USOP Grand Finale 2024: Hon Cheong Lee Wins High Roller 6-Max; Mini Main To Crown A Champion

The USOP Grand Finale is marking its halfway point in their eventful series calendar at the Pullman Grand Hotel in Hai Phong, Vietnam. This extravagant year-ender series presented a  VND 100 Billion (~USD 4 Million) guaranteed prize pool, covering 69 events.

USOP Grand Finale – Mini Main Event

One of the anticipated events of the USOP Grand Finale was the Mystery Hunter however at the last second, it was changed to the Mini Main Event, enticing players with a guarantee of VND 15 Billion (~USD 590,000).

There were a total of 1,166 entries who punched their VND 20,000,000 (~USD 780) ticket for a seat and helped create a prize pool of VND 19,728,720,000 (~USD 777,000), surpassing the original guarantee.

Flight Results

Four Day One flights were opened to provide an opportunity for the top qualifiers to play at the Day 2 Final and earn a guaranteed ITM spot.

Read up on the flights via the SMP Live Updates.

Kartik Ved Bags Flight A Lead

Day 1A saw 220 entries with the top 28 advancers led by Kartik Ved of India with 608,000 chips. Li Yongxin of China had the second-ranked stack of 594,000 while France’s Jules Rohr completed the flight’s top three with 579,000.

Huyesin Akgul Tops Flight B

Day 1B brought in 139 hopefuls to compete for 16 qualifying slots. Leading Day 1B advancers was Akgul Huyesin of Turkey, who bagged 653,000 to continue into the Day 2 Final. China’s Chen Zeyu followed a distant second with 377,000 chips while South Korea’ Lee Hasung took the third spot with 343,000.

Biao Guo Tops Largest Flight

The Day 1C flight had the largest participation with 419 entries taking to the tables, opening up 51 seats for the Day 2 Final. China’s Biao Guo led all Day 1C qualifiers with a chip count of 715,000 which was closely followed by  Ivan Karatayeu of Belarus with 706,000. Vietnam’s own Nguyen Van Thanh sits in the third rank with 641,000 chips.

Xudong Yang Sits Atop Flight D

The last Day 1D flight saw 388 entries compete for the final chance to earn a Day 2 Final seat with only the top 49 players would be allowed to advance. China’s Yang Xudong amassed the top stack of 899,000, also making him the chip leader entering into the Day 2 final. Ma Haohui of China has the flight’s second-ranked chips with 624,000 with Vietnam’s Le Manh Cuong at an arm’s distance with 621,000 chips.

A total of 144 qualifiers return for today’s Day 2 Final with each player guaranteed a minimum VND 35,000,000 (~USD 1,300) for reaching this far in the event. Of course, all eyes have their sights on the champion’s share of VND 3,200,000,000 (~USD 126,000),a prestigious USOP Trophy and the title of USOP Hai Phong Grand Finale Mini Main Event Champion.

Hon Cheong Lee Wins High Roller: 6-Max

Another noteworthy “guarantee event” was the High Roller: 6-Max, which offered a VND 1.8 Billion (~USD 70,800) guaranteed prize pool. The event attracted a total of 105 entries, who ponied up the VND 66,000,000 (~ USD 2,600) buy-in and brought the total prize pool to VND 5.922 Billion (~USD 233,000).

The first day played for over 12 hours until only the top 10 players remained to advance to yesterday’s Day 2 final. The 10 players played down to a final table of 7, with all the action from that final table available for replay at the USOP official Facebook page.

It took a little over 4 hours of power to determine a champion. Eventually, it was Hong Kong’s Hon Cheong Lee, who outplayed Singapore’s Bao Qiang Ho in just half an hour of heads-up battle. Hon Cheong Lee earned the title of High Roller: 6-Max Champion and took home the USOP trophy and the lion’s share of VND 1,540,000,000 (~USD 60,000).

Final Table Payouts

Links:

USOP Grand Finale – Schedule
USOP Grand Finale- Photos