Main Event

Facing a raise by utg, Pham Bao thee-bets 56,000, lojack Moong Jang Ho and utg call. At the flop K♦ T♥ 7♥ , Moong bets 16,000, utg calls, Pham check-raises 116,000, Moong calls, utg folds. The turn 2♥ sees Pham lead out with a shove, Moong snap calls.

Pham Bao A♦ K♥ Moong Jang Ho A♠ K♠

The river 5♥ is the money card for Pham Bao for the flush to double through.

Nattapon Chaimungkhun bags big at Day 1C; 73 players advance

In keeping with tradition, Main Event Day 1C attracted the largest crowd in USOP history bringing in 587 entries. Rising above the ranks was USOP first timer Nattapon Chaimungkhun from Thailand who bagged a massive 1,161,000 (97 bb) stack. Early on, Chaimungkhun was already causing silent havoc, becoming one of the early leaders. At Level 19, she won a big pot with pocket aces over big slick to balloon to over a million in chips. Also racking up over a million was who turned his blig slick into a flush to deny the split pot.

Date: March 30, 2024 Buy in: VN₫ 30,000,000 (~USD 1,235) Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~USD 614,500) Day 1C: 587 entries (411 unique) Bagging time: 73 players

Bubble round approaching… 73 players ITM.

Cutoff opens, button Ge Ying Rui three-bets 65,000, small blind Sangyoon Kim four-bets 135,000, cutoff folds, Ge calls. Both players check the flop Q♥ Q♣ K♦ then Kim bets 100,000 on the turn 6♠ , Ge folds.

Alok Birewar raises then calls a player’s shove with 3♠ 3♥ and is up against A♠ 4♥ . The board runs 9♠ 6♦ T♥ 6♥ 5♣ . Birewar ships it and boots one in the process.

Cutoff Sangyeon Kim opens then calls Edward Yam’s 90,000 re-raise. Yam proceeds to triple barrel the board T♦ 5♦ 3♦ 9♣ T♣ , Kim calls down every street 20,000, 40,000, 70,000 and both have Ace-Ten offsuit for split pot.

Button Darragh Curtin open-shoves 155,000, big blind defends and calls. Curtin ahead A♠ T♥ against K♥ Q♠ . The board further improves Curtin to A♦ 3♥ 4♠ 2♠ 4♥ two pair.

86 players remaining with only 73 guaranteed a spot in the money round.

Facing a raise and a call, cutoff Tran Hai Ha three-bets 52,000, initial raiser folds, caller Yao Renhao four-bets all in, Tran calls for his tournament life. Tran is ahead A♠ A♦ against Yao’s Q♥ Q♠ , the board runs out 3♣ 8♥ 9♥ 9♠ 4♦ , Tran ships a double up,

Button Cheng Zhang shoves 5 bb, blinds call then check down the flop and turn A♠ 6♦ 7♥ A♣ . On the J♠ river, sb Michael Smith bets 20,000, bb folds to deny a side pot. Smith opens A♥ T♦ trips, Zhang is out with 5♥ 5♦ .

Ivan Ermin min-raises from lojack and buttton Alex Puchalski three-bets all in for his last 6 bb, Ermin calls. Puchalski has 9♠ 9♣ and is ahead of Ermin’s J♦ 7♠ . The board runs T♠ 4♥ 5♥ J♣ for a higher pair to Ermin, the river 9♥ save Puchalski from falling.

Alok Birewar opens 16,000, two spots over is a call, cutoff three-bet shoves (105,000), Birewar calls, utg+2 folds. Birewar opens A♦ A♠ , cutoff has K♠ K♣ , board runs high but no bad beat Q♣ J♥ T♦ T♣ J♠ .

94 players remaining. The flight bags up once there are 73 players left in the field.

From lojack, Luo Shao Hua raises 12,000, button Matthew Bevin three-bets 32,000, Luo calls and both heads to the flop 9♦ T♥ 6♣ . Bevin c-bets 22,000, Luo check-calls. On the turn Q♠ , Luo jumps out with a shove of 128,000, Bevin tank-calls. Both have top pair Bevin K♣ Q♥ , Luo A♠ Q♦ higher kicker, the river 2♠ secures Luo a double up.

Utg open 12,000, two spots over is a three-bet of 32,000, big blind Ge Yunrui calls, utg folds. On the flop and turn 7♥ 2♣ 4♠ Q♥ , Yunui check-calls 23,00 and 45,000 then both players check the river K♣ . Yunrui’s 5♥ 5♣ is good as his opponent folds. Yunrui is currently chip leader.

Defending the big blind, Natty Chaimingkhun calls a shove with K♥ J♥ and is behind the all in player’s A♦ 4♣ . However, as the board completes Q♠ 7♥ 3♣ Q♣ K♦ , Chaimingkhun spikes the pair to clean one out.

