Yang does a southern baptist pitch and gives ten % to Mcdonalds with tax writeoff potential and blabs on about it on national TV, and claims to glorify god. Tuan Lam says nothing but he works his azz off for twenty years to provide for his family and gives away 500 grand to his family and hometown silently. what a terrible athiest buddhist scum.

[JOEL_]

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[ QUOTE ]
Too bad God didn't want him to win. That must mean he's a bad person.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with this post so much. I mean Tuan Lam is obviously a truly great guy. Jerry Yang does a southern baptist pitch and gives ten % to Mcdonalds with tax writeoff potential and blabs on about it on national TV, and claims to glorify god. Tuan Lam says nothing but he works his azz off for twenty years to provide for his family and gives away 500 grand to his family and hometown silently. what a terrible athiest buddhist scum.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have everything mixed up. Anyways...

[Jasper109]

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Too bad God didn't want him to win. That must mean he's a bad person.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please take your childish comments to another forum.

BTW, his win was for nearly 5 million bucks.

[/ QUOTE ]

His timing kind of sucks though. The Canadian dollar is now just about on par with the US dollar.

A year or two ago and it would have been about 7 million Canadian.

Still, I think he'll take it.

[SuperUberBob]

Poor fella was crying on ESPN First Take when they talked about the "awful beat" he took.

Maybe it's just me, but the last thing I want to hear about if I were to finish runner-up in the Main Event is how I felt about the bustout hand and all that. The false sympathy shown by the crew on ESPN FT was a bit much.

[ericicecream]

[ QUOTE ]
-Article ends with him shopping around and falling in love with a 7k rolex watch, but then later deciding against it because it was too much.

Final sentence of the article: "Maybe after all these years, Tuan Lam hasn't changed so much. Every single dollar still matters."

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This is a very Buddhist view. Assuming he is Buddhist himself, it's not so much that he's trying to save a buck, but instead rationalizing that buying an expensive watch might bring him a few moments of joy, but does not add to his hapiness in life and that he can use that money to help others, which will bring him more hapiness.

[BenTurpen]

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Poor fella was crying on ESPN First Take when they talked about the "awful beat" he took.

Maybe it's just me, but the last thing I want to hear about if I were to finish runner-up in the Main Event is how I felt about the bustout hand and all that. The false sympathy shown by the crew on ESPN FT was a bit much.

[/ QUOTE ]

ESPN can go [censored] themselves. Any/Everytime I'm watching ESPN and they mention poker, the commentators laught it off. Specifically recently with the WSOP ME updates and when they advertise the upcoming WSOP episodes.