Billionaire Club Challenge

Second SHR title! Josh McCully takes down the Billionaire Club Challenge!

Well past the crack of dawn, Aussie sensation clinched the Billionaire Club Challenge for his second USOP Danang win. McCully denied Korea’s Soo Jo Kim at heads up to capture the jaw dropping VN₫ 6.55 Billion (~USD 264K) top prize.

Coming into this event, McCully was already the richest earner at the series with a victory at the Superstar Challenge and runner-up at the Super High Roller for a combined VN₫ 5.3 Billion (~USD 200K). McCully now joins Vietnam’s Hoang Hai Nam in taking down two Super High Roller events at the same series.

Watch the livestream via the link provided:

Date: March 29, 2024 Buy in: VN₫ 250,000,000 (~$10,288) Guarantee: VN₫ 4,000,000,000 (~$164,840) Prize pool: VN₫ 25,142,400,000 (~USD 1,013,741) Entries: 108 (67 unique) ITM: 16 places

Max Bauer min-raises from the button, small blind Jack Salter bumps it up to 400,000, Bauer four-bets all in, Salter calls for the rest of his chips and turns over A♦ 4♣ . Bauer is ahead T♦ T♣ , no help comes for Salter on a board J♦ 8♣ 6♠ K♥ 5♣ . Salter goes bust. 

Chips in play: 27,000,000

Cutoff opens 60,000, small blind three-bets 185,000, big blind Sean Ooi four-bet shoves for 405,000, back to cutoff with a five-bet jam, small blind folds.

Sean Ooi - Q♠ Q♥ Cutoff - A♣ Q♦

Board runs 9♣ 2♦ 5♠ 7♦ 2♠ , Ooi ships it for a double up and more.

Down to 5 bb, Alan Pham is all in holding A♠ 9♠ , his nemesis Lyu Junqiang calls with T♣ 6♣ , board runs 6♥ 9♣ 8♠ 7S} 5♥ . Lyu lands the higher straight to end Pham.

Ryan Plant three-bet all in with A♣ Q♦ , initial raiser Qiao Chi calls and has better A♥ K♥ . The board keeeps it that way as it runs 7♥ 5♣ 3♦ 7♦ K♠ .

Heavy preflop bets lead to shoves. Lyu Junqiang A♥ A♣ , Alan Pham Q♠ Q♥ the board runs A♠ 5♦ T♣ Q♦ 4♠ .

Utg+1 Dao Minh Phu min-raises, next to act Dao Minh Phu calls, with no other takers, they go see a flop Q♠ 2♦ T♥ . Harder c-bets 65,000, Phu calls. Same as well on the turn Q♣ with a 150,000 bet called by Phu. The river 4♣ , Harder shoves, Phu tanks then calls for his tournament life. Harder has A♣ Q♥ , Phu eliminated with Q♦ 9♦ lower kicker.

Action folds to the button Qiao Chi who bumps it up to 50,000, big blind Aliaksanr Shylko defends, then both players check the flop 4♠ 3♣ 3♠ . On the K♥ turn, Chi fires 100,000 and Shylko check-calls. Same action on the river J♥ with Chi betting 300,000, Shylko calls and shows 5♥ 3♥ , then mucks to Chi’s Q♦ 3♦ higher kicker.

Cutoff Joey Weissman raises 35,000, big blind Soo Jo Kim calls. Kim proceeds to check-call bets 75,000 and 160,000 to the turn 2♠ 4♠ 5♥ 3♦ . On the river 4♦ , Weissman fires 500,000, Kim check-folds.

From utg, Yeh Hung Wei raises then calls button Yita Choong’s three-bet to 75,000. Flop comes 6♣ 9♣ T♥ , Choong c-bets 60,000, Wei check-raises all in for 200,000, Choong calls and shows K♣ K♥ . Wei has 7♦ 7♥ . The turn 3♠ and river 5♥ are no help to Wei to bump the rail.

USOP Main Event champion Nguyen Ngoc Dai didn’t fare well at Main Event Day 1B and has jumped in the much higher buy in tournament, the Billionaire Club Challenge. He recently won a pot against utg+1 Joey Weissman who opened 26,000, and small blind Nguyen three-bet all in for 101,000, Weissman called and was behind Q♥ J♣ to Nguyen’s A♣ J♣ . The board ran K♥ 7♦ 9♣ K♦ 4♣ for a double up.

