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

Asia-Pacific
Live Poker
01/09/2024

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).

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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.

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The excitement and suspense continued. Fan behind 14 bb to Tan’s 66 bb, he dropped to 7 bb, doubled up, then cracked AsAh with Ac5d nut flush on a board 7c10cQcJsKc. 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Author:triccia