Hieu “Tony” Ma was born in Vietnam on November 30, 1957. He fled Vietnam in 1985, seeking asylum in the United States.  Tony Ma worked as a welder and a truck driver, but also played the games of paigow poker and dominos.  He also started playing poker shortly after his arrival.  Tony Ma became well-known in the California card rooms, and in 1996 he had his first major success.

In 1996, Tony Ma won the $5000 Limit Holdem Event at the World Series of Poker after refusing a final table deal.  He then went on to defeat John Bonetti, Johnny Chan, and T.J. Cloutier to pick up the first place prize of $236,000.  In 2000, Tony Ma won his second WSOP bracelet playing in the $2000 Limit Holdem event.

Tony Ma made it to the final table of the World Poker Tour’s first season Pro-Celebrity Invitational Tournament, finishing fifth.  Tony Ma has not won a WPT event, but has finished in the money seven times total.  In 1999 Card Player Magazine named Tony Ma its Player of the Year.

Tony Ma currently resides in South El Monte, California with his wife and two children.  Tony Ma enjoys singing and dancing and says that he became a better poker player by watching the players who were better than him.