Kick Off

Artem Utevskii sets the bar sky high at Day 1B; 28 players advance

Kickoff Event Day 1B wrapped up with Russia’s bagging 94 bb to take the lead in the Day 2 counts. Utevskii’s standout moment came when he eliminated two players at once with his set of Jacks, earning the majority of his chips in one decisive hand. In second rank, though 40 big blinds behind, was Ireland’s Shaun Conroy who delivered the bubble.

Date: March 20, 2024 Buy in: VN₫ 8,800,000 (~USD 362) Guarantee: VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~USD 81,930) Day 1B: 220 entries (175 unique) ITM: 28 players Chips in play: 6,600,000

Down to 8 bb, Jerome Tan three-bets all in holding 6♣ 6♦ , initial raiser Shaun Conroy makes the easy call with his big stack and turns over Q♣ T♦ . The board runs out K♠ 9♠ 7♣ 3♥ J♥ giving Conroy the straight to wrap up Day 1B.

Vladimir Litasov three-bets all in with A♣ Q♣ and is given a sweat by Hwanho Choe who calls with A♦ J♦ . The board runs 5♣ 4♦ 2♥ 4♥ K♥ , Litasov doubles through.

Utg Joshua Figuerres raises 16,000, hijack Artem Utevskii and bb call for a three-way to the flop 6♣ Q♦ J♠ . More chips tossed in the middle starting with Figuerres who c-bets 18,000, Utevskii calls, bb check-raises all in for 158,000, Figuerres joins with 193,000, and biggest stacked Utevskii calls placing both opponents at risk.

Utevskii J♦ J♣ set Figuerres A♣ Q♥ top pair Big blind K♥ Q♠ top pair

The turn 6♦ brings a bit of hope to the the at risk players but with the river 9♠ , it vanishes along with all of their chips.

The bubble round is drawing near with 35 players remaining and 28 guaranteed to money.

Down to 8 bb, Robert Sherwood risks it with 8♦ 8♣ then goes on to dodge Sean Conroy’s K♣ Q♦ to stay in his seat.

From cutoff, Kyle Bao Diep opens, big blind three-bets 32,000, Diep four-bet shoves 8♦ 8♠ , and is called by bb with A♣ K♦ . At the flop K♣ 2♥ 3♣ , bb improves but it’s short-lived with the turn 8♣ . The river J♣ completes the board, Diep ships and boots a player.

46 players remaining. Players are dropping fast. Day 1B bags up once ITM is reached of 28 players.

Minutes after Pham Bao cracked Bui The Nguyen’s kings, it was payback time. From utg+1, Nguyen three-bets 28,000 and utg Pham flats. The flop comes 6♣ 9♣ 4♦ , Nguyen c-bets 30,000, Pham check-calls. On the turn 8♥ , Nguyen shoves, Pham check-calls for his tournament life. Nguyen opens up A♥ A♣ , Pham is behind Q♦ Q♠ , the river 2♠ doesn’t produce the two-outer to finish off Pham.

Following a called min-raise, hijack player Pham Bao looked down at 4♦ 4♠ and three-bet all in for 55,000. Cutoff Bui The Nguyen four-bet to 100,000, this was enough to isolate Pham. Nguyen revealed K♦ K♥ and was way ahead until the turn T♦ 3♠ 5♣ 4♣ , giving Pham the set. With the river Q♣ , Pham breathe a sigh of relief.

Another takedown by Nguyen Manh Hung this time with a lucky A♣ Q♣ dusting Jun Li’s A♦ K♣ on a board Q♥ 9♥ J♣ 9♠ Q♠ .

All in preflop, Russia’s Anatolii Gorbushin at risk with 6♥ 6♦ falls to fellow countryman Vladimir Litasov’s A♠ 8♥ on a head turning board 9♦ 5♥ 6♠ 7♦ A♥ .

57 players remaining and still a long way to go to reach ITM with 28 guaranteed to advance.

