Main Event

You Hyun Kim sets the bar at Main Event Day 1A

The opening heat of the highly anticipated USOP Main Event pulled in 366 entries over 10 rounds of registration. After 13 hours of play, the bubble burst leaving 46 players advancing to the ITM round in Day 2. Korea’s bagged the chip lead of 926,000 (77 bb). At his tail was New Zealand’s Thomas Ward with 878,000 (73 bb), and to round out the top three was Vietnam’s Tien Nguyen with 809,000 (67 bb).

Date: March 28 to April 1, 2024 Buy in: VN₫ 30,000,000 (~USD 1,235) Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~USD 614,500) Day 1A: 366 entries (282 unique) Chips in play: 14,640,000

Utg You Hyun Kim raises 20,000, next to act Rick Jason Ambata three-bets all in 70,000, Kim calls and shows T♣ T♥ Ambata is behind J♥ 8♥ . The board offers little help 4♣ A♥ 4♦ 8♠ and with the river 5♥ , Ambata is eliminated.

From cutoff, Thomas Ward opens and big blind defends. Both players check the flop 7♦ 4♠ 3♠ to bring the turn Q♣ . Ward bets 46,000, big blind check-calls. On the river A♠ Ward fires 140,000, he is snap-called. Ward shows T♠ 2♠ and ships it.

End of day is approaching fast with the field down to 67 players. Only 46 players are guaranteed to advance.

End of day is approaching fast with the field down to 80 players. Only 46 players are guaranteed to advance.

Chip leaders at the new level:

On a board showing 2♠ J♠ 6♥ 3♥ and 120,000 in the pot, utg player bet 45,000, Le Manh Cuong shoves, utg tank-folds.

All in preflop, SJ Kim with T♣ T♥ , all in player with A♦ K♦ . No hits on the board for big slick, Kim ships it. Kim proceeds to win another big pot to rise over 400K.

All in preflop, Kim Yong behind Ax 3x to Ax Kx . The board runs clean until a 3 lands on the river for Kim to ship it.

Still a long way to go with 110 players remaining with only 46 advancing to the next round. Phung Quang Tien continues to lead with 434,000 (144 bb).

128 players remaining with only 46 advancing to the next stage.

Tien Nguyen is already sporting a towering stack then picks up a pot on a nasty river. The hand opens with a raise by utg, Nguyen three-bets 18,000, utg shoves and is quickly called by Nguyen. The at-risk player has T♣ T♥ , Nguyen with A♠ 9♦ , the board runs K♥ 7♠ 9♠ J♠ 9♥ for trips on the river to Nguyen.

Day 1A registration closed at 366 entries with 161 players still in the field. The next step is to reach the money round with only 46 guarnateed a spot in Day 2.

The last level to enter Main Event Day 1A is underway. So far 353 entries with 203 seated. After this level there will be a 10-minute break then reg will close at the start of Level 11. For those signing up, buy in is VN₫ 30,000,000 (~USD 1,235). Event guarantees VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~USD 614,500). Starting stack is 40,000. Day 1A with blinds increasing every 40 minutes.

Walking by Quan Qiu’s table we see him ship in a pot as a player packs up. Quan’s Q♠ J♠ flush on the flop cleaned out a player’s A♣ T♦ trips on a board T♠ K♠ 4♠ T♥ 5♥ .

More notables have been spotted, among them are Wei Guo Liang, Dhaval Mudgal, Thomas Ward, Alan Pham, Gab Yong Kim, HyunsupKim, Siyang Phua, and Anthony Cierco.

Another batch of entries has brought the total to 339 with time left to sign up. Registration closes at the start of Level 11.

Starting stack is 40,000. Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 1C will see blinds increase every 40 minutes. Day 1D (Turbo) will see blinds go up every 25 minutes.

Players are back from their second break. 309 entries so far with 211 players seated. Plenty of time to jump in with registration open until the start of Level 11.

Buy in: VN₫ 30,000,000 (~USD 1,235) Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~USD 614,500)

Starting stack is 40,000. Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 1C will see blinds increase every 40 minutes. Day 1D (Turbo) will see blinds go up every 25 minutes.

278 entries on record with 225 players seated. Joining the hunt are Dicky Tsang, Le Ngoc Minh, Amit Kaushik, Soo Jo Kim, Drasko Boskovic, Khoi Nguyen, and Yinfei Xiao.

