Halfway highlights of USOP Danang 2024

 

With one week in the books, the U Series of Poker – USOP Danang 2024 Part 1 festival is halfway through. Games have been running since March 19 at the Pullman Danang Beach Resort in Danang, Vietnam and will conclude on April 1. With each passing day, attendance has swelled, setting the stage for a massive second half.

USOP Danang 2024 – Schedule 
USOP Danang 2024 – Festival Results
USOP Danang 2024 – Player of the Series Leaderboard
USOP Danang 2024 – Photo Gallery

USOP Danang 2024: Numbers and Newcomers

Doors opened with the Kickoff Event that attracted 535 entries to double up the prize pool over VN₫ 4 Billion. USOP newcomer, Vladimir Litasov, clinched it for his first ever live title and a payout of VN₫ 800 Million (~USD 32K). Six days later, Litasov grabbed the spotlight again at the Freezeout Event, outlasting 125 players for his second series title. Litasov joined Thailand’s Rungrot Nuannoi and Thanh Hung Tran in the multi-winners club.

Setting the bar high at the single day side events was the Mid Week Special, taking place on Day 3 of the series. It drew a substantial 187 entries to boost the guarantee from half a million VN₫ to over a million VN₫. Hwanhoe Choe was most envied, turning his VN₫ 6.6 Million (~USD 272) buy in into a payday of VN₫ 270 Million (~USD 10,900).

Several days later, the bar was surpassed at the Sunday Superstack with a thunder of 307 entries produced. USOP newcomer hailing from Korea, Suya Lee, emerged victorious after a grueling heads up match that saw the average stack down to just 5 bb each. This is currently the largest single day event of the series.

At the High Roller Series, the field ballooned to triple digits at the High Roller Deepstack wiith 105 entries. This drove the prize pool just shy of half a million USD. Another newcomer stole the show, the highly decorated American pro, Joseph Cheong, for a hefty payout of VN₫ 1.59 Billion (~USD 64,800).

It wasnt until Day 4 did the numbers reach even greater heights. The Super High Roller became the first event to reach VN₫ eight figures, VN₫ 11,271,000 ~(~USD 455,000) to be precise, generated by the 87 entry field. Again it was a new face in the crowd that conquered. China’s Zhi Yuan Xu defeated Australian ace Josh McCully to seize the VN₫ 3,235,000,000 ~(~USD 130,00) top prize.

The pace continued at Day 5 as the Mystery Millions accumulated a combined 753 entries, resulting in a substantial prize pool of VN₫ 10,956,100 Billion (~USD 441,970). Day 1B drew the largest flight with 337 entries. Dare we say it? Yes, Vietnam’s own Duc Thien Bui aka Dai Sy, a USOP first timer captured the win and a career high VN₫ 1.44 Billion (~USD 58,000).

Probably the most staggering attraction was the Superstar Challenge that saw 118 entries cough up the VN₫ 120 Million (~USD 4,938) buy in. The richest tournament prize pool was created of VN₫ 12,819,500,000 (~USD 517,000). Running red hot, Josh McCully shipped it for VN₫ 3,222,800,000 (USD 130K), which was the second largest payout (by a hair) of the series to date. With back-to-back deep runs at the SHR events, McCully is the festival’s richest earner at the moment with VN₫ 5.3 Billion (~USD 200K). He also moved up to 1st rank in POS race.

Other big fields:

Event 20: Deepstack – 145 entries – You Jun Hong
Event 25: Big Bounty (3M) – 132 entries – Van Nhut Do
Event 34: Bounty Hunter – Hyper Turbo – 100 entries – Lake Zhang
Event 38: Mini High Roller – 91 entries – The Naing

Links:

USOP Danang 2024 – Schedule 
USOP Danang 2024 – Festival Results
USOP Danang 2024 – Player of the Series Leaderboard
USOP Danang 2024 – Photo Gallery