In only its third festival, U Series of Poker (USOP) has crushed records! The young brand made its triumphant return to the Crown Poker Club in Hanoi, Vietnam, and in just eleven days, it generated an outstanding prize pool of VN₫ 104,438,509,000, setting a new Vietnam festival record of approximately USD 4,312,900 (for a non high roller series). In particular, the Main Event and Superstar Challenge both stole the spotlight, marking them the richest of its kind in the country.
If you missed out, USOP returns to Vietnam in November. The brand will stage an 11-day festival at Furama Resort, Da Nang advertising its richest offering yet of VN₫ 40 Billion (~USD 1.65 Million) in guaranteed prize pools. With the brand on a consistent upward trajectory, players can expect another uber-fun festival and record turnout. USOP Da Nang runs from November 17 to 27, 2023 – save the dates!
Now here are the highlights of the record breaking USOP Hanoi including the festival’s top performers.
Festival review
Date: September 1 to 11, 2023
Venue: Crown Poker Club, Hanoi, Vietnam
Trophy Events: 39
Entries: 5,432 (trophy events)
Festival record prize pool: VN₫ 104,438,509,000 (~USD 4,312,900)
Main Event record turnout: 1,336 (459 unique)
Main Event record prize pool: VN₫ 29,158,200,000 (~USD 1,212,000)
Superstar Challenge record turnout: 94 (42 unique)
Superstar Challenge record prize pool: VN₫ 10,212,100,000 (~USD 424,000)
Single richest top prize and winner: Vishal Ojha – VN₫ 4,952,000,000 (~USD 205,840)
Biggest earner: Hoang Hai Nam – VN₫ 6,215,400,000 (~USD 257,200)
Multiple wins: Hoang Hai Nam (2), Nguyen Khoi (2)
Most final table cashes: Ip Ho Yuen (4), Park Cheonggil (4)
Most cashes: Kunal Patni (7)
Trophy by Flag: Vietnam (18), India (5), Malaysia (3), Singapore (3), Korea (2), China (2), France (2), Hong Kong (2), Russia (1), Taiwan (1)
Festival record prize pool
Over eleven days of nonstop poker blew by in Hanoi with the USOP completing 39 trophy events of buy ins ranging from VN₫ 3,400,000 (~USD 140) to VN₫ 120,000,000 (~USD 4,965). For the first time in Vietnam history, the overall festival payout reached and breached VN₫ 100 Billion equivalent to a USD 4.3 Million payout. Here are the top grossing events:
Main Event – VN₫ 29,158,200,000 (~USD 1,212,000) – new Vietnam record
Super High Roller – VN₫ 11,329,600,000 (~USD 470,694)
Superstar Challenge – VN₫ 10,212,100,000 (~USD 424,000) – new Vietnam record
High Roller: The Finale – VN₫ 9,835,800,000 (~USD 408,675)
High Roller: Megastack – VN₫ 7,740,600,000 (~USD 321,387)
High Roller: Superstack – VN₫ 7,226,500,000 (~USD 300,042)
Mini Main Event – VN₫ 5,494,000,000 (~USD 228,110)
Vietnam Main Event record numbers
USOP rocked and shocked Asia’s poker scene with its record-breaking Vietnam Main Event turnout of 1,336 entries and record prize pool of VN₫ 29,158,200,000 (~USD 1,212,000). The Main Event ran from September 7 to 11 with four entry flights at buy in of VN₫ 25,000,000 (~USD 1,057). India’s Vishal Ojha emerged victorious to capture the single largest festival payout of VN₫ 4,952,000,000 (~USD 205,840).
Biggest earner: Hoang Hai Nam
Vietnam’s Hoang Hai Nam crushed the early half of the high roller events capturing an incredible two titles. He added a side event payout for a total collection of VN₫ 6,200,000,000 (~USD 256,570) making him the festival’s biggest earner. Hoang first shipped the highly popular homegrown Superstar Challenge, outlasting the 94 entry record turnout for a payout of VN₫ 3,000,000,000 (~USD 124,140). Three days later, he took down the Super High Roller, topping a field of 146 entries for a slightly higher payout of VN₫ 3,070,000,000 (~USD 127,000).
Multiple wins
In addition to Hoang Hai Nam, Vietnam’s Nguyen Khoi won two events. In fact, Nguyen was first to lift two trophies – Hyper Turbo for VN₫ 96,500,000 and Mixed NLH/PLO for VN₫ 70,000,000. He also picked up VN₫ 18,000,000 for 6th place at the Turbo event for a combined VN₫ 184,500,000 (~USD 7,635).
Most cashes
India’s Kunal Patni closed out the festival in a category of his own. Patni cashed in seven events, the most by any player. His biggest win was at the High Roller: The Finale where he bulldozed through the final table to pocket the VN₫ 2,400,000,000 (~USD 99,300) top prize. In total, Patni walked away earning VN₫ 3,152,300,000 (~USD 130,450).
| 1st | High Roller: The Finale | 2,400,000,000 |
| 19th | High Roller: Superstack | 89,000,000 |
| 27th | Mystery Bounty | 60,300,000 |
| 43rd | Mini Main Event | 24,000,000 |
| 151st | Main Event | 53,000,000 |
| 4th | Deepstack | 39,000,000 |
| 6th | Super High Roller | 487,000,000 |
Most final table cashes
A long list of players cashed multiple times but only two players boasted four final table cashes – Ip Ho Yuen and Park Cheonggil. Here’s a glance at their final table stats.
Ip Ho Yuen
| 1st | Superstack Madness | 272,000,000 |
| 3rd | Mini Main Event | 440,000,000 |
| 4th | Single Day High Roller | 193,000,000 |
| 5th | Tag Team Event | 35,000,000 |
Park Cheonggil
| 2nd | Run it Twice | 28,000,000 |
| 2nd | Super Deepstack | 114,000,000 |
| 6th | Deepstack | 22,600,000 |
| 7th | Freezeout | 10,600,000 |
Vietnam scoops up 18 trophies
Host country Vietnam may have been denied the coveted USOP Main Event trophy but the locals still dominated throughout capturing nearly half of the trophies on display. A total of 16 players claimed one trophy and two players walked away with two.
That completes Somuchpoker’s coverage of USOP Hanoi. Stay tuned for more news on the upcoming festival – USOP Da Nang from November 17 to 27, 2023 at Furama Resort.
Links:
USOP Hanoi – Coverage
USOP Hanoi – Full Schedule
USOP Hanoi – Festival Results
USOP Hanoi – Photo Gallery
USOP Hanoi – Livestreams [English commentary]
USOP: Main Event Final 9 video
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