U Series of Poker 2024 season opener pays out over NTD 103.6M (~$3.28M) in Taiwan; festival highlights

Returning to Taiwan for its second consecutive season kickoff, U Series of Poker (USOP) delivered another lucrative festival to add to its already stellar portfolio. Running from January 5 to 15, 2024 at CTP Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, the eleven-day series paid out over NTD 103.6 Million (~USD 3.28 Million) in prizes across 45 trophy events. This was more than double its initial visit. Adding to the stats, this was the brand’s third consecutive 1000+ Main Event entry field and third consecutive seven figure Main Event prize pool.

USOP is already gearing up for its next event which will take place at the gorgeous coastal city of Da Nang in Vietnam. In partnership with Crown Poker Club and Lucky Poker Tour, the upcoming event features a boosted VN₫ 60 Billion (~USD 2.44 Million) in guarantees. Last time the brand was at this location, it generated a record breaking festival prize pool of VN₫ 163,438,680,000 (~USD 6,741,140). Players can start marking down the USOP Da Nang dates: March 19 to April 1, 2024. Just a heads up, weather-wise, this is the best time of year to be in Da Nang.

Now here are the highlights of USOP Taiwan.

USOP Taiwan – Coverage
USOP Taiwan – Player Guide
USOP Taiwan – Festival Results

Festival Review

Date: January 5 to 15, 2024
Venue: CTP Asia Poker Arena, Taipei City
Festival prize pool: NTD 103,623,365 (~USD 3,281,900)
Trophy events: 45
Main Event entries: 1,100
Main Event prize pool: NTD 32,010,000 (~USD 1,030,500)
Main Event winner: Sam Chen Yu Hung – NTD 5,383,700 (~~USD 170,500)
Superstar Challenge winner: Chih Wei Fan – NTD 3,067,000 (~USD 97,130)
Biggest festival earner: Sam Chen Yu Hung – NTD 5,383,700 (~~USD 173,300)
Largest High Roller Series prize pool: Super High Roller – NTD 10,776,700 (~USD 346,456)
Multi-winners:  Yita Choong (2), Clement Haro (2), Keon Young Oh (2), Wei Ting Chen (2)
Most final table cashes: Punnat Punsri (4), Ivan Hon Cheong Lee (4), Shao Me Yang (4)
Most cashes: Jun Li (6), Hon Cheong Lee (5) William Jia (5) Alan Khoo (5), Dexter Santos (5), Dou Houng Chien (5), Kim Hak Do (5), Wai Huen Lee (5), Yan Wen Yee, Yu Yong Lin (5)
Trophy by Flag: Taiwan (23), Malaysia (5), South Korea (5), France (4), Australia (4), Hong Kong (2), Japan (1)

Main Event

The Main Event drew 1,100 entries for a prize pool of NTD 32,010,000 (~USD 1,030,500). This was the brand’s third consecutive Main Event million USD prize pool following record setters USOP Da Nang and USOP Hanoi.

Taiwan’s Sam Chen Yu Hung locked up the coveted win to emerge the single largest tournament earner and the festival’s biggest earner. Hung pocketed a massive career high payout of NTD 5,383,700 (~USD 170,500).

Top 10 in earnings

Player	Flag	Cashes	Total earnings in NTD	~USD conversion
Sam Chen Yu Hung	Taiwan	1	5,383,700	170,530
Hon Cheong Lee	Hong Kong	5	4,989,700	158,050
Gyeong Byeong Lee	South Korea	1	3,774,000	119,545
Chih Wei Fan	Taiwan	3	3,647,400	115,535
Punnat Punsri	Thailand	4	3,168,100	100,350
Yita Choong	Australia	3	3,023,300	95,765
Tao Wei Chang	Taiwan	1	2,748,200	87,050
Yu Sheng Lin	Taiwan	2	2,474,700	78,390
Calvin Kean Wei Tan	Malaysia	4	2,312,800	73,260
Yo Hwan Lim	South Korea	2	2,221,600	70,370

Most Cashes: JUN LI

A long list of players cashed multiple times at the series with UK’s Jun Li edging them all. Li cashed six times for a total earning of NTD 310,800 (~USD 9,840).

Place	Event	Payout in NTD
45	Mystery Bounty	19,300
12	Sunday Superstack	43,300
9	Midweek Superstack	56,000
12	Mystery Rush Bounty	19,500
5	6-Card PLO	15,700
25	Main Event	157,000

Three players with four final table cashes

Out of all the multi-cashers, Ivan Hon Cheong Lee, Punnat Punsri, and Shao Me Yang had the most final table payouts. Each one had four ft cashes. Lee emerged the richest, banking a combined NTD 4,989,700 (~USD 158,050); Punsri collected a combined NTD 3,168,100 (~USD 100,350); and Yang stayed consistent at the non-high roller events for a combined NTD 316,400 (~USD 10,000).

Taiwan claims over half of the trophies

Not only did Taiwanese players came out in full force, they also dominated the games, claiming 23 trophies, that’s over half of the events won! The biggest home court winner was none other than Sam Chen Yu Hung at the Main Event. Chih Wei Fan also brought down the house with his stunning comeback victory at the Superstar Challenge.

To close out the series, Tao Wei Chang shipped the High Roller Finale, outlasting the 84-entry field and defeating famous South Korean player Yo Hwan “BoxeR” Lim at heads up. Chang pocketed a career high NTD 2,748,200 (~USD 87,050) payout and his first ever USOP title. He was the seventh biggest earner of the festival.

Multi-winners

Yita Choong

Champion – Mini High Roller – NTD 412,200 (~USD 13,000)
Champion – High Roller Megastack – NTD 2,436,300 (~USD 77,130)

Clement Haro

Champion – Mystery Bounty – NTD 1,105,600 (~USD 35,700)
Champion – The Closer – NTD 415,900 (~USD 13,165)

Keon Young Oh

Champion – Bounty Hunter Hyper Turbo – NTD 77,700 (~USD 2,460)
Champion – Freezeout – NTD 160,000 (~USD 5,065)

Wei Ting Chen

Champion – 10/10/10 – NTD 90,700 (~USD 2,870)
Champion – Short Deck Turbo – NTD 84,500 (~USD 2,675)

*That concludes the SMP coverage of 2024 USOP Taiwan. Stay tuned for more updates on the upcoming USOP Da Nang festival.