A million USD prize pool amassed at the Billionaire Club Challenge! That is the largest side event prize pool in USOP history. The eventual champion is poised to take home a hefty VN₫ 6,550,000,000 (~USD 264,000)!

Record entries at the Billionaire Club Challenge with 108 on record! This should see a pot of VN₫ 25 Billion. We will have the official numbers once it has been released.

44 players remaining.

Hot running Josh McCully has arrived. If you are just catching up with the action, McCully championed the Superstar Challenge and placed 2nd at the High Roller Championship. At the inaugural Billionaire Club Challenge, McCully finished 4th.

Coming into today, the target was to crack the inaugural Billionaire Club Challenge turnout and five hours into registration, the deed was done! The event now has 79 entries with time still left to jump in. Not for the light-hearted though as the buy in is a jaw dropping 250 Milliong Vietnamese Dong, equivalent to USD 10.2K.

Currently sitting on the biggest stack is Michael Andersson with around 1,100,000. Dao Minh Phu also with a hefty 850,000.

More players have joined the action. 54 at the moment. Among them are inaugural runner-up Nam Hyung Kim, Yita Choong, Hoang Hai Nam, Dao Minh Phu, Anton Lu, Seung Mook Jung, Jaesung Lee, Mike Takayama, Thomas Ward, Martin Sedlak, Yohwan Lim, Xiao Sheng Zheng, Nguyen Quang Huy, Joseph Cheong, Quan Qiu, Dinh Tien Thanh, and Jack Salter.

Utg Jaesung Lee raises 1,060,000, Christian Harder calls. At the flop A♠ J♦ 7♥ , Harder shoves, Lee calls for his tournament life and shows 6♠ 6♥ way behind Harder’s K♣ K♥ . The turn A♥ and river K♦ further improve Harder to a full house. Lee is eliminated.

Josh McCully all in with A♥ Q♥ , Christian Harder attempts to eliminate with K♥ J♣ , board runs 4♥ 3♣ 2♥ T♥ 5♠ .

Christian Harder sends Anton Lu and Xiao Shizi packing simultaneously with K♦ K♣ standing against A♦ Q♣ and A♥ J♥ on a board Q♠ 2♠ 8♣ 6♠ K♠ .

Button Josh McCully open shoves, small blind Anton Lu three-bets all in to successfully isolate. McCully has K♥ T♣ , Lu 9♣ 9♠ , the board runs 6♦ A♠ 7♠ 4♦ K♦ . McCully doubles up while Lu plunges to 1 bb.

Qiao Chi delivers a double bust with A♠ 5♠ beating out Max Bauer’s 2♦ 2♣ and Jon Borenstein’s K♥ T♥ on a board 8♣ 9♣ 4♠ A♥ 4♣ .

Xiao Shizi’s Q♦ Q♥ hold on a board K♣ 8♣ 3♠ T♣ 6♣ to rail Yita Choong A♥ 8♠ in 15th place.

Tobias Bui calls Qiao Chi’s raise then calls down the board Q♥ J♦ 3♥ 2♠ Q♦ - 170,000, 425,000, and all in on the river. Chi has A♣ Q♣ trips Bui eliminated with K♣ J♠ .

Adam Martinsson all in for his last 5 bb with K♥ 5♣ then is outdrawn by Christian Harder’s 8♣ 2♣ on a board 7♠ 2♠ 6♥ 3♥ T♦ to fall on the stone cold bubble.

Action folds to the small blind Tobias Bui who raises 140,000, big blind Kim Yong defends, flop is 4♠ J♠ 9♣ . Bui c-bets 90,000, Kim calls. Bui bets 250,000 on the T♦ turn and Kim calls again. The river A♠ , Bui sends out 450,000, Kim raises 1,100,000, Bui folds.

Nguyen Manh Hao three-bet shoves with A♥ Q♥ and runs into Tobias Bui’s A♣ A♦ . No magic arrives on the board, Nguyen is out before the money.