Nguyen Manh Hung opens then calls a 60,000 shove. Nguyen goes on to win the flip with T♦ T♣ staying ahead of A♥ Q♦ on a board J♣ 6♣ J♠ K♠ 9♦ .

Utg+2 raises 8,500, small blind Corey Van Jaarsveldt defends, flop runs T♦ 5♦ 5♠ . Utg+2 c-bets 7,000, Jaarsveldt check-raises 22,000, utg+2 replies with a three-bet of 34,000 Jaarsveldt jams and utg+2 calls for everything behind. Jaarsveldt has K♦ J♦ draw, utg+2 with A♦ T♥ top pair. The turn Q♦ grants Jaarsveldt the flush, and with the river 3♠ , utg+2 misses the boat for Jaarsveldt ship it.

All in preflop, Nguyen Manh Hung doubles up with A♣ K♥ dominating A♠ J♥ .

From the button, USOP Ambassador Kyle Bao Diep calls a players shove and opens K♦ J♥ which is live against A♣ 4♥ . Diep finds better luck on board K♠ 7♥ 5♦ 3♠ J♣ to boot one out of the running.

64 players remaining and still a long way to go to reach ITM with 28 guaranteed to advance. Yu Ting is the new chip leader with 360,000 in chip.

Button player opens, small blind calls, big blind Yu Ting three-bets 21,000, button calls, small blind four-bets all in for 101,000. Yu five-bets all in and pushes out the button.

Yu Ting A♣ 8♦ Small blind T♣ T♥

Board runs out a nutty K♦ T♠ 7♣ 9♣ 6♣ for a straight over set takedown. Yu Ting skyrockets to 360,000 and has taken the lead.

Action packed preflop kicks off with utg min-raising, called by utg+1, small blind Zhang Yuwei three-bets 18,000, utg calls, +1 folds. At the flop K♣ 5♣ 3♠ , Zhang fires 15,000, utg calls, turn comes 4♣ . Zhang announces all in sending utg to the tank. After using up 3 time-banks, utg folds.

Utg+2 Corey Van Jaarsveldt three-bets 18,000 and initial raiser utg+1 Jacob Johnston calls. Jaarveldt c-bets 28,500 on the flop 8♥ 4♣ 5♣ , Johnston folds.

75 players remaining but still a long way to go to reach ITM with 28 guaranteed to advance. Farukh Tach maintains his lead with 285,000 in chips.

From utg+1 Corey Van Jaarsveldt opens and finds two callers to the flop 6♥ 6♣ 7♦ . Heavy betting follows with bb leading out 11,000, called by Jaarsveldt, raised by lojack, bb folds, and Jaarsveldt calls showing A♦ A♥ . Lojack has Q♥ Q♣ and soon falls with the turn 9♣ and river J♦ . Jaarsveldt ships it, lojack busts, bb said he had pocket Jacks though we shall never know for sure.

Players are dropping fast with the field now below 100. Currently in the driver’s seat is Farukh Tach with 285,000. To help Tach get there, he won a splashy five handed pot without having to show.

Barry Lei three-bets from the small blind and is called by initial raiser Vitalii Polikarpov. Lei c-bet the flop K♣ J♥ Q♥ and wins the pot with no challenge.

Following that hand, Lei calls a player’s shove and ships it with A♥ Q♠ dominating K♣ Q♦ throughout the board J♦ 5♥ 2♠ 7♠ A♣ .

Facing a min-raise, cutoff Jacob Johnston calls, small blind thre-bets all in for 35,000, initial raiser folds, Johnston calls. Johnston’s 8♥ 8♣ is ahead of sb”s 3♦ 3♣ . The board brings no close calls for a clean takedown by Johnston.

Still a long way to go to reach the money round with 117 players remaining and only 28 guaranteed to advance.

Cutoff Xu Bo three-bets 10,500, initial raiser Jan Christoffer flats to see the flop T♦ 8♦ 6♠ . Xu c-bets all in his massive stack, Christoffer check-calls for his last 20,000, and is behind 5♦ 5♥ to Xu’s K♦ K♥ . With the turn 5♠ and river J♠ , Christoffer is saved and ships a double up.

