Madness Kick Off

It's official!

Herve Gouzil of France is the USOP Hai Phong Grand Finale Madness Kickoff Champion.

After 38 levels of play - and over 20 hours of poker stretched over 2 days - Herve Gouzil emerged victorious as the one with all the chips from the record-breaking 1,582 entries that bought in to the event for VND 11,000,000 (~USD 430) and created a whopping VND 14,722,092,000 (~US$ 580,000) prize pool.

198 top qualifiers from four (4) Day One flights entered into the Day 2 Final to compete until there was only one left. It took a little over 7 hours until a final table of 9 was formed, and that finial table went on for nearly 4 hours before Gouzil won the title.

Gouzil had a commanding chip stack in the final table, but fell to a five-to-one disadvantage during heads-up play against Nguyen Hoang Nam. However, the Frenchman was able to bounce back and overcome to earn the Madness Kickoff trophy and the VND 2,150,000,000 (~USD 84,000).

This victory is the first for Gouzil in Asian soil. His career total live earnings will push past the USD 800,000 mark with this payout.

Herve Guozil raised to 1,800,000 from the button/small blind with K♥ 2♦ and Nguyen Hoang Nam defended the big blind with J♥ 8♥.

The flop came 6♥ 2♥ Q♥ . Nam check-raised the 800,000 bet of Guozil to 2,000,000. Guozil matched to see a 9♦ turn. Nam led for 3,000,000 and Guozil called to see a 5♠ river. Nam fired 5,000,000 to put Guozil's chips all-in, but Guozil backed down.

Herve Gouzil raised to 800,000 from under the gun with Q♣ Q♠ while Pham Tien Dung defended his big blind wtih J♦ 9♣.

Flop came T♣ 9♠ 5♥. Dung check-raised the 600,000 bet of Gouzil to 1,800,00 to open a K♠ on the turn.

Dung pushed all-in again with Gouzil making the call to put his last 3,100,000 chips at risk. Guozil flipped queens while Dung flipped J♦ 9♣, pairing the 9. Gouzil's queens scooped the pot for a double-up while Dung inched down.

Herve Gouzil raised to 600,000 from under the gun and Pham Tien Dung defended the big blind. Both were shown a flop of 6♠ A♦ 4♦. Dung check-called the 400,000 bet to see a 3♣ turn. Dung check-called again after Gouzil bet 8,000. to see a 9♠ on the river. This time, Dung folded.

Pham Tien Dung raised to 300,000 from the cut-off, holding K♣ 2♠. Herve Gouzil three-bet to 1,000,000 on the button with A♦ K♥. When action hit the big blind, Trung Phong Nguyen shoved all-in for 3,200,000.

Dung folded and Gouzil folded, showing his A♦ K♥ to the table.

The last 9 players remain in the Madness Kickoff. All 9 are guaranteed a minimum payout of VND 215,000,000 (~USD 8,400), but all eyes are on the top prize of VND 2,150,000,000 (~USD 84,000).

Here are the final table chip counts

Yongyi Liu raised to 220,000 from the lo-jack and called the three-bet to 500,000 from Herve Gouzil on the hi-jack. Both players see a flop of A♥ 7♥ 3♥. Both players check to see a 6♠ on the turn.

Liu fired 500,000 and Gouzil made the call to see a T♦ river.

Liu announced "all in" for 1,400,000 and Gouzil snap-called.

Liu showed a pair of aces with A♦ 8♦, but Gouzil did better and showed a set with A♠ A♣ to take down the huge pot, jump to pole position of the chip count leaderboard and eliminate Liu.

Liu bagged home VND 108,000,000 (~USD 4,200).

28 Levels have been completed with already over 6 hours played in today's Madness Kickoff Day 2 Final. 24 players remain from the 198 who started the day.

Madness Kickoff

Date: November 29 - December 1, 2024

Buy-in: VND 11,000,000 (~USD 430)

Entries: 1,582 entries (1,235 unique)

Prize Pool: VND 14,722,092,000 (~USD 580,000)

ITM: 199

Starting Stack: 25,000

Total Chips In Play: 39,550,000

Average Stack: 1,640,000

Players Remaining: 24