Action packed Day 2 at U Series of Poker (USOP) Taiwan with an influx of new players arriving at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City. By night’s end, pots bloated and another batch of first time USOP winners were minted. Here are the highlights.
Mystery Bounty draws 388 for NTD 5.6M prize pool; Justin Geronimo bags big
The Mystery Bounty was the hottest item of the day to see the NTD 3M guarantee breached well before the start of the last flight. The last two flights brought in a combined 293 entries for 388 total and a prize pool of NTD 5,645,400 (~USD 181,510). Filipino player JustinGeronimo crushed the felt, bagging a huge 717,000, to earn the overall chip lead entering Day 2.
Justin Geronimo – file photo
Coming Day 2 on Sunday, January 7 starting at 12:15pm, 49 players will return, each one guaranteed a piece of the pot and a chance at drawing for mystery bounty prizes. The most hunted will be the NTD 450,000 (~USD 14,470) biggest bounty followed by second largest of NTD 250,000 (~USD 8,040) with one reserved for the final table. In addition to bounties, NTD 768,600 (~USD 24,700) awaits the eventual champion.
Date: January 5 to 7, 2024
Buy in: NTD 16,500 (~USD 528)
Guarantee: NTD 3,000,000 (~USD 96,450)
Total entries: 388
Total prize pool: NTD 5,645,400 (~USD 181,510)
Day 2 / ITM; 49 players
Chips in play: 9,700,000
Average stack: 197,959
Day 2 opening blinds: 3000-6000 ante 6000
Day 2 qualifiers – 49 players
Player
Flag
Stack
BB
Justin Geronimo
Philippines
717,000
120
John Perry
Australia
521,000
87
Cha Hua Tsai
Taiwan
481,000
80
Jae Won Choi
South Korea
435,000
73
Yong Jie Syu
Taiwan
408,000
68
Kean Wei Tan
Malaysia
385,000
64
Zhe Ming Lee
Taiwan
369,000
62
Jian Yu Chen
Taiwan
362,000
60
Wai Huen Lee
Hong Kong
296,000
49
Hsien Lee Chiu
Taiwan
273,000
46
Chien Yu Wang
Taiwan
261,000
44
Kar Wee Chee
Malaysia
237,000
40
Yu Hsiu Juan
Taiwan
220,000
37
Shau Hong You
Taiwan
219,000
37
Chien Fa Chou
Taiwan
217,000
36
Nien Heng Li
Taiwan
216,000
36
Tsu Lin Tsao
Taiwan
212,000
35
Yu Kai Wang
Taiwan
209,000
35
Chang Hau Huang
Taiwan
201,000
34
Kyle Bao Diep
Vietnam
191,000
32
Li Han Huang
Taiwan
187,000
31
Jun Li
UK
179,000
30
Jia Yu Liu
Taiwan
175,000
29
Patrick Liang
Taiwan
157,000
26
Yu Hua Chang
Taiwan
151,000
25
Jamel Sarray
Italy
150,000
25
Edwin Dela Cruz
Philippines
141,000
24
Kai Yi Sun
China
140,000
23
Huan Bin Chang
Malaysia
129,000
22
Ryuji Ito
Japan
127,000
21
Justin Tsui
Australia
125,000
21
Po Yuan Huang
Taiwan
124,000
21
Nguyen Dieu Phuong Linh
Vietnam
122,000
20
Kuan Yu LIn
Taiwan
119,000
20
Fan Yu Tseng
Taiwan
116,000
19
Chieh Chi Liu
Taiwan
115,000
19
Clement Haro
France
115,000
19
Zong Chi He
Taiwan
110,000
18
Chih Wei Chen
Taiwan
101,000
17
Masato Nagamine
Japan
100,000
17
Tse An Lee
Taiwan
91,000
15
Yiu Cheong Ho
Hong Kong
80,000
13
Yi Hsiang Lu
Taiwan
77,000
13
Le Ngoc Minh
Vietnam
75,000
13
Aladin Reskallah
France
63,000
11
Ging Yu Huang
Taiwan
60,000
10
Hong Yu Hsieh
Taiwan
60,000
10
Chi Jen Chen
Taiwan
40,000
7
Tao Chu
Taiwan
36,000
6
WILLIAM JIA wins maiden USOP title at High Roller Warm Up
The High Roller Warm Up brought some of the region’s most decorated to the tables which included two-time USOP super high roller winner Hoang Hai Nam on his first Taiwan venture. The event drew 61 entries to more than double the guarantee. The lone Australian at the final table, William Jia, topped the tough competition, denying local favorite Nevan Yu Chung Chang a back to back, to clinch his first ever USOP title. Included in the win was the first High Roller Series trophy and a cool payout of NTD 915,400 (~USD 29,430).
Jia resumed from his strong 2023 run where he reached an impressive 14 final tables on his first Asian circuit experience. This earned him over $360,000 in winnings. Today’s win marks Jia’s second cash of the series having finished 3rd at opening day’s Mini High Roller.
Decorated French player Vincent Chauve was the last head hunter remaining at the Big Bounty to clinch his first ever USOP title. On Chauve’s road to victory, he cleaned out nine hunters, each one paying out NTD 5,400 for NTD 48,600 in bounties. Added to the first prize payout of NTD 97,700, the champ collected a combined NTD 146,300 (~USD 4,700).
Shao Me Yang wins maiden USOP title at Pot Limit Omaha Turbo
31 Pot Limit Omaha enthusiasts came out for the variant’s evening turbo, among them was Taiwan’s Shao Me Yang, a known frequenter of PLO games. Yang took it to the limit to bring home a maiden USOP title and NTD 94,700 (~USD 3,045) in winnings.
VIVIAN WANYU LO shines at Six Max Hyper Turbo for first live win
Swell turnout at the day’s last trophy event with a roaring 93 signups for the Six Max Hyper Turbo. The short-handed fast-paced game wrapped up in under five hours. It was a maiden victory for USOP’s Vivian Wanyu Lo after putting the brakes on the more achieved Japanese pro Nobuaki Sasaki at heads up. Lo became the first female to win at the series. In addition to lifting her career first trophy, Lo also walked away with a cool payout of NTD 126,000 (~USD 4,050).
Following a booming 2023, USOP opens the new year with a bigger and richer Taiwan festival. Compared to its launch last year, the schedule has increased from 23 trophy events to45 trophy events.This ensures players plenty of chances to become a USOP champion. Buy ins range fromNTD 5,000 (~USD 160) up to NTD 50,000 (~USD 1,590).With two days in the books, the mantle is down to 35 trophies. Claim yours!
In partnership with theChinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP),the festival runs fromJanuary 5 to 15, 2024at theAsia Poker Arena.Itis headlined by theNTD 15,000,000 (~US$ 478,270) guaranteed MAIN EVENTwhich gets underway starting January 11 and runs until January 15. Buy in set at NTD 33,000 (~USD 1,075).