With five levels completed, only five levels left to jump into this heat. Registration halfway mark recorded 250 entries. Plenty of time to sign up. Registration stays open until the start of Level 11.

Buy in: VN₫ 30,000,000 (~USD 1,235) Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~USD 614,500)

Starting stack is 40,000. Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 1C will see blinds increase every 40 minutes. Day 1D (Turbo) will see blinds go up every 25 minutes.

More noteworthy players scattered all over the room: Hoang Hai Nam, Hyeonho Shin, Pham Bao, Junnie Pamplona, Hwanho Choe, Jiyoung Kim, Xiao Sheng Zhou, and Zhi Yuan Xu.

Players are back from the first break of the day. The Main Event has already crossed anoher marker with 218 entries. Currenlty 178 seated. Registration stays open until the start of Level 11. Plenty of time to sign up.

Buy in: VN₫ 30,000,000 (~USD 1,235) Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~USD 614,500)

Starting stack is 40,000. Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 1C will see blinds increase every 40 minutes. Day 1D (Turbo) will see blinds go up every 25 minutes. Registration closes at the start of Level 11.

Blinds are up with 160 entries to kick off the new level. 152 players seated. Among the new arrivals are Ngo Minh Tien, Yi Xuan, Hanh Tran, Vitaliy Polikarpov, and Aayush Arya.

It’s gonna be a big day here with triple digits already! The screens flash 111 entries with 108 seated. Among the new arrivals are Manish Lakhotia, Sofia Lovgren-Fullmer, and Jinlong Hu.

Having just sat down, on his first hand, Dao Minh Phu looks down at A♠ K♠ and proceeds to knock out a player when the board drops three spades. The fallen player had a baby flush with 4♠ 6♠ .

75 players at the tables at the start of Level 2. Among the new arrivals were Francis Garson, Michael Kim Falcon, Ha Van Thien, Giuseppe Murabito, Thanh Hung Tran, and Doan Quang Trung.

ant 100

Cards are now flying here at the Main Event! At the starting gun, 25 players were seated with more at registration. Among the early go-ers were Quan Qiu and Nishant Sharma.

Hijack K♦ Q♣ jams 22,000, big blind Jacob Johnston 8♥ 8♣ calls, both players improve on the board K♥ 8♦ 3♠ K♣ 4♦ , Johnston’s full house rules to end Day 1A.

Button Zhang Zi Jun jams his last 7 bb with A♥ 9♣ , big blind Sean Ooi calls with A♣ 6♣ . The board is 6♠ Q♦ T♦ 9♦ 2♣ . Zhang doubles up.

Button Uten Ungchusak all in for less than 4 bigs holding Q♦ T♣ . Big blind Soo Jo Kim calls with K♦ 6♣ . A queen finds the flop as the board completes Q♣ 7♥ 2♥ 8♣ J♠ .

Cutoff Sean Ooi min-raises 24,000 then calls Fan Ying Kun’s 6 bb shove. Fan with A♥ Q♠ , Ooi sheepishly shows T♣ 6♥ , board runs 9♥ 2♥ 8♣ 4♦ A♦ . Ooi pays up.

Cutoff raises 26,000, button three-bets all in 11 bb, small blind Andrei Budykin four-bets all in, no takers, for a head-to-head. Button A♠ Q♠ , Budykin A♥ K♦ , board runs 9♣ 3♥ 2♦ 4♣ A♣ , kicker plays. One player goes bust. It’s bubble time.

Dao Xuan Khanh all in A♠ A♥ , Iz Tong joins and is at risk with T♣ T♠ , mid stack makes it a three way with A♣ Q♥ . The board runs 8♣ 6♥ J♥ 7♦ T♦ , Tong ships the main pot, Khanh takes the side pot, one player busts.

Three players shove preflop, short stacked player Dao Xuan Khanh, A♥ K♥ , mid stack Iz Tong with A♠ K♠ , and Hyunsup Kim with A♦ K♣ . The board runs 8♥ 5♥ T♥ Q♦ T♣ , Khanh triples up, players are stunned.

Thomas Ward three-bets from the button and initial raiser calls. Both players check the flop J♠ K♠ 7♥ . Then on the 9♠ turn, Ward calls a 60,000 bet. On the river 8♠ , Ward leads out 110,000 and wins the pot.