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

 

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).

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’s Hoang 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.

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

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

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

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

Well known female local player Jia Chi Lee produced 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

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

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 to 45 trophy events. With four days in the books, 18 have already been claimed. Time to win yours!

In partnership with the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP), the festival runs from January 5 to 15, 2024 at 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 jewel MAIN EVENT will take the spotlight featuring a NTD 15,000,000 (~US$ 478,270) guarantee. Four entry flights are scheduled starting January 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