Running from 11th January 2024, the U Series of Poker (USOP) Taiwan Main Event is just a few hours away from crowning its champion. After four days of non-stop action, the TWD 15,000,000 GTD event recorded an impressive 1100 entrants across its four starting flights (11th to 13th January2024), crushing its guarantee and generating a massive $1.1 Million (TWD 36,054,900) in the final prize pool.
Day 2 of the TWD 33,000 buy-in event saw a total of 140 players (including a double qualifier) and ended with 21 survivors. According to the latest update, the Main Event has whittled down to the final table and will crown its champion today. The final 9 players return today (15th January) at 12: 15 local time. Korean player Gyeongbyeong Lee (13,410,000) will start as the chip leader. Given his massive 134 BB stack, Lee is a favourite to seize the coveted title, trophy, and WTD 5,383,000 (~USD 173,300) top cash prize. Lee is a consistent performer with deep finishes at numerous Main Events. His largest score was at the 2019 Aussie Millions Main Event where he finished 6th for A$ 309,000.
Close behind him in chips is Chi Jen Chen (8,720,000) from Taiwan. Chen has numerous titles to his name with his first big win being at the 2019 APL Taiwan Road Main Event for NTD 1,278,500. Having won the GPI Asia Poker Festival last November, Chen will be riding high. He will start the final table with a healthy 87 BBs. Other notable name on the final table is Minh A Nguyen (79 BB), who is one of Vietnam’s highly decorated players with Poker Dream Vietnam 2022 Main Event and Asian Poker Festival Hanoi Main Event titles to his name. Germany’s Oliver Schulze (34 BB), Taiwan’s Po Wen Fang (30 BB) and GPI POY Malaysia’s Webster Chin Wei Lim (26 BB) are the other big stacks at the main event final table.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Player | Country | Chip Counts |
| Gyeongbyeong Lee | Korea | 1,34,10,000 |
| Chi Jen Chen | Taiwan | 87,20,000 |
| Minh Nguyen | Vietnam | 79,10,000 |
| Oliver Schulze | Germany | 33,50,000 |
| Po Wen Fang | Taiwan | 29,60,000 |
| Chin Wei Lim | Malaysia | 26,00,000 |
| Chen Yu Hung | Taiwan | 22,05,000 |
| Yu Cheng Lin | Taiwan | 17,65,000 |
| Yu Chen | Hong Kong | 11,20,000 |
While each of the final 9 players is assured at least TWD 538,000, they all will be eyeing the coveted top prize TWD 5,383,700 and trophy. The final table kicks off 12: 15 local time with opening blinds at 50K-100K ante 100K. The level intervals for the FT will be of 60 minute blinds. Who will emerge as the champion from this prestigious USOP tournament? Only time will tell, so stay tuned for more updates!
ALSO READ: USOP RETURNS TO TAIWAN TO KICK OFF 2024 IN STYLE
Image Credit: USOP