Button player min-raises and is called by the blind position, flop runs J♦ 7♦ 5♥ . Button c-bets 5,500, sb Xu Bo calls, bb folds. On the 4♣ turn, Xu check-calls the 37,000 button shove and is ahead Q♦ J♥ top pair to 8♠ 8♦ . The river A♠ seals the win and the elimination.

Utg Xu Bo raises 3500, beside him The Naing three-bets 10,500, Xu answers with a four-bet of 24,000 which is enough to get The Naing to fold.

Action folds to Jinlong Hu on the small blind, he shoves his last 14 bb holding J♦ 6♦ , gets called by big blind A♦ T♣ . Luck finds Jinlong on the board 8♥ 4♠ 5♣ 2♥ 7♣ .

Huge turnout at Kickoff Day 1B resulting in 220 entries for a combined 361 entries with Day 1A attracting 141. That means the put is currently at VN₫ 2.8 Billion, and with one more flight to play out, it will increase further.

Cards are now being dealt. Tournament director Jimmy Chun has just announced that the flight will play down to 28 players (ITM of 12.5% of the field). Leading the 135 remainnig players is Russia’s Vitalii Polikarpov with 160,000 (106 bb) in chips.

Over 200 entries so far with one level of late registration for Kickoff Day 1B! If you haven’t yet signed up, this is one juicy event guaranteeing VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~USD 81,930). Without a doubt, that figure will be breached before the end of registration.

Buy in is VN₫ 8,800,000 (~USD 362). Starting stack is 30,000. Blinds increase every 25 minutes. Day 1B ends once the money round is reached, which is 12.5% of the field.

More players have made their way raising the entries to 181 with registration still open until the start of Level 11. Still plenty of time to make your bid for a piece of the VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~USD 81,930) guarantee. Buy in is VN₫ 8,800,000 (~USD 362). Starting stack is 30,000. Blinds increase every 25 minutes. Day 1B ends once the money round is reached, which is 12.5% of the field.

Currently in the lead is Hai Rong You with 115,000 (143 bb) in chips.

Singapore’s The Naing has been spotted! The 2023 USOP Danang Main Event champion is getting in some early practice before he defends his title.

Day 1A fallouts and new arrivals on the felt include notables Jinlong Hu, Michael Kim Falcon, Pham Bao, and 2023 USOP Danang multiple title series winner Romain Bier.

Day 1B has reached the halfway point of registration with an impressive 146 entries, surpassing Day 1A’s tally. Still plenty of time to jump in and make a bid for a piece of the VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~USD 81,930) guarantee. Buy in is VN₫ 8,800,000 (~USD 362). Starting stack is 30,000. Blinds increase every 25 minutes. Registration closes at the start of Level 11 at approximately 16:40. Day 1B ends once the money round is reached, which is 12.5% of the field.

 Close to reaching the halfway mark of Day 1B registration and it looks like the 141 Day 1A entries will be crushed. Still plenty of time to jump in and make a bid for a piece of the VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~USD 81,930) guarantee. Buy in is VN₫ 8,800,000 (~USD 362). Starting stack is 30,000. Blinds increase every 25 minutes. Registration closes at the start of Level 11 at approximately 16:40. Day 1B ends once the money round is reached, which is 12.5% of the field.

 Day 1B is looking to be a big one with the 100 entry mark already breached. Currently 109 entries on record with registration open until the start of Level 11, at approximately 4:40pm. for those interested, time is flying. Buy in is VN₫ 8,800,000 (~USD 362). Starting stack is 30,000. Blinds increase every 25 minutes. Day 1B ends once the money round is reached, which is 12.5% of the field.

The field has now grown to 71 entries. Still plenty of time to jump in and make a bid for a piece of the VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~USD 81,930) guarantee. Buy in is VN₫ 8,800,000 (~USD 362). Starting stack is 30,000. Blinds increase every 25 minutes. Registration closes at the start of Level 11 at approximately 16:40. Day 1B close once the money round is reached, which is 12.5% of the field.