Despite the typhoon crisis, the USOP Hai Phong 2024 proceeded as planned. The event scheduled to run from 11th to the 23rd of September at Dream Dragon Resort in Hai Phong kicked off yesterday amidst heavy rain leading to flooded roads and travel cancellations. While the conditions were not good outside, it was an exciting day for the players who made it to the Dream Dragon Resort.
The USOP Hai Phong festival kicked off with four events. The biggest of the four events were the Madness Kick Off Event with two flights and the High Roller Warm Up Single Day. Here are the key highlights from Day 1 of the festival!
Madness Kick Off Event – Day 1A and Day 1B
The USOP Hai Phong officially kicked off with Day 1A of the VN₫ 9,000,000 buy-in Madness Kick Off Event. The opening flight of the event drew 183 total entries (130 unique) by the end of late registration, marking a solid start to the festival. The bubble burst with Dao Van Hien busting Joungwoo Park. The remaining 23 players bagged up, with Baiyu Ni leading the pack, holding a commanding stack of 669,000 chips—equivalent to 84 big blinds at the event’s closing level.
Top 5 Chip Counts After Day 1A End
| Ni Baiyu | 6,69,000 |
| Nguyen Dinh Son | 5,17,000 |
| Tomiyama Naoki | 4,96,000 |
| Do Tuan Phong | 3,84,000 |
| Wu Qiyan | 3,76,000 |
One of the pots that helped Ni to move into the lead was cracking aces with his pocket tens improving to a set. Late in the day, he also busted a player with his ace-nine hitting straight against pocket jacks.
Day 1B of the VN₫ 5,000,000,000 GTD Madness Kick Off Event saw a larger turnout with 204 (147 unique) entrants joining the tournament. Only 26 bagged up, led by Khayal Abbasov with 659,000 (66 BB). He held the chip lead for the majority of the day. One of his winning hands was his pocket kings beating Nguyen Van Hien’s pocket queens. The bubble burst on Xiaxiao Chen with his pocket fives not getting there against pocket queens of Jia Chi Li (521,000) who ended the day with the second largest stack.
Top 5 Stacks After Day 1B End
| Abbasov Khayal | 6,59,000 |
| Li Jia-Chi | 5,21,000 |
| Chiu Kwok Kit | 5,00,000 |
| Anzhela Vasylenko | 4,61,000 |
| Chen Hao | 4,23,000 |
The Madness Kick Off Event drew a combined 387 entries with 49 players advancing to Day 2. The next flights of the event are Day 1C and Day 1D, which will run today at 11:00am and 4:30pm.
Yuan Xu Takes Down High Roller Warm Up Single Day
The opening day of the series belonged to China’s Yuan Xu as he championed the first of ten high roller events. The drew field of 69 entries (52 unique) for a prize pool of VN₫ 2,594,400,000 ($ 105,440). On his way to victory, he outlasted many notables including USOP Danang champion The Naing, latest WSOP Online winner Konstantin Held, WSOP bracelet winner Alex Lindop, Triton winner Dao Minh Phu, USOP SHR crusher Hoang Hai Nam and Nguyen Quang Huy.
The bubble burst on Jayden Zalac with his ace-queen losing a flip against pocket the jacks of Nguyen Tuan Khoa‘s. From there onward, the eliminations were quick. Florent Remi exited in 10th, Leo Du Boisbaudry fell out in 9th, and the final table was formed led by South Africa’s Ahmed Karrim.
Eliminations continued and it eventually came down to heads-up between Karrim and the famous Chinese Youtuber Yuan Xu. The former could not go all the way and finished runner-up after Zu’s Kc Kh dominated his Kd Jc on the final hand.
High Roller Warm Up Single Day Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout in VN₫ | ~USD |
| 1 | Yuan Xu | 830,000,000 | 33,733 |
| 2 | Ahmed Karrim | 528,000,000 | 21,459 |
| 3 | Do Quang Trinh | 347,000,000 | 14,103 |
| 4 | Do Quang Thanh | 238,000,000 | 9,673 |
| 5 | Nguyen Tuan Khoa | 99,400,000 | 4,040 |
| 6 | Pham Thanh Nghia | 128,300,000 | 5,214 |
| 7 | Konstantin Held | 99,400,000 | 4,040 |
| 8 | Tommy Kemter | 89,200,000 | 3,625 |
| 9 | Leo Du Boisbaudry | 83,000,000 | 3,373 |
| 10 | Florent Remi | 80,000,000 | 3,251 |
Craig Cooper & Xinxing Tang Feature Among Other Winners On Opening Day
Among other winners of the day, UK’s Craig Cooper took down Double Board after beating a field of 12 entries. The event generated a prize pool of VN₫ 45,120,000 (~US$ 1,833) and Cooper took home the lion’s share with a payout of VN₫ 29,300,000 (~US$ 1,190). This was his second USOP trophy.
Xinxing Tang Wins 7-Handed Hyper Turbo
The VN₫ 4,000 buy in 7-Handed Hyper Turbo drew 25 entries for a prize pool of VN₫ 84,600,000 (~US$ 3,438). China’s Xinxing Tang won to capture his first USOP title and a payout of VN₫ 42,300,000 (~US$ 1,720). Indian poker pro Chirag Sodha also made it to the final table. However, we don’t have any information regarding his finishing position. Stay tuned for the complete final table payouts and keep following PokerProNews!
Source: SoMuchPoker/USOP Facebook Page
