Following its 13-day run at the Dream Dragon Resort in Vietnam, the 2024 U Series of Poker Hai Phong has wrapped up with South Korea’s Juyeol Lee taking down this season’s main event title. Lee defeated the final day chip leader Julian Warhurst of Australia in heads up play to claim the coveted title and a career-high $257k.
Lee overcame a field of 1,507 entries to take home the most extravagant trophy on display following a remarkable run across the final round. Lee was close to banking a USOP title back in the recent Da Nang games, but fell just one spot shy of the Super High Roller title. This time around, Lee closed it out with a win, banking a career-high VN₫ 6,320,000,000 ($257,590) payday and his first USOP title. This win marked his second live title and third overall title and took his live earnings to more than $457k.
2024 USOP Hai Phong Main Event Final Day – Quick Recap
The third and final day of the USOP Hai Phong Main Event saw a total of 18 players return to battle it out for the coveted title and the VN₫ 6,320,000,000 (~US$ 257,590) top prize. The action was intense and the final table was reached following six hours of play. China’s Xin Tang starting the table as the chip leader after busting Li Shankui on the final table bubble in 10th place to take the chip lead.
However, Juyeol Lee managed to snatch the lead and kept chipping up, widening the gap even further. With his aggressive pre-flop play, h took down several crucial pots with no showdown. By the time it came down to seven-handed, he amassed more than a third of the chips in play and used his advantage to put pressure on his opponents. Lee then scored back to back eliminations, busting Leo Kamiya in 6th place and Tony Miles in 5th. Miles shoved with 5♦5♥ for his last 16 big blinds and ran into the running chip leader Lee’s A♥A♣.
Down to four-handed play, Julian Warhurst began his comeback by eliminating Tang in 4th place and soon after gained momentum when his A♥J♦ bested Lee’s K♥8♣ on a 3♥5♥5♦9♥2♥ board to bring him at par in chips with Lee. However, Warhurst’s lead was short-lived, as Tran Huy Phong won back-to-back pots, shifting the momentum. After several exchanges of chips, it was Lee eventually who won the crucial flip of the day when his A♥Q♦ overcame Tran’s J♥J♣, sealing Tran’s fate in third place.
At the start of the heads-up, Lee held a 3:1 advantage against Warhurst and quickly finished off his opponent. In the final hand, saw Lee shoved with A♣5♣ and Warhurst made the call with A♥10♣ for his last ten big blinds. Lee outran his opponent on board J♦Q♠5♠5♦A♠, earning him the victory.
2024 USOP Hai Phong Main Event Final Table Payouts
1st Juyeol Lee – VN₫ 6,320,000,000 ($ 257,590)
2nd Julian Warhurst – VN₫ 4,450,000,000 ($ 181,370)
3rd Tran Huy Phong – VN₫ 2,900,000,000 ($ 118,200)
4th Xin Tang – VN₫ 2,150,000,000 ($ 87,630)
5th Tony Miles – VN₫ 1,600,000,000 ($ 65,210)
6th Leo Kamiya – VN₫ 1,309,000,000 ($ 53,350)
7th Jianfeng Sun – VN₫ 1,060,760,000 ($ 43,230)
8th Tran Van Phuc – VN₫ 840,000,000 ($ 34,230)
9th Cao Tran Ngoc – VN₫ 632,000,000 ($ 25,760)
Team India Performance at 2024 USOP Hai Phong Main Event
The 2024 USOP Hai Phong Main Event ran from 19 to 23 September 2024 and generated VN₫ 38,247,660,000 ($ 1,554,470) in prize pool, more than doubling its VN₫ 15,000,000,000 ($ 609,500). The top 188 players made the money, including seven Indians: WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (75th for VN₫84,000,000 – $3,420), Ashwin Vijayvergiya (139th for VN₫ 55,500,000 – $2,260), Bhavik Khatsuria (149th for VN₫ 52,500,000 – $2,140) & Karan Sitlani (187th for VN₫ 45,000,000 – $1,830).
PokerStars Manila Megastack 19: Siddharth Mishra Clinches Maiden Live Title
Over to the ongoing PokerStars Manila Megastack 19, Siddharth Mishra won Event 12: Pot-Limit Omaha and become the second Indian to win the trophy at the ongoing series after Vishwajit Patil who had shipped Event #5: ₱10,000 Turbo to claim his first-ever live title just a few days back.
Event #12: ₱12,000 PLO drew 52 entries for a juicy ₱532,646 prize pool. Mishra made his way to the top with skill and determination after overcoming Shlomi Shimon in the heads-up battle. Mishra took home the coveted PokerStars Spade trophy and a cool ₱173,000 (INR 2.58 Lakhs) for his maiden live victory, while Shimon banked a respectable ₱114,500 for his runner-up finish in the tournament.
2024 Manila Megastack PLO Complete Payouts (PHP)
- Siddharth Mishra – ₱173,000
- Shlomi Shimon – ₱114,500
- Kyungmo Nam – ₱77,000
- Keita Kitamura – ₱58,500
- Euryd Rivera – ₱45,500
- Kwan Tung Karen Ng – ₱36,000
- Jongyeon Kim – ₱28,146
Mishra has been doing well on the international stage this year. He notched up a podium finish in Event #15: Deepstack at the Vietnam Poker League Summer Series back in May and followed it up with another podium finish in the €150 NLHE DSO Basic at the Unibet Deepstack Open Barcelona in June. Last month, he finished sixth in Event #45: ₱100 PokerStars Player Special at the 2024 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila. After several near-misses, he has finally claimed his first live title.
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Source: USOP/SoMuchPoker/PokerStars
Image Credit: SoMuchPoker/USOP