Heavy bets preflop begins with utg Jae Sung Lee raising 3,000, utg+2 three-bets 30,000, big blind Hu Jing Wei four-bets all in for 129,000, Lee five-bet shoves, utg+2 gets out of the way. Lee has T♣ T♥ and is dominated b Hu’s K♣ K♠ . The board runs a dramatic T♠ A♣ Q♦ set for Lee. Suspense on the 6♠ turn, then Hu lands broadway on the river J♦ for a double up.

Another batch of players have dropped with some quickly jumping in the final flight - Day 1D Turbo. For this flight, only 73 players are guaranteed a spot in the money round.

From utg+2 Song Seong Wook opens, big blind Natty Chaimungkhun three-bets 20,000, Song calls. Natty c-bets another 20,000 on the flop T♦ 5♠ 3♠ and Song calls. Again a 20,000 bet by Natty on the A♦ turn, this time Song raises all in for 74,000, Natty calls. Song has T♥ T♣ set, Natty with A♣ 6♣ top pair and is drawing dead.

From utg+1 Seung Mook Jung opens, button John Phan three-bets 40,000, Jung calls, and both head to the flop A♦ J♥ K♥ . Jung checks to the aggressor Phan who fires 45,000, Jung calls. On the turn 4♥ , Phan relentless with a 221,000 jam, Jung tanks using up all of his time banks then folds.

With Day 1C pulling in 587 entries, among the attendees were a long list of notables: Alexander Puchalski, Minh A Nguyen, Dao Minh Phu, Dinh Xuan Dinh, Piet Pape, Nam Hyung Kim, Vitaliy Polikarpov, Anatolii Gorbusin, Jiyoung Kim, Edward Yam Chun Ho, Tanja Vujanic, Nguyen Quang Huy, Tobias Bui, Francis Garson, Gabriel Carter, Martin Sedlak…

Facing a min-raise, small blind John Phan and big blind Tetsuya Enoki call for a three-way to the flop K♥ T♣ 8♥ . Phan leads out 14,000, Tetsuya calls, utg+2 folds. On the turn 2♣ , Phan fires 17,000 and Tetsuya matches it up again. On the river 6♥ , Phan slows to a check, Tetsuya shoves (143,000), Phan folds.

Players are dropping fast. Previous level saw 37 go bust. Luckily Day 1D Turbo is still open to get in on this massive brewing pot.

Following a raise of 8000 from lojack, cutoff John Phan and big blind Darragh Curtin call, then all three head to the flop Q♠ Q♥ A♦ . Action is checked to Phan who bets 6000, Curtin raises 28,000, lojack calls, Phan three-bets 88,000, Curtin calls, lojack gets out of the way. On the turn 3♣ , Phan shoves (48,000), Curtin check-calls. Phan with Q♣ J♣ trips, Curtin with Q♦ 4♦ trips lower kicker. The river 5♠ is a double up for Phan.

From utg+2 Alan Pham raises to 9000, small blind Rene Mar David re-raises 27,000, Pham four-bets all in for 112,000, David makes the fast call and shows A♥ K♥ . Pham has T♠ T♥ . The board favors Pham as it lands 7♥ J♠ 9♣ 7♣ 8♠ for a straight.

Heavy preflop betting sees lojack open 10,000, button Do Phong three-bet 26,000, lojack answers with a four-bet jam, Do Phong calls for his tournament life. Do Phong ahead A♥ K♥ to lojaçks A♣ Q♣ . The board runs 9♦ 8♥ 2♣ 6♦ 6♠ . Do Phong doubles up, lojack plunges to 1 bb.

Utg+2 Renji Miao opens a large 20,000, lojac Yankai Zhang three-bets 55,000, Miao calls then both check the flop Q♦ 8♣ 5♥ . On the turn K♠ , Zhang bets 20,000, Miao check-folds.

Action folds around to the small blind who shoves with A♥ K♦ , big blind Tran Thanh Hung looks down at A♦ Q♦ and risks his last 13 bb. The flop quickly pairs up Tran then completes Q♠ 9♣ 5♦ 5♠ J♥ for a double up.

Utg+1 Darragh Curtin min-raises, lojack calls, cutoff re-raises all in for 43,000, Curtin calls, hijack gets out of the way. Curtin turns over J♥ T♥ , cutoff with A♥ 8♥ , board comes K♦ 6♣ 5♣ {js 6♥ . Curtin ships it and boots one in the process.

Utg+1 opens 6,000, three calls follow, big blind Yao Renhao three-bets 50,000, utg+1 folds, utg+2 call with less chips (40,000), no other takers. Yao opens J♣ J♠ , utg+2 A♥ K♥ , board runs J♦ 9♦ 9♠ K♣ 8♦ .

