USOP Grand Finale Wraps Up With Tao Wei Chang Crowned Player Of The Year