U Series of Poker (USOP) continued its streak of smashing guarantees and setting new records as the season finale at Furama Resort Danang, Vietnam swelled to incredible heights. The past three days, the spotlight was on the Main Event, where the ambitious target of surpassing its previous record of 1,336 entries and prize pool of VN₫ 29.1+ Billion was set.
After a thrilling four starting heats, that number was obliterated by the 1,595 entries giving rise to an immense prize pool of VN₫ 34,810,800,000 (~$1,434,000). This is now the richest prize pool in Vietnam for a VN₫ 25M (~$1K) buy in event.
Anticipating the moment, representatives of USOP, Crown Poker Club, and Lucky Poker Tour delivered speeches in different languages – English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese – expressing gratitude. In english was USOP Chief Operating Officer, Alex Wong,
“Today we gather here with hearts full of admiration and gratitude as I reflect on the extraordinary success of USOP Danang. This event has not only met but exceeded all expectations. We have boasted record breaking entries in all our high roller events, and it looks like we are about to shatter our biggest record of 1,336 entries in the Main Event…. I stand here deeply honored to have you grace us with your presence…. huge thanks to all of you for making USOP Danang off the charts amazing.”
Additionally, the ceremony marked the official presentation of proceeds for the Red Cross Da Nang. The VN₫ 369,000,000 fund was generated at the High Roller Charity event on November 18. 2023.
Main Event numbers
Date: November 23 to 27, 2023
Venue: Furama Resort Danang
Buy in: VN₫ 25,000,000 (~$1,057)
Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~$617,920)
Entries: 1,595
Prize pool: VN₫ 34,801,800,000 (~$1,434,000)
Offsite Satellite: 25 entries / 4 ITM
Day 1A: 308 entries / 39 ITM
Day 1B: 382 entries / 48 ITM
Day 1C: 576 entries / 72 ITM
Day 1D: 304 entries / 38 ITM
Total entries: 1,595
Total ITM: 201 players
Day 2 – Top 10 in chips
| Player | Stack |
| Alan Pham | 1,109,000 |
| Hwany Lee | 1,008,000 |
| Meherzad Munsaf | 989,000 |
| The Naing | 923,000 |
| Hoàng HảI Nam | 854,000 |
| PhạM Duy Ánh | 833,000 |
| Seung Mook Jung | 813,000 |
| Lee Tsung Ying | 805,000 |
| Wong Ka Fai | 778,000 |
| Nguyen Quang Huy | 748,000 |
Main Event payouts
| 1 | ₫5,720,000,000 |
| 2 | ₫4,045,000,000 |
| 3 | ₫2,631,000,000 |
| 4 | ₫1,952,600,000 |
| 5 | ₫1,467,300,000 |
| 6 | ₫1,200,400,000 |
| 7 | ₫965,300,000 |
| 8 | ₫756,100,000 |
| 9 | ₫573,300,000 |
| 10-12 | ₫428,500,000 |
| 13-15 | ₫331,700,000 |
| 16-18 | ₫264,900,000 |
| 19-21 | ₫211,300,000 |
| 22-24 | ₫177,200,000 |
| 25-27 | ₫149,600,000 |
| 28-36 | ₫125,300,000 |
| 37-45 | ₫104,100,000 |
| 46-54 | ₫89,800,000 |
| 55-63 | ₫79,400,000 |
| 64-72 | ₫72,800,000 |
| 73-81 | ₫68,700,000 |
| 82-90 | ₫65,500,000 |
| 91-99 | ₫62,300,000 |
| 100-108 | ₫59,100,000 |
| 109-117 | ₫56,300,000 |
| 118-126 | ₫53,900,000 |
| 127-135 | ₫51,500,000 |
| 136-144 | ₫49,100,000 |
| 145-153 | ₫47,000,000 |
| 154-162 | ₫44,900,000 |
| 163-171 | 42,800,000 |
| 172-180 | 40,700,000 |
| 181-189 | 38,900,000 |
| 190-198 | 37,200,000 |
| 199-201 | 35,500,000 |
Main Event Day 1C and Day 1D recap
On Saturday, November 25, 2023, the final two flights ran with Day 1C drawing the largest of 576 entries. India’s Ritwik Khana delivered the bubble holding the nut flush over straight. Two players bagged up the biggest stacks in the 800k range. Vietnamese high roller pro Pham Duy Anh was seen grinding the felt all day to build a stack of 833,000 (83 bb). Taiwan’s Lee Tsung Ying racked up 805,000 (80 bb).
With Day 1C attracting a monster field, Day 1D (turbo flight) was delayed one hour. It drew 304 entries to bring the total Main Event entry field to 1,595. The bubble burst on two players at separate tables – Khoi Nguyen and Ian Lee.
Blinds at 5K-10K Nguyen raised 150,000 (10k behind) and was called by Konstantin Held to see the flop 
. Nguyen checked, Held shoved, Nguyen called with 
which was ahead of Held’s 
. The turn 
and river 
improved Held to eliminate Nguyen.
At Lee’s table, he three-bet all in with 
, Hoang Huy four bet-jammed with 
, initial raiser Seungmook Jung called with 
. The board was checked down, Lee missed the board and was eliminated. On the flip side, Alan Pham bagged the chip lead with 1,109,000 (110 bb) in chips. This put him up top as overall Day 2 chip leader.
For the Day 2 qualifier list, head to USOP Danang – Live Updates Main Event Day 2
Links:
USOP Danang – Festival Results
USOP Danang – Coverage
USOP Danang – Photos
USOP Danang – Player Guide
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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