USOP Taiwan Day 3 highlights: Clement Haro, Ying Zhe Huang, Chia Yun Wu, Wei Jen Wang win trophies; SS challenge down to final 9

To date, the theme of the festival has been first time U Series of Poker (USOP) winners. That trend continued with Clement Haro, Ying Zhe Huang, Chia Yun Wu, Wei Jen Wang, and Tan Ong Kwan claiming trophies on Day 3 of festivities. In addition, the Superstar Challenge bagged up at the Final 9 led by UK’s Matthew Belcher. Here are the highlights.

CLEMENT HARO scores a mil at Mystery Bounty

French Poker Team “Cimitarra” is off to a great start with their very own Clement Haro rising from 9 bb at the final table to champion at the Mystery Bounty.

“It feels good to win, especially when friends are around! It’s my first win in live. Effectively I started the FT with 9 bb. I can’t say that I owned my opponents post-flop or that I put a lot of pressure by 3-betting light, I just pushed my stack many times on the middle and got lucky.”

For Haro’s maiden live title, he pocketed NTD 768,600 plus 6 bounties amounting to NTD 337,000 (one bounty was the second largest worth NTD 250K), for a career high grand total payout of NTD 1,105,600 (~USD 35,700). He became the first player to win NTD seven figures!

Wai Huen Lee draws biggest bounty

Hong Kong’s Wai Huen Lee was the most envied player after he drew the lone big bounty reward of NTD 450,000 (~USD 14,470). Lee earned NTD 25,900 for 27th place plus two bounty rewards to bring his grand total payout to NTD 555,900 (~USD 17,950) putting him top five in winnings.

Date: January 5 to 7, 2024
Buy in: NTD 16,500 (~USD 530)
Guarantee: NTD 3,000,000 (~USD 96,450)
Total entries: 388
Total prize pool: NTD 5,645,400 (~USD 181,510)
ITM: 49 players

*Payouts do not include bounties

Rank	Player	Flag	Payout in NTD
1	Clement Haro	France	768,600
2	Tsu Lin Tsao	Taiwan	538,000
3	John Perry	Australia	345,000
4	Chien Yun Wang	New Zealand	228,000
5	Justin Jerome Geronimo	Philippines	176,000
6	Chang Huan Bin	Malaysia	146,000
7	Kean Wei Tan	Malaysia	122,000
8	Kuanyu Lin	Taiwan	99,500
9	Gingyu Huang	Taiwan	77,000
10	Zhe Ming Lee	Taiwan	64,500
11	Zong Chi He	Taiwan	64,500
12	Chih Wei Chen	Taiwan	64,500
13	Po Yuan Huang	Taiwan	54,300
14	Yong Jie Syu	Taiwan	54,300
15	Shao Hong Yu	Taiwan	54,300
16	Chang Hau Huang	Taiwan	44,500
17	Jamel Sarray	Italy	44,500
18	Kar Wee Chee	Malaysia	44,500
19	Hsien Lee Chiu	Taiwan	37,100
20	Ryuji Ito	Japan	37,100
21	Justin Tsui	Australia	37,100
22	Kai Yi Sun	China	30,800
23	Jae Won Choi	Hong Kong	30,800
24	Yiu Cheong Ho	Hong Kong	30,800
25	Edwin Dela Cruz	Philippines	25,900
26	Masato Nagamine	Japan	25,900
27	Wai Huen Lee	Hong Kong	25,900
28	Jian Yu Chen	Taiwan	21,100
29	Kyle Bao Diep	Vietnam	21,100
30	Nguyen Dieu Phuong Linh	Vietnam	21,100
31	Yu Hsiu Juan	Taiwan	21,100
32	Fan Yu Tseng	Taiwan	21,100
33	Aladin Reskallah	France	21,100
34	Chau Hau Tsai	Taiwan	21,100
35	Chien Fa Chou	Taiwan	21,100
36	Chieh Chi Liu	Taiwan	21,100
37	Li Han Huang	Taiwan	19,300
38	Yu Kai Wang	Taiwan	19,300
39	Yu Hua Chang	Taiwan	19,300
40	Tse An Lee	Singapore	19,300
41	Lin Nien Heng	Taiwan	19,300
42	Jasper Liu	Taiwan	16,300
43	Patrick Liang	Taiwan	19,300
44	Hong Yu Hsieh	Taiwan	19,300
45	Jun Li	United	19,300
46	Yi Hsiang Lu	Taiwan	17,600
47	Le Ngoc Minh	Vietnam	17,600
48	Chi Jen Chen	Taiwan	17,600
49	Tao Chu	Taiwan	17,600

Superstar Challenge – Final Table

The biggest names in the APAC circuit came out for the Superstar Challenge with 62 ponying up the NTD 160,000 (~USD 5,120) buy in.

Among the new high roller arrivals were Triton champions Punnat Punsri, Webster Chin Wei Lim, South Korea’s Yohwan “BoxeR” Lim, and France’s Anthony Cierco.

The Superstar Challenge was the most expensive event scheduled. The prize pool surged to NTD 9,021,000 (~USD 291,330) with the top 10 earning a cut.

Day 1 bagged up at the final 9 players led by UK’s Matthew Belcher with 36 bb. Also in the lineup, sitting with the second largest stack was Vietnam’s Hoang Hai Nam. He will be looking to score his second Superstar Challenge title.

The remaining players are guaranteed to earn NTD 306,700 (~USD 9,900) each. Awaiting the eventual winner is a mighty NTD 3,067,000 (~USD 99,000) first prize. Action resumes on Monday, January 8 at 2:15pm. Follow the action via the livestream on U Series of Poker YouTube channel.

