Attendance continued to escalate at Day 5 and 6 of U Series of Poker – USOP Danang 2024 as more Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean players joined large contingents already present such as the Philippines, Russia, and Taiwan. In turn, this sent event prize pools soaring to triple USD digits generating the juiciest payouts to date. Here’s a rundown of the past two days and winners.
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 – By The Numbers
Taking a look at the latest numbers of USOP Danang 2024, three events produced double digit billion VN₫ prize pools:
Mystery Millions – VN₫ 10,956,100,000 (~US 442,000)
High Roller Championship – VN₫ 11,271,400,000 (~USD 454,500)
Superstar Challenge – VN₫ 12,819,500,000 (~USD 517,000) – event in progress
In terms of attendance, the Sunday Superstack attracted 307 entries, making it the largest single-day event (non-phased) of the series. This marked the second event to surpass 300 entries, following the Mystery Millions Day 1B flight, which boasted 337 entries.
Other impressive results, Vietnam claimed six of the eleven trophies awarded the past two days with Thanh Hung Tran binking back-to-back victories.
Event Recaps
Zhi Yuan Xu overcomes decorated pros to win first live tournament title at High Roller Championship
After a three hour heads up marathon, China’s Zhi Yuan Xu defeated the highly decorated Aussie player Josh McCully to clinch his first ever live title and mountainous payout of VN₫ 3,235,000,000 (~USD 130,500). Even more impressive, Xu entered the final day with just 7 bb and ranked 12th out of 12 returning players. Still shaking from the win, Xu shared,
“This is my first time here in Danang. I am very excited and very happy. I was shortest coming into today and I feel I played good. I really enjoyed it! Heads up was around three hours and it was good to get to chat with Josh. I don’t play tournaments alot so this was fun. I’ll definitely be playing the other tournaments.”
Watch Xu’s race to victory via the livestream: HR Championship – Livestream
The High Roller Championship brought 83 runners to the gates each one ponying up the VN₫ 150 Million (~USD 6,173) buy in. The first day bagged up at ITM of 12 players led by Josh McCully. McCully went on to carry the largest stack to the final table. On the opposite end was Xu, still with the shortest of 9 bb.
Xu’s first break came on a lucky 
pairing the Queen to survive Hoang Hai Nam‘s 
. With the table still at max, Xu’s aggression awarded him numerous pots, enough to eliminate Pham Thanh Hai (9th) with 
over 
that missed. This sent Xu zooming to second rank.
Also on the rise was David Erquiaga who jumped into the lead early and widened to half the chips in play at five remaining. However, at four-handed, Erquiaga was sent plunging on a failed bluff. He pushed on the river with Ace-high, McCully had a set of Eights.
McCully went on to carry his massive stack into heads up, ahead 113 bb to Xu’s 28 bb. The momentum shifted when Xu landed trips Fours and trips Tens that got paid to take the lead. The next hour, both players tugged at the chip lead until Xu finally closed it out.
Date: March 23 to 24, 2024
Buy in: VN₫ 22,000,000 (~USD 905)
Guarantee: VN₫ 500,000,000 (~USD 101,000)
Entries: 83 (57 unique)
Prize pool: VN₫ 11,271,400,000 (~USD 455,040)
ITM: 12 places
| Place | Player | Flag | Payout in VND |
| 1 | Zhi Yuan Xu | China | 3,235,000,000 |
| 2 | Josh McCully | Australia | 2,160,200,000 |
| 3 | Thomas Ward | New Zealand | 1,463,300,000 |
| 4 | David Erquiaga | Philippines | 1,029,200,000 |
| 5 | Zheng Xiaosheng | China | 752,000,000 |
| 6 | Jin Hoon Lee | Korea | 571,600,000 |
| 7 | Tan Kean Wei | Malaysia | 452,800,000 |
| 8 | Haitao Luan | China | 374,500,000 |
| 9 | Pham Thanh Hai | Vietnam | 323,900,000 |
| 10 | Hyunsup Kim | Korea | 323,900,000 |
| 11 | Ben Loo | Malaysia | 292,500,000 |
| 12 | Nguyen Quang Huy | Vietnam | 292,500,000 |
Bui Duc Thien aka Dai Sy wins the Mystery Millions; Robert Emmerson draws biggest bounty
The Mystery Millions is always a crowd favorite with this edition moreso attracting 753 entries across three flights. This sent the prize pool ballooning more than double to nearly VN₫ 11 Million. After a heads up deal, Vietnam’s Bui Duc Thien aka Dai Sy and Farukh Tach played for the trophy. Bui won it for his first recorded live win and career high score of VN₫ 1,000,000,000 (~USD 40,340).
Another big winner was Robert Emmerson who drew the largest bounty worth VN₫ 500 Million (~USD 20K)! Emmerson eliminated a total of six players and finished in 8th place to pocket a combined VN₫ 735,600,000 (~USD 28,670). This put him third place in the money ranking. Not a bad two day’s work!
Make sure to check out the live updates leading up to the final table then watch the entire final table race to victory via the livestream.
