USOP Taiwan Day 4 highlights: comeback win for Chih Wei Fan; Mini Main draws 201; Sean Ooi, Jia Chi Lee, Wu Hung Hsiang, Keon Young Oh win trophies
Day 4 at U Series of Poker (USOP) Taiwan rocked the floor in Taipei City as players piled in the Asia Poker Arena for the next batch of trophy events and big prize pools. The crowd favorite was the Mini Main Event which drew 201 on its first qualifying day. At the Superstar Challenge, Taiwan’s Chih Wei Fan delivered a stunning comeback, and four others won trophies. Here are the highlights.
CHIH WEI FAN: from 5 bb to Superstar Challenge champion
Thrilling finish at the Superstar Challenge with Taiwan’s Chih Wei Fan as the player of the moment. After a wild three-way that saw Fan catapult to heads up, he overcame incredible odds against Malaysia’s Calvin Kean Wei Tan to capture the coveted title and a career high payout of NTD 3,067,000 (~USD 99,000).
The Vietnam-born tournament has become one of the most popular events in Asia and continued to prove itself here in Taiwan with 62 runners coughing up the NTD 160,000 (~USD 5,120) buy in. As the priciest tournament on the USOP Taiwan menu, some of the world’s best went head-to-head that included Filipino John Tech, Vietnam’sHoang Hai Nam, and Triton Cyprus Main Event champion Thailand’s Punnat Punsri.
From 5 bb to champion
While Tech fell before the money round, Punsri locked up 9th place, and Nam reached the final table bowing out in 4th place. Just before Nam’s fall, Malaysia’s Calvin Kean Wei Tan soared to the chip lead on a failed bluff by Fan who in turn dropped to 5 bb. After a double up, a sick three-way showdown followed that quickly brought about heads up.
The excitement and suspense continued. Fan behind 14 bb to Tan’s 66 bb, he dropped to 7 bb, doubled up, then cracked 
with 
nut flush on a board 
. This gave Fan a slight lead and closed it out with pocket Kings dominating Tan’s top pair.
Relive the exciting final race to victory via the recorded livestream:
Date: January 7 to 8, 2024
Buy in: NTD 160,000 (~USD 5,120)
Guarantee: NTD 3,500,000 (~USD 113,160)
Entries: 62
Prize Pool: NTD 9,021,000 (~USD 291,663)
ITM: 10 places
| Rank | Player | Flag | Payout in NTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chih Wei Fan | Taiwan | 3,067,000 |
| 2 | Kean Wei Tan | Malaysia | 1,759,000 |
| 3 | Chia Chaing Ko | Taiwan | 1,100,600 |
| 4 | Nam Hai Hoang | Vietnam | 744,200 |
| 5 | Matthew Belcher | UK | 564,000 |
| 6 | Samuel Wilkinson | UK | 460,100 |
| 7 | Yan Wen Yee | Malaysia | 397,000 |
| 8 | Anton Zhen Zhao Lu | Australia | 351,800 |
| 9 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | 306,700 |
| 10 | Hon Cheong Lee | Hong Kong | 270,600 |
Mini Main Event – Day 1A update
The Mini Main Event lit up the room with 201 entries over 10 rounds of play. The heat bagged up once 12.5% of the field was reached – 26 players. Taiwan dominated the top two spots with Kai Liang Chang as heat leader with 84 bb and Jung Chou Chen at 70 bb. Other notables powering through were Germany’s Oliver Schulze, France’s Romain Bier, and WSOP Online bracelet winner Si Yang Phua.
Date: January 7 to 9, 2024
Buy in: NTD 10,000 (~USD 320)
Guarantee: NTD 2,000,000 (~USD 64,663)
Entries: 201
ITM: 26 advance
End of Day 1A blinds: 4,000-8,000 ante 8,000
| Player | Flag | Stack | BB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kai Liang Chang | Taiwan | 668,000 | 84 |
| Jung Chou Chen | Taiwan | 558,000 | 70 |
| Zhi Yu Wang | Australia | 545,000 | 68 |
| Wing Sze Ho | Hong Kong | 515,000 | 64 |
| Dexter Santos | Philippines | 345,000 | 43 |
| Chih Feng Li | Taiwan | 317,000 | 40 |
| Xiang Guang Chang | Malaysia | 298,000 | 37 |
| Chun An Chou | Taiwan | 280,000 | 35 |
| Shao Hung You | Taiwan | 260,000 | 33 |
| Kuan An Chen | Taiwan | 238,000 | 30 |
| Oliver Schulze | Germany | 223,000 | 28 |
| Chih Wei Chen | Taiwan | 182,000 | 23 |
| Yashiro Naoki | Japan | 176,000 | 22 |
| Masato Nagamine | Japan | 160,000 | 20 |
| Romain Bier | France | 146,000 | 18 |
| Nguyen Huu Cao Tri | Vietnam | 144,000 | 18 |
| Tuck Heng Wang | Singapore | 139,000 | 17 |
| Chang Le Lin | Taiwan | 138,000 | 17 |
| Wai Shun Poon | Hong Kong | 132,000 | 17 |
| Pi Ying Hsu | Taiwan | 132,000 | 17 |
| Kaiser Huang | Taiwan | 121,000 | 15 |
| Yick Kuen Kiew | Singapore | 114,000 | 14 |
| Tse An Lee | Singapore | 90,000 | 11 |
| Si Yang Phua | Singapore | 86,000 | 11 |
| Ka Hei Choi | Hong Kong | 52,000 | 7 |
| Dou Houng Chien | Taiwan | 45,000 | 6 |
SEAN OOI dominates High Roller: Bounty Hunter
Malaysia’s Sean Ooi found success on his first ever USOP trip. Ooi came out swinging at the High Roller Bounty Hunter, knocking out seven players on his road to victory. For his crushing presence, Ooi locked up a combined NTD 922,100 (~USD 29,780), and his first ever USOP trophy.
The event attracted 57 entries to more than double up the guarantee. Among the ITMers was Taiwan’s Nevan Yu Chung Chang who once again came close to nabbing a win. Chang finished 3rd. Also running deep was Punnat Punsri (5th) who jumped in after exiting the Superstar Challenge in 9th place.
Date: January 8, 2024
Buy in: NTD 66,000 (~USD 2,112)
Guarantee: NTD 1,500,000 (~USD 48,500)
Entries: 57
Prize Pool: NTD 2,177,400 (~USD 70,315)
Bounty Pool: NTD 1,140,000 (~USD 36,815)
ITM: 9 players
*Bounties partially included
| Rank | Player | Flag | Bounty in NTD | Payout in NTD |
Total Payout in NTD
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Ooi | Malaysia | 160,000 | 762,100 | 922,100 |
| 2 | Sorawit Suriyakarn | Thailand | 100,000 | 435,500 | 535,500 |
| 3 | Nevan Yu Chung Chang | Taiwan | 20,000 | 266,700 | 286,700 |
| 4 | Hung Ding Shan | Taiwan | 60,000 | 190,500 | 250,500 |
| 5 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | 20,000 | 147,000 | 167,000 |
| 6 | Dylan Wayne Foster | Australia | 80,000 | 114,300 | 194,300 |
| 7 | Vincent Chauve | France | 60,000 | 98,000 | 158,000 |
| 8 | 87,100 | ||||
| 9 | Justin Chi Jen Chu | Taiwan | 40,000 | 76,200 | 116,200 |
WU HUNG HSIANG wins Mixed NLH/PLO
First international win for local player Wu Hung Hsiang at the Mixed NLH / PLO event. Wu denied Singapore’s Jereld Sam who found success in Taiwan at several tours last year. For Wu’s victory, he pocketed a career high payout of NTD 130,600 (~USD 4,215).
Date: January 8, 2024
Buy in: NTD 8,000 (~USD 256)
Entries: 52
Prize Pool: NTD 353,100 (~USD 11,416)
ITM: 7 places
| Rank | Player | Flag | Payout in NTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wu Hung Hsiang | Taiwan | 130,600 |
| 2 | Jereld Sam | Singapore | 77,700 |
| 3 | Zong Chi He | Taiwan | 47,700 |
| 4 | Ming Chang Hsiao | Taiwan | 33,500 |
| 5 | Paul Nattapatsiri | Thailand | 26,500 |
| 6 | Wu Chia Yun | Taiwan | 21,200 |
| 7 | Yan Wen Yee | Malaysia | 15,900 |
JIA CHI LEE denies a champ at Run It Twice
Well known female local player Jia Chi Leeproduced great stats last year with numerous victories at select international tours visiting Taiwan. She continued her strong run with a victory at Run It Twice for her first USOP trophy. Lee defeated Mystery Bounty champion Clement Haro for the NTD 68,100 (~USD 2,200) top prize.
Date: January 8, 2024
Buy in: NTD 6,000 (~USD 192)
Entries: 30
Prize Pool: NTD 151,400 (~USD 4,895)
ITM: 4 places
| Rank | Player | Flag | Payout in NTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jia Chi Lee | Taiwan | 68,100 |
| 2 | Clement Haro | France | 40,900 |
| 3 | Yu Sheng Lin | Taiwan | 25,700 |
| 4 | Chien Hua Lo | Taiwan | 16,700 |
KEON YOUNG OH wins maiden title at Bounty Hunter – Hyper Turbo
The last event of the day was another fast paced race with 87 pulling up seats for the Bounty Hunter Hyper Turbo. South Korea’s Keon Young Oh was a force to reckon with, unable to be toppled for a career first live title. He was also the first player from South Korea to win at the festival.
Date: January 7 to 8, 2024
Buy in: NTD 5,000 (~USD 160)
Entries: 87
Prize Pool: NTD 240,900 (~USD 7,789)
Bounty Pool: NTD 130,500 (~USD 4,215)
ITM: 11 places
*Bounties not included
| Rank | Player | Flag | Payout in NTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keon Young Oh | South Korea | 77,700 |
| 2 | Po Ching Lee | Taiwan | 47,000 |
| 3 | Sebastian Tan | Singapore | 29,200 |
| 4 | Yuan Hao Chang | Taiwan | 19,800 |
| 5 | Chao Zhuo Huang | Taiwan | 15,100 |
| 6 | Nam Ho Kim | South Korea | 12,000 |
| 7 | Kim Minho | South Korea | 10,000 |
| 8 | Hyeong Seok Mun | South Korea | 8,400 |
| 9 | Napat Chokedinjachai | Thailand | 7,800 |
| 10 | Ting Chieh Chen | Australia | 7,200 |
| 11 | Romain Bier | France | 6,700 |
USOP Taiwan 2024
Following a booming 2023, USOP opens the new year with a bigger and richer Taiwan festival. Compared to its launch last year, the schedule has increased from 23 trophy events to45 trophy events. With four days in the books, 18 have already been claimed. Time to win yours!
In partnership with theChinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP),the festival runs fromJanuary 5 to 15, 2024at the largest brick and mortar poker room in the region,Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City.
Main Event coming up!
In just a few days, the festival’s crown jewelMAIN EVENTwill take the spotlight featuring aNTD 15,000,000 (~US$ 478,270) guarantee.Four entry flights are scheduledstartingJanuary 11. Event runs until January 15.Buy in set at NTD 33,000 (~USD 1,075).
Links:
USOP Taiwan – Coverage
USOP Taiwan – Player Guide
*All photos by USOP and CTP