From utg+2 Victor Chong opens 5,000, hijack Jack Salter three-bets 15,000, Chong calls and both head to the flop Q♥ [qc} 4♠ . Salter c-bets 5,000, Chong check-calls. On the turn T♦ , Salter fires 13,000, Chong check-raises all in (52,500). Salter folds.

With 587 entries for Main Event Day 1C, the field plays down to ITM which is 73 players. Still a long way to go with 225 players remaining. For those that have already missed the mark, Day 1D Turbo is the way to go however starting time has been pushed back to 730pm.

After ten rounds of late registration, the Main Event Day 1C closed at 587 entries. This was the largest USOP Main Event flight in history, exceeding its previous high by 11 entries. A♠ it stands, the cumulative entries is 1,369 and the prize pool at VN₫ 35.8 Billion. That figure will balloon further with Day 1D Turbo yet to play out.

549 entries which means a new USOP Main Event record guaranteed! Registration is still open and Day 1D Turbo yet to play out so high it will go is anyone’s guess. Next target is to surpass 576 entries in this heat to be hailed the largest Main Event flight in USOP history.

Utg+1 Dmitrii Gnusaev opens 2500, big blind defends, both see a flop 8♦ 5♠ K♦ . Gnusaev bets 1800 and gets called. On the 2♠ turn, Gnusaev bets 4500, big blind check-raise all in, Gnusaev is covered and still makes the call for his remaining 86,900 stack. Gnusaev is ahead 8♠ 8♣ set and wins the pot with bb drawing dead with 8♥ 5♥ two pair.

Two champions are back for another attempt at reaching the ITM round. Reigning USOP Danang Main Event winner The Naing is sitting on 110,000 (110 bb) and Nguyen Ngoc Dai has 85,000 (85 bb). Scattered around the floor are numerous big stacks.

The Main Event has reached the 500 marker and still rising. It is only a matter of when we hit 548 to surpass the VN₫ 34.8 Billion prize pool. Another target is surpassing 576 entries which is the largest flight entry of any USOP Main Event.

The Main Event is on the second break of the day. 465 entries so far with three rounds left of late registration. The magic number is 548 entries in order to surpass the brand’s Main Event record prize pool of VN₫ 34.8 Billion.

Additionally, in November 2023, the first USOP Danang drew 576 entries at Main Event Day 1C. Breaking that seems like a very high possibility.

A long list of players have already doubled up their stacks with many in the 100K range. Among those riding high are:

In just one hour, another 100 entries pumped in for 400 on record with more seen at registration. Will the 500 mark be reached in this heat? Looks like a strong possibility.

The field continues to swell here at the USOP Danang Main Event with 300 entries and still rising fast. Registration closes at 6:10, that’s at the start of Level 11. If you miss that window, Day 1D Turbo kicks off at 6pm and closing at 10:40pm.

Within minutes of the new level, 218 entries on record for a total of 1000 cumulative entries! The next target is to breach the VN₫ 34.8 Billion USOP Main Event prize pool which is roughly 1330 total entries. That should be no problem today. Expect a record breaker!

Day 1C has reached 200 entries! It is coming close to 1000 cumulative entries. The magic number is 218, so 18 more to go. The next target is to breach the VN₫ 34.8 Billion USOP Main Event prize pool which is roughly 1330 total entries. That should be no problem today. Expect a record breaker!

Chips in play: 23,480,000

The bubble has been delivered by Nguyen Tien Dung calling a short stacks 3 bb all in from the big bling. Nguyen had 2♦ 4♥ , all in player with Q♣ T♣ . The board ran 5♥ 8♥ 3♠ 4♣ 9♥ .

Joseph Cheong doubles up during the bubble round with A♠ A♣ standing strong against Saong Seong Wook’s A♦ J♥ on a queen high board.

At a separate table, Wei Guoliang is all in holding A♥ {ac. Sung Woojin calls wiht A♠ K♠ . Board runs queen high for a double up to Wei.

Utg Yao Renhao all in for 30,000 and finds two callers, Dinh Tien Thanh and Cankai Zhang. At the flop 2♥ 5♠ 6♠ , Thanh bets 50,000, Zhang folds and asks Thanh why he bet. Thanh said to isolate and protect his hand. Thanh has 4♥ 6♦ , Yao A♥ 6♣ , the turn 4♣ gives Thanh two pair which gets counterfeit on the river 5♥ for Yao’s kicker to stand.

From the button, Ivan Ermin jams 150,000 and big blind Huang Ming call. Ermin is on the lower end of a cooler with Q♥ Q♦ behind Huang’s K♥ K♦ . The board runs A♠ J♥ 5♠ A♥ J♣ . Ermin is eliminated.

Natty Chaimingkhun soars to a million in one big hand with A♣ A♥ doubling up through Edward Yam’s A♦ K♥ .