Mystery Millions – Live Udates
Final Table – Livestream
Date: March 22 to 24, 2024
Buy in: VN₫ 16,500,000 (~USD 679)
Guarantee: VN₫ 4,000,000,000 (~USD 161,400)
Entries: 753
Prize pool: VN₫ 6,456,100,000 (~USD 260,440
Bounty pool: VN₫ 4,500,000,000 (~USD 181,530)
Total prize pool: VN₫ 10,956,100,000 (~USD 441,970)
ITM: 94 players
*Heads up deal, played for trophy – bounties not included
| Place | Player | Flag |
Payout in VN₫
|
| 1 | Bui Duc Thien “Dai Sy” | Viet Nam | 1,000,000,000* |
| 2 | Farukh Tach |
Afghanistan
|
843,600,000* |
| 3 | Yu Xiao Tong | China | 515,100,000 |
| 4 | Lichen Li | China | 379,700,000 |
| 5 | Xiao Hu Liu | China | 295,600,000 |
| 6 | Romain Bier | France | 23,290,000 |
| 7 | Le Hyun Dong | Korea | 186,100,000 |
| 8 | Robert Emmerson | UK | 145,300,000 |
| 9 | Zeyu Chen | China | 116,700,000 |
USOP Danang 2024 – Festival Results
Suya Lee battles for the trophy at heavily fielded Sunday Superstack
It was a roaring weekend with another popular event on deck, Sunday Superstack, churning out the largest field for a single day event. A total of 307 signed up at VN₫ 11 Million a pop for a prize pool that nearly tripled its guarantee. 38 players dipped into the massive VN₫ 2,977,900,000 (~USD 120,220) pot with the final two players striking a deal for the largest cut.
In the end, it was Erik Rozhynskyi claiming the biggest portion of VN₫ 600M while Suya Lee went on to seize the trophy after a battle that lasted more than an hour. Other notables that ran deep were young gun Khoi Nguyen and Bien Mai who delivered the bubble.
Date: March 24, 2024
Buy in: VN₫ 11,000,000 (~USD 453)
Guarantee: VN₫ 1,00,000,000 (~USD 40,400)
Entries: 307 (240 unique)
Prize pool: VN₫ 2,977,900,000 (~USD 120,220)
ITM: 38 places
*Heads up deal, play for trophy
| Place | Player | Flag | Payout in VN₫ |
| 1 | Suya Lee | Korea | 503,500,000* |
| 2 | Erik Rozhynskyi | Germany | 600,000,000* |
| 3 | Chaopeng Chen | China | 291,100,000 |
| 4 | Khoi Nguyen | Vietnam | 189,200,000 |
| 5 | Tien Thanh Nguyen | Vietnam | 144,900,000 |
| 6 | Salim William | Indonesia | 118,400,000 |
| 7 | Termsinvanit Dacha | Thailand | 97,500,000 |
| 8 | Bien Mai | Vietnam | 80,700,000 |
| 9 | Alok Pradip Birewar | India | 67,300,000 |
USOP Danang 2024 – Festival Results
Thanh Hung Tran claims back-to-back trophies
Vietnamese live circuit regular Thanh Hung Tran was at it again, taking down not one but two trophies! When we say again, Tran seems to have a knack for multiple series wins having done the same at last year’s WPT Prime Vietnam festival. His latest trophies were at the Pot Limit Omaha Turbo and Short Deck, earning a combined VN₫ 273,300,000 (~USD 11,000). Tran became the second player to win two events at the series following the trail of Thailand’s Rungrot Nuannoi.
Other Vietnamese takedowns
Three other Vietnamese players also walked away victorious. Van Nhut Do earned his first known live title at the Big Bounty event for a payout of VN₫ 85,700,000. In addition, he redeemed a whopping 13 bounties to add 39,000,000 to his winnings for a total of VN₫ 124,700,000 (~USD 5,000).
Over at the Day 5 Mini High Roller, Quang Trung Doan topped the 38 entry field for a payout of VN₫ 302,300,000 (~USD 12,2000). This was his first international brand live title. At the Day 6 Mini High Roller, Dinh Giang Truong reached an ICM deal with Toan Hoang Bui and took the crown for his bigger stack. This was Dinh’s first live title, earning him VN₫ 477,400,000 (~USD 19,250).
USOP Danang 2024 – Festival Results
China wins three trophies
With their numbers growing at the series, it is of no surprise to see Chinese players take down numerous title. The newest winners were Jinlong Hu, Xin Yuan, and Lake Zhang. The latter Zhang overcame the 100 entry field fo the Bounty Hunter Hyper Turbo to secure the VN₫ 112,200,000 (~USD 4,500) top prize along with 10 bounties amounting to a total of VN₫ 20 Million.
WSOP Online bracelet winner Jinlong Hu is another Asia circuit regular often seen at the final table and lifting trophies. Hu topped the Day 5 Win The Button event for his career second USOP side event win and a payout of VN₫ 69,700,000 (~USD 2,800).
For Xin Yuan, he has continued to impress. Winning his first live title just last year in Hanoi, Yuan has since picked up a total of five trophies. His victory at the Day 6 Win The Button was his career second USOP win. Along with the golden merch, Xuan earned VN₫ 77,200,000 (~USD 3,200).
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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