Date: January 7 to 8, 2024
Buy in: NTD 160,000 (~USD 5,120)
Guarantee: NTD 3,500,000 (~USD 113,030)
Entries: 62
Prize pool: NTD 9,021,000 (~USD 291,330)
ITM: 10 places

Chips in play: 12,400,000
Average stack: 1,377,778 (23 bb)
Final table opening blinds: 30,000-60,000 ante 60,000

Final Table by chip rank – 9 players

Seat	Player	Flag	Stack	BB
6	Matthew Belcher	UK	2,185,000	36
2	Nam Hai Hoang	Vietnam	2,055,000	34
5	Samuel Wilkinson	UK	1,980,000	33
1	Chia Hsiang Ko	Taiwan	1,480,000	25
3	Yan Wen Yee	Malaysia	1,400,000	23
9	Chih Wei Fan	Taiwan	1,310,000	22
4	Kean Wei Tan	Malaysia	800,000	13
7	Anton Lu	Australia	665,000	11
8	Punnat Punsri	Thailand	535,000	9

YING ZHE HUANG wins first USOP title at Sunday Super Stack

Local player Ying Zhe Huang made his mark at the Sunday Super Stack, outlasting a roaring 187 entry field for a career high payout of NTD 501,000 (~USD 16,180). This amount lone was more than double his current live earnings!

Impressive run as well for 2nd placer, Junya Matsukawa, earning his first ever live tournament payout of NTD 341,800 (~USD 11,040).

Date: January 7, 2024
Buy in: NTD 12,000 (~USD 385)
Guarantee: NTD 1,000,000 (~USD 32,150)
Entries: 187
Prize pool: NTD 1,977,200 (~USD 63,570)
ITM: 24 places

Rank	Player	Flag	Payout in NTD
1	Ying Zhe Huang	Taiwan	501,000
2	Junya Matsukawa	Japan	341,800
3	Chun Yu Yang	Taiwan	202,700
4	Zi Wei Tung	Taiwan	123,300
5	Yu Fan Tsai	Taiwan	95,000
6	Paul Yugendra	Singapore	78,900
7	Yu Yong Lin	Taiwan	67,200
8	Yuto Tamaki	Japan	58,600
9	Sheng Hong Yu	Taiwan	50,300
10	Ching Chia Lin	Taiwan	43,300
11	Kennie Tay	Singapore	43,300
12	Jun Li	United	43,300
13			36,600
14	Liang Sheng Yeh	Taiwan	36,600
15	John Tech	Philippines	36,600
16			30,400
17	Ai Ming Johnson	Singapore	30,400
18	Joe Chen	Taiwan	30,400
19	John Jay Magadan	Philippines	24,200
20	Thai Nguyen	Vietnam	24,200
21	Le Vu	Vietnam	24,200
22	Ming Jie Wu	Taiwan	18,300
23	Jihua Zhang	Taiwan	18,300
24	Cheli Lin	Taiwan	18,300

First win in 2024 for CHIA YUN WU at Short Deck

Considerably one of the most well known local players is Chia Yun Wu, winner of multiple Taiwan Millions Tournament (TMT) awards including Player of the Year numerous times. Wu added another feather to his cap after besting the 17 entry field of the Short Deck event for his first ever USOP title.

Date: January 7, 2024
Buy in: NTD 15,000 (~USD 480)
Entries: 17
Prize pool: NTD 222,700 (~USD 7,190)
ITM: 3 places

Rank	Player	Flag	Payout in NTD
1	Wu Chia Yun	Taiwan	111,400
2	Chun Nam Fung	Hong Kong	66,800
3	Shao Me Yang	Taiwan	44,500

TAN ONG KWAN wins first USOP title at Turbo

After five USOP final tables last year, Malaysia’s Tan Ong Kwan finally closed one out. Tan bested the 84 entry field of the Turbo event to claim his first ever live title and a payout of NTD 136,600 (~USD 4,400).

Date: January 7, 2024
Buy in: NTD 6,000 (~USD 190
Entries: 84
Prize pool: NTD 423,700 (~USD 13,683)
ITM: 11 places

Rank	Player	Flag	Payout in NTD
1	Tan Ong Kwan	Malaysia	136,600
2	Kuo Chen Hung	Taiwan	82,600
3	Yiu Cheong Ho	Hong Kong	51,400
4	Tsu Lin Tsao	Taiwan	34,700
5	Masato Nagamine	Japan	26,500
6	Yi Min Chang	Taiwan	21,200
7	Yunying Jheng	Taiwan	17,600
8	Oroku Maon	Japan	14,800
9	Takahito Oikawa	Japan	13,700
10	Peter Lin	Australia	12,700
11	Sebastian Tan	Singapore	11,900

WEI JEN WANG wins first USOP title at Double Board – Single Winner

The night wrapped up with another speedy and fun event, the Double Board – Single Winner, which was first introduced at USOP Da Nang. The event drew 39 runners. Taiwan dominated, claiming all five payouts. At the top was Wei Jen Wang for his first ever USOP title.

Date: January 7, 2024
Buy in: NTD 5,000 (~USD 160)
Entries: 39
Prize pool: NTD 166,500 (~USD 5,375)
ITM: 5 places

Rank	Player	Flag	Payout in NTD
1	Wei Jen Wang	Taiwan	68,300
2	Pi Ying Hsu	Taiwan	41,600
3	Tim Yeh Yeh Szu	Taiwan	25,000
4	Yang Jie Xu	Taiwan	18,300
5	Yuan Hsu Lee	Taiwan	13,300

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 three days in the books, 13 have already been claimed. Time to win yours! Buy ins range from NTD 5,000 (~USD 160) up to NTD 160,000 (~USD 5,120). 

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