USOP Grand Finale Enters Final Day With Championship Event; Chen Xiong Leads The Way

The USOP Grand Finale winds up the series today, December 11, at the Pullman Grand Hotel in Hai Phong, Vietnam with the conclusion of the Championship Event.

As one of the more illustrious events that promised a generous VND 20 billion (~USD 788,000) prize pool, it gathered a record-breaking 1,059 total entries across four flights, and with each one contributing a buy-in share of VND 25,000,000 (~USD 1,000), the prize pool surged to VND 23 billion. Entering the final day, 133 players, everyone in the money, and looking to compete for a higher spot up the payout ladder. 

*At this time the prize pool and payout distribution has not been announced. We will have that posted as soon as it has been made available. 

USOP Grand Finale Championship Event

Flight Recaps

Day 1A saw 252 seats filled that played down for the top 32 qualifying slots. Chen Xiong of China topped the roster with 1,643,000 chips. Second ranked was Lithuania’s Laurinaitis Vytautas with 700,000. Ukraine’s Erik Rozhynskii bagged the third largest stack with 640,000. 

Day 1B took in 170 hopefuls to compete until it had its top 21 best offerings for the Day 2 final. Leading the flight was China’s Chen Peng with 1,319,000. At a distant second was Zhang Xun, also of China, with 633,000 chips. The formidable Jennifer Cassell of Australia, who has already won some golds in this series, bagged a third-ranked 477,000 chips.

Day 1C was the flight with the most entries at 384, which allowed for 48 Day 2 spots to be filled. Great Britain’s Jun Li made the top chip count with 980,000 followed closely by Vietnam’s own Nguyen Thai Quang, bagging 929,000 chips. Phang Tung Khanh, also of Vietnam, held the Day 1C third-ranked chips with 899,000. 

Day 1D welcomed 253 entries that allowed for 32 more advancers to the Day 2 Final. Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon earned the flight’s pole position for chips with 813,000 followed by two Vietnamese pros Tran Hai Duong and Do Quang Trinh with stacks of 731,000 and 702,000 respectively.

Other notable players who will be seen at the tables on the Day 2 Final are the likes of Yoshiki Nakamura (458,000), John Matsuda (441,000), Martin Gonzales (338,000)

Edgaras Kausinis (289,000), John Edward Perry (259,000), Hon Cheong Lee (540,000), Jinlong Hu (352,000), , Amit Kaushik (285,000) and Yuhan Liu (186,000)

Follow the final day action via the SMP Live Updates.