USOP Hai Phong Day 1: Yuan Xu, Craig Cooper, Xinxing Tang Win Events; Baiyu Ni, Khayal Abbasov Top KickOff Heats

It was an unpredictable opening day at USOP Hai Phong as heavy rain led to flooded roads and numerous travel cancellations. However, for the players that made it to the Dream Dragon Resort in Hai Phong, Vietnam, it was an exciting moment with the USOP doors wide open to welcome everyone in. By night’s end, the numbers were impressive. Here are the highlights and the festival’s first champions.

USOP Hai Phong – News
USOP Hai Phong – Daily Updates
USOP Hai Phong – Player Guide 

USOP Hai Phong – Day 1 Highlights

Four events lit up the tournament floor on opening day. The most popular was the Madness Kick Off Event with two fligths on deck and the High Roller Warm Up Single Day for the deep-pocketed.

Madness Kick Off Event – Day 1A and Day 1B recap

The official start of USOP Hai Phong was on the first deal of Day 1A of the Madness Kick Off Event. The light start quickly picked up pace that by the end of late registration, 183 entered (130 unique) making for a good start to the festival. Another four hours later, the bubble burst with Dao Van Hien eliminating Joungwoo Park. The remaining 23 players bagged up led by Baiyu Ni with a commanding 669,000 stack, which was 84 bb based on the heat’s closing blinds.

One of the pots that helped Ni get there was cracking aces on a bad beat with pocket Tens improving to a set. Late in the day, Ni knocked out a a player with A♦9♦ straight over J♥J♦ on a board 8♦7♣6♠10♦7♦ with the all in player shoving at the flop.

A larger turnout was seen at Day 1B with 204 entries (147 unique). Only 26 bagged up led by Khayal Abbasov with 659,000, equivalent to 66 bb at the heat’s closing blinds. For most of the day, Abbasov sported one of the biggest stacks and maintained it to the end of day. One of his winning hands was a cooler with K♦K♣ dusting Nguyen Van Hien’s Q♠Q♥. The bubble burst on Xiaxiao Chen with {5h5♠ behind Jia Chi Li‘s Q♥Q♣ on a board Q♠10♣4♠5♠A♦. Li bagged up the second largest at Day 1B of 521,000 (52 bb).

Madness Kick Off Event – Chip Counts

The Madness Kick Off Event drew a combined 387 entries with a 49 players through to the monye round. Up next are Day 1C and Day 1D, running on September 12 at 11:00am and 4:30pm. The event features a VN₫ 5,000,000,000 (~US$ 203,200) guarantee. For a buy in of VN₫ 9,000,000 (~US$ 360), players receive a 30,000 starting stack. Blinds increase every 30 minutes.

Yuan Xu Wins High Roller Warm Up Single Day

The first of ten high roller events pulled in a healthy field of 69 entries (52 unique) for a prize pool of VN₫ 2,594,400,000 (~US$ 105,440). Among the attendees were USOP Danang champion The Naing, recently minted WSOP Online winner Konstantin Held, WSOP bracelet holder Alex Lindop, Triton winner Dao Minh Phu, USOP SHR crusher Hoang Hai Nam, Julian Warhurst, William Jia,  Nguyen Quang Huy, Le Ngoc Minh, Jayden Zalac, and Robert Kiss. 

Of that list, Zalac bubbled with A♥Q♥ losing the flip against Nguyen Tuan Khoa‘s J♦J♥. At ITM, Florent Remi finished 10th, Leo Du Boisbaudry exited 9th, and the final table was formed led by South Africa’s Ahmed Karrim.

You can watch the final table race to victory via the livestream on USOP YouTube.

Karrim went on to finish in 2nd place, falling to famous Chinese YouTuber Yuan Xu at heads up. The final hand was Xu K♥K♣ dominating K♦J♣.

Buy in: VN₫ 44,000,000 (~US$ 1,760)
Guarantee: VN₫ 1,200,000,000 (~US$ 48,770)
Entries: 69 (52 unique)
Prize pool: VN₫ 2,594,400,000 (~US$ 105,440)
ITM: 10 places

Payouts

Other Winners

Craig Cooper Wins Double Board

The Double Board was not so popular with only 12 entries (11 unique). This generated a prize pool of VN₫ 45,120,000 (~US$ 1,833). UK’s Craig Cooper took it to the limit to lift his career second USOP trophy and a payout of VN₫ 29,300,000 (~US$ 1,190).

Xinxing Tang Wins 7-Handed Hyper Turbo

The VN₫ 4,000 (~US$ 160) buy in 7-Handed Hyper Turbo drew 25 entries (24 unique) for a prize pool of VN₫ 84,600,000 (~US$ 3,438). China’s Xinxing Tang nailed it shut to capture his first USOP title, trophy, and payout of VN₫ 42,300,000 (~US$ 1,720).