Cuong 'Soi' Nguyen plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Cuong ‘Soi’ Nguyen was the oldest member of the 2010 November Nine, reaching the most prestigious final table in poker at the age of 37 years old.

2010 marked the first time that Nguyen entered a WSOP event, and it was only his fourth live tournament ever, making him easily the least experienced player at the final table. He is not completely without success at the poker tables, however, as he did cash in 2009’s WPT L.A. Poker Classic. The Santa Ana, California resident also has a day job as a manager for a medical supply producer and distributer, and was back at work on the Tuesday morning after the 18-hour marathon session that decided the nine finalists.

At the Main Event final table, Nguyen lasted just 28 hands before his all-in with Ad-Kc was called by an opponent with Qd-Qs. A third queen on the flop ended Soi’s participation, but earned him $811,823.

Nguyen was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States when he was eight. He got his nickname 'Soi' as a child due to his love of soy sauce, and started playing the game of poker at an early age. He learned the finer points of the game from several of his friends who are professional players.

According to Nguyen, practice and patience are the keys to becoming a good poker player. He also feels it’s important to shake off the inevitable bad beats because there is nothing that can be done about them. His strategy when faced with adversity is to wait for a chance to bust the person he lost to later in the game.

In his free time, the most important thing for Nguyen is being around family and friends. He may face more demands on his time in the future, however, as he expects to build on his WSOP success by focusing on playing more poker, both live and online.

Look for Cuong playing online at Full Tilt Poker.