Button raises, small blind Jaesung lee three-bets 630,000 leaving 5,000 behind, button calls. At the flop 8♠ 7♥ 2♠ , Lee tosses the last chip in, button calls. Button opens J♦ T♦ , Lee with Q♣ Q♦ . The turn T♥ and river 2♣ is good to Lee for a double up.

Pham Thanh Hai three-bets all in for his last 3 bb with A♣ J♥ to battle with, he is called by initial raiser Soo Jo Kim with A♠ 5♦ . Kim rivers a pair 7♥ 6♣ 2♦ K♣ 5♣ to send Pham out of the tournament floor.

Cutoff Tobias Bui opens, big blind Kim Yong defends, flop is 8♥ 9♣ 6♣ . Bui bets 125,000, Yong check-calls. Same action on the turn 8♠ with Kim check-calling a 175,000 bet. On the river 9♥ , Kim leads out 300,000, Bui calls, Kim takes the pot with K♠ 9♦ .

Utg+1 Pham Thanh Hai opens 100,000, button Tobias Bui calls, small blind Nguyen Manh Hao three-bets all in for a short 230,000, and is called by both Pham and Bui. At the flop 5♠ 5♦ T♥ , Pham bets 60,000, Bui folds to deny a side pot. Pham shows Q♥ 6♥ , Nguyen A♦ J♦ . The turn 4♦ and river 7♦ are good to Nguyen for a triple up.

Action folds to the small blind Christian Harder who shoves with A♣ 8♣ , big blind Jin Hoon Lee is covered and calls with J♥ 7♠ . Both improve on the board A♠ J♣ 6♣ K♥ 9♦ , Harder is ahead and rails Lee.

Short stacked Nguyen Duc Anh shoves with K♣ Q♠ , button Anton Lu calls A♣ J♣ , no other takers. The board runs 7♠ 4♣ 2♣ T♠ 4♠ .

Cutoff Jon Borenstein shoves 370,000, button Nguyen Duc Anh jams no other callers for a showdown. Borenstein A♥ 7♠ , Nguyen A♣ 8♣ , board runs K♣ T♥ 5♦ 7♦ 3♦ , Borenstein doubles through.

Down to 13 bb, High Roller Deepstack winner Joseph Cheong goes all in and is challenged by High Roller Warm Up champion Anton Lu. Cheong has K♣ K♠ , Lu with A♥ Q♠ . The board runs low until the ace on the river 5♥ 2♣ 7♥ 6♠ A♣ to dust Cheong.

Soo Jo Kim raises then calls Sean Ooi’s three-bet jam. It’s fifty-fifty with Kim T♦ T♣ and Ooi K♦ J♥ . No hits for Ooi on board A♣ 5♣ 8♦ 8♣ 6♥ .

Nguyen Quang Huy shoves his 16 bb stack with A♦ 2♣ and falls to Tobias Bui A♠ T♠ on board Q♠ J♠ 5♦ J♣ 7♣ .

Sean Ooi A♦ Q♦ all in for 245,000, cutoff Nguyen Quang Huy A♠ 9♠ obliges. The board runs Q♥ 2♥ 8♣ 9♣ 5♦ .

Heavy betting action kicks off with a min-raise by Kim Yong from utg+2, blinds call, flop is J♣ 9♣ 2♣ . Blinds check Kim Yong fires 35,000, small blind Nguyen Quang Huy raises 100,000, big blind Tobias Bui re-raises 310,000, back to Kim who fires a four-bet shove of 605,000, Nguyen five-bets all in with 1,500,000 total, Bui folds.

Kim Yong T♣ 8♣ flush Nguyen Quang Huy A♣ J♦ top pair / nut flush draw

The turn Q♠ and river 6♥ is good for a double up to Kim. Bui seemingly very upset at Nguyen’s push says he had a queen high flush but didn’t show.

Soo Jo Kim raises 55,000, cutoff Sean Ooi re-raises 250,000, Kim four-bets all in for 780,000, Ooi calls to put Kim at risk. Kim is flipping with 7♦ 7♥ against Ooi’s A♣ K♦ . The flop quickly grants Kim the set 7♣ Q♥ 5♥ then completes 6♣ 2♥ for a double up.