USOP Taiwan Day 5 highlights: 95 advance at Mini Main; Jeong Yim leads HR Megastack; Romain Bier, Yun Li win trophies

SMP EditorEditor-in-Chief

Updated: 2026.10.02

U Series of Poker (USOP) wrapped up another exciting day at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, Taiwan. On Day 5, the room was quickly abuzz as the Mini Main drew a large crowd to well exceed its guarantee and high-profile players flocked for the High Roller Megastack. The day closed with Chau Hau Tsai and Jeong Yim as chip leaders, Romain Bier scoring a career third USOP title, and Yun Li locking up her first USOP win. Here are the highlights.

Mini Main Event – update

The final two entry flights of the Mini Main brought a surge of 546 entrants. With an initial 201 joining on Day 1A, the cumulative entries soared to an impressive 747. This more than tripled up the NTD 2 Million prize pool, reaching a substantial NTD 6,521,300 (~USD 210,600).

As the day concluded, 69 players secured their spots, making a total of 95 players advancing to the Day 2 / ITM round. Taiwan’s Chau Hau Tsai claimed the overall chip lead with 107 bb, closely followed by Hong Kong’s Alan Lau King Lun with 102 bb. UK’s Thomas Liffick rounded out the top three with 99 bb.

Play resumes on Wednesday, January 10 at 12:15pm. Everyone is guaranteed a piece of the boosted pot, for the eventual champion, a seven figure NTD payout awaits. We will have the official prize posted once it has been made available.

Date: January 7 to 9, 2024

Buy in: NTD 10,000 (~USD 320)

Guarantee: NTD 2,000,000 (~USD 64,663)

Entries: 747

Prize pool: NTD 6,521,300 (~USD 210,600)

ITM: 95 advance

Chips in play: 22,410,000

Average stack: 235,895

Day 2 openingblinds: 4,000-8,000 ante 8,000

Player	姓名	Flag	Stack	BB
Chau Hau Tsai	蔡少華	Taiwan	852,000	107
Lau King Lun Alan	Lau King Lun Alan	Hong Kong	817,000	102
Thomas Liffick	Thomas Liffick	UK	789,000	99
Kai Liang Chang	張凱量	Taiwan	668,000	84
Zi Wei Tung	童梓惟	Taiwan	622,000	78
Yu Yong Lin	林煜湧	Taiwan	571,000	71
Chris Shiao	蕭淳瑋	Taiwan	563,000	70
Jung Chou Chen	陳榮州	Taiwan	558,000	70
Li Wei Wang	王立為	Taiwan	552,000	69
Zhi Yu Wang	王智宇	Australia	545,000	68
John Jay Magadan	John Jay Magadan	Philippines	533,000	67
Wing Sze Ho	何詠詩	Hong Kong	515,000	64
Rundulf Martin Gonzales	Rundulf Martin Gonzales	Philippines	444,000	56
Yan Xin Ng	黃衍心	Singapore	406,000	51
Hsin Hui Peng	彭新輝	Taiwan	351,000	44
Fan Yu Tseng	曾凡語	Taiwan	350,000	44
Ging Yu Huang	黃敬淯	Taiwan	346,000	43
Dexter Santos	Dexter Santos	Philippines	345,000	43
Cheng En Tsai	蔡承恩	Taiwan	336,000	42
Chien Hsiang Hung	洪健祥	Taiwan	324,000	41
Chih Feng Li	李志峯	Taiwan	317,000	40
Kai Jan Chou	周楷然	Taiwan	311,000	39
Yan Wen Yee	Yan Wen Yee	Malaysia	308,000	39
Nguyen Thanh Phat	Nguyen Thanh Phat	Australia	304,000	38
Xiang Guang Chang	Xiang Guang Chang	Malaysia	298,000	37
Jereld En Zhi Sam	沈恩至	Singapore	298,000	37
Tzu Shiang Chen	陳梓翔	Taiwan	283,000	35
Chun An Chou	周俊諳	Taiwan	280,000	35
Jennifer Cassell	Jennifer Cassell	Australia	280,000	35
Chia Ta Tsai	蔡佳達	Taiwan	279,000	35
Federico Faranda	Federico Faranda	Germany	268,000	34
Meng Song Kuo	郭孟松	Taiwan	261,000	33
Shao Hung You	游少鴻	Taiwan	260,000	33
Jhan Sing Lai	賴展興	Taiwan	255,000	32
Ya Ting Chou	周雅婷	Taiwan	254,000	32
Duc Kien Tran	Duc Kien Tran	Vietnam	249,000	31
Leong Juns	Leong Juns	Malaysia	240,000	30
Kuan An Chen	陳冠安	Taiwan	238,000	30
Chien Wei Lin	林健偉	Taiwan	234,000	29
楊翔安	楊翔安	Taiwan	228,000	29
Oliver Schulze	Oliver Schulze	Germany	223,000	28
Meng Ling Lin	林孟伶	Taiwan	206,000	26
Kuo Wei Kao	高國崴	Taiwan	205,000	26
Pak Hei Chan	陳柏熙	Hong Kong	204,000	26
Fu An Huang	黃福田	Taiwan	198,000	25
Chih Wei Chen	陳志惟	Taiwan	182,000	23
Kuang Hung Lee	李光紘	Taiwan	181,000	23
Choi Yun Lam Kevin	Choi Yun Lam Kevin	Hong Kong	177,000	22
Yashiro Naoki	Yashiro Naoki	Japan	176,000	22
Napat Buranatavonsom	Napat Buranatavonsom	Thailand	173,000	22
Shmuel Yacov Aizih	Shmuel Yacov Aizih	Israel	173,000	22
Masato Nagamine	Masato Nagamine	Japan	160,000	20
Yiu Cheong Ho	何耀昌	Hong Kong	160,000	20
Hsien Lee Chu	曲獻立	Taiwan	155,000	19
Tan Ong Kwan	Tan Ong Kwan	Malaysia	154,000	19
Hak Do Kim	Hak Do Kim	Korea	151,000	19
Chi Ho Ling	Chi Ho Ling	Hong Kong	149,000	19
Sorawit Suriyakarn	Sorawit Suriyakarn	Thailand	149,000	19
Romain Bier	Romain Bier	France	146,000	18
Nguyen Huu Cao Tri	Nguyen Huu Cao Tri	Vietnam	144,000	18
Tuck Heng Wang	Tuck Heng Wang	Singapore	139,000	17
Chang Le Lin	林長樂	Taiwan	138,000	17
Wei Hao Huang	黃偉豪	Taiwan	135,000	17
Hsu Sheng Chang	張旭昇	Taiwan	133,000	17
Wai Shun Poon	潘韋信	Hong Kong	132,000	17
Pi Ying Hsu	許必穎	Taiwan	132,000	17
Paul Yugendra	Paul Yugendra	Malaysia	128,000	16
Kai Hung Hu	胡凱閎	Taiwan	126,000	16
Justin Geronimo	Justin Geronimo	Philippines	122,000	15
Kaiser Huang	Kaiser Huang	Taiwan	121,000	15
Yick Kuen Kiew	邱一均	Singapore	114,000	14
Shao Tang Lu	呂紹堂	Taiwan	111,000	14
Chien Yu Lin	林千聿	Taiwan	109,000	14
Yun Ping Li	李允平	Taiwan	105,000	13
Lai Koon Lim	Lai Koon Lim	Singapore	103,000	13
Haram Joo	Haram Joo	South Korea	92,000	12
Tse An Lee	李哲安	Singapore	90,000	11
Masayuki Murata	Masayuki Murata	Japan	88,000	11
Chi Jen Chen	陳紀任	Taiwan	87,000	11
Seo Hojin	Seo Hojin	Korea	87,000	11
Si Yang Phua	Si Yang Phua	Singapore	86,000	11
Yung Yu Chen	陳永裕	Taiwan	84,000	11
Shun Jian Yu	余順堅	Singapore	75,000	9
Wai Huen Lee	李煒桓	Hong Kong	73,000	9
Ta Wei Wei	魏大為	Taiwan	68,000	9
Yuan Fu Lo	羅元甫	Taiwan	58,000	7
Tsung En Yeh	葉琮恩	Taiwan	55,000	7
Ka Hei Choi	蔡家熙	Hong Kong	52,000	7
Jonathan Looi	Jonathan Looi	Malaysia	51,000	6
Aladin Reskallah	Aladin Reskallah	France	50,000	6
Dou Houng Chien	簡道桓	Taiwan	45,000	6
Kei Hong Leong	Kei Hong Leong	Singapore	32,000	4
Zong Chi He	何宗奇	Taiwan	25,000	3
Yi Chun Lin	林怡君	Taiwan	24,000	3
Wen Yen Chiu	邱文言	Taiwan	13,000	2

High Roller Megastack – Day 1 update

The High Roller Megastack continued to demonstrate its popularity with 92 top guns signing on at NTD 100,000 (~USD 3,200) each. This generated a prize pool of NTD 8,120,900 (~USD 262,260) which was over three times the advertised guarantee. The event bagged up at ITM of 14 players led by USOP newcomer Jeong Yim from South Korea.

Other notables making the cut were Thailand’s Punnat Punsri, Australia’s Yita Choong, Malaysia’s Webster Chih Wei Lim, South Korea’s Seung Mook Jung, and Hong Kong’s Ivan Hon Cheong Lee to mention a few.

When play resumes, everyone is guaranteed NTD 190,800 (~USD 6,160), however what they will be aiming for is the hefty NTD 2,463,300 (~USD 79,550) top prize.

Date: January 9 to 10, 2024

Buy in: NTD 100,000 (~USD 3,200)

Guarantee: NTD 2,500,000 (~USD 80,740)

Entries: 92

Prize pool: NTD 8,120,900 (~USD 262,260)

ITM: 14 places

Chips in play: 23,000,000

Average stack: 1,642,857

Jeong Yim	Korea	3,625,000
Punnat Punsri	Thailand	2,990,000
Hoong Kiat Alex	Malaysia	2,605,000
Win Meng Tan	Malaysia	2,015,000
Yita Choong	Australia	1,750,000
Paul Nattapatsiri	Thailand	1,685,000
Webster Lim	Malaysia	925,000
Seung Mook Jung	Korea	640,000
William Jia	Australia	635,000
Matthew Belcher	Uk	570,000
Hon Cheong Lee	Hong Kong	427,000
Anton Lu	Australia	420,000
Dae Woong Song	South Korea	340,000
Justin Tsui	Australia	330,000

ROMAIN BIER wins career third USOP trophy at 6-Max Turbo

At the USOP season ender in Da Nang, Vietnam, Romain Bier lifted an impressive two trophies. The winning streak continued at season opener USOP Taiwan. Bier outlasted the 70-entry field, denying Chang Xiang Guang a second series title, to capture a career third USOP trophy and NTD 123,600 (~USD 3,990).

Date: January 9, 2024

Buy in: NTD 6,000 (~USD 195)

Entries: 70

Prize pool: NTD 353,100 (~USD 11,400)

ITM: 9 places

Rank	Player	Flag	Payout in NTD
1	Romain Bier	France	123,600
2	Xiang Guang	Malaysia	70,600
3	Yew Tong	Malaysia	43,300
4	Chun An Chou	Taiwan	30,900
5	Shuwei Huang	Taiwan	23,800
6	Dexter Santos	United States	18,500
7	Lasse Lien	Norway	15,900
8	Chi Lun Huang	Taiwan	14,100
9	Kai Liang Chang	Taiwan	12,400

YUN LI wins first USOP title at Crazy Pineapple

CTP regular Yun Li bagged a career first USOP title at the Crazy Pineapple event. Li outlasted the 37 entry field for a payout of NTD 64,800 (~USD 2,100). She became the third female to ship it at the ongoing festival.

Date: January 8, 2024

Buy in: NTD 5,000 (~USD 160)

Entries: 37

Prize pool: NTD 158,000 (~USD 5,100)

ITM: 5 places

Rank	Player	Flag	Payout in NTD
1	Yun Li	Taiwan	64,800
2	Tsz Man Lau	Hong Kong	39,500
3	Ken Suen	Hong Kong	23,700
4	Yung Yu Chen	Taiwan	17,400
5	Masato Nagamine	Japan	12,600

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!

The festival’s crown jewel MAIN EVENT will take the spotlight starting January 11. Event runs until January 15. For this edition, the guarantee has been bumped up to NTD 15,000,000 (~US$ 478,270), which is NTD 5M more than last year’s launch. To enter, four flights are scheduled.Buy in is NTD 33,000 (~USD 1,075).

Links:

USOP Taiwan – Coverage
USOP Taiwan – Player Guide

*Photos by CTP and USOP

About the Editor

SMP EditorEditor-in-Chief

The SMP Editor covers international poker and iGaming for SoMuchPoker, providing news, tournament coverage, and industry insights. With a focus on accuracy, clarity, and relevance, the editor helps readers stay informed about developments across the global poker community.