The 2024 U Series of Poker (USOP) Haiphong is in full swing at the luxurious Dream Dragon Resort. Kicking off on September 11, the series runs through September 23 with over 66 events. More than 20 tournaments have already crowned their respective winners with UK’s Ryan Plant being one of the most recent winners of the series.
Ryan outlasted a field of 68 entries and overcame Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Binh in heads-up to win Event 12: Superstar Challenge. He was awarded the trophy and VN₫ 2,180,000,000 (~US$ 88,600) – his career-high score. Shining for India in this event was none other than WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer, who clinched a third-place finish, pocketing VN₫ 965,000,000 (approximately INR 32.98 lakhs).
Iyer, who notched up a fourth-place finish at the USOP Nadang’s Super High Roller earlier this year, entered the final day as the second biggest stack and even took the chip lead during three-handed play. He gave tough competition to the eventual champion Ryan Plant but then suffered a brutal cooler that left him on fumes.
In a pivotal hand, Plant opened to 300k with Ac Ks and Iyer three-bet to 1.2 million with Kd Kc. Plant then four-bet to 2 million, forcing Iyer to go all-in for 6.3 million, which he called. With an ace falling on the turn, Plant won the pot, leaving Iyer with just one big blind.
On the very next hand, Nguyen Van Binh shoved his last 6 bb with ace-five, Iyer joined in with queen-seven. Plant called with pocket eights. The board ran out 5s 4d 10h 3s 4s, giving Plant the title and busting both Binh and Iyer.
The Superstar Challenge was a two-day event running from September 13 to 14, 2024. The event generated VN₫ 7,159,040,000 (~US$ 290,960) in prize pool, easily surpassing its VN₫ 3,000,000,000 guarantee. Day 2 saw the return of the final 9 players out of the 68-entry field. Here are the final 9 payouts.
USOP Hai Phong Superstar Challenge Final Table Payouts (VND)
| Place | Player | Payout in VN₫ |
| 1 | Ryan Plant | 2,180,000,000 |
| 2 | Nguyen Van Binh | 1,454,000,000 |
| 3 | Abhinav Iyer | 965,000,000 |
| 4 | Max Buschmann | 670,000,000 |
| 5 | Yuanxi Chen | 480,000,000 |
| 6 | Do Xuan Huan | 360,000,000 |
| 7 | Tao Wei Chang | 295,000,000 |
| 8 | Huu Dung Nguyen | 265,000,000 |
| 9 | Xudong Yang | 250,000,000 |
| 10 | Minh A Nguyen | 240,000,000 |
Sweden’s Johnni Nielsen Takes Down USOP Hai Phong Madness Kick Off
Another big event to wrap up was Event 1: Madness Kick Off that ran from 11-13 September and saw a record-breaking field of 1,324 entries, generating VN₫ 9,956,480,000 (~US$ 404,650) in prize pool to nearly double its guarantee. The top 167 players made the money, with Sweden’s Johnni Nielsen claiming the title and the top prize worth VN₫ 1,650,000,000 (US$ 67,000).
An impressive five Indians cashed this tournament, led by PokerStars India ambassador Siddharth Karia finishing 17th for VN₫ 69,200,000 (INR 2.36 Lakhs).
The other four Indians to cash were Gagandeep Malik (21st for VN₫ 53,200,000 -INR 1.82 Lakhs), Anmol Mehta (88th for VN₫ 21,300,000 – INR 72,792), Ashwin Vijayvergiya (113th for VN₫ 18,800,000 – INR 64,248), and Chirag Sodha (129th for 17,000,000 – INR 58,097).
USOP Hai Phong Madness Kick Off Final Table Payouts (VND)
| Place | Player | Payout in VN₫ |
| 1 | Johnni Nielsen | 1,650,000,000 |
| 2 | Jing Sun | 1,132,000,000 |
| 3 | Khoi Nguyen | 750,000,000 |
| 4 | Pham Bao | 559,600,000 |
| 5 | Nguyen Than Minh | 425,000,000 |
| 6 | Joris Michl | 342,880,000 |
| 7 | Do Anh Tai | 279,000,000 |
| 8 | Do Duc Hieu | 219,500,000 |
| 9 | Dang Quyen Anh | 165,000,000 |
China’s Haisheng Qiu Wins USOP Hai Phong Event #13: VN₫ 6 Million Deepstack
Chinese players Haisheng Qiu and Zijing Zhan made a heads-up chop in Event #13: VN₫ 6 Million Deepstack, with each banking VN₫ 180.25 Million. Haisheng Qiu, with the larger stack, took down the title as well as the USOP trophy.
The event was a single day affair drawing in 169 entries and generating VN₫ 857,800,000 (~US$ 34,930) in the final prize pool. The top 21 players were paid out in this event, including two Indians – Ashwin Vijayvergiya and Rishab Malik. Vijayvergiya finished 14th for VN₫ 15,000,000 (INR 51,262), while Rishab Malik secured 19th place for VN₫ 12,500,000 (42,718).
USOP Hai Phong Event #13: VN₫ 6 Million Deepstack Payouts (VND)
| Place | Player | Payout in VN₫ |
| 1 | Haisheng Qiu | 180,250,000* |
| 2 | Zijing Zhan | 180,250,000* |
| 3 | Thanh Hung Tran | 90,000,000 |
| 4 | The Dan Chu | 63,000,000 |
| 5 | Xuan Duy Tran | 48,000,000 |
| 6 | Xin Yuan | 38,800,000 |
| 7 | Ngoc Thai Huynh | 32,000,000 |
| 8 | Cam Trang Nguyen | 26,500,000 |
| 9 | Zsolt Soros | 22,000,000 |
After the successes at the Asian events like APPT Manila and WPT Cambodia, Team India has a strong showing in the ongoing series so far with more than a dozen of cashes already in its kitty.
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates and results from the ongoing USOP Hai Phong.
Source: SoMuchPoker/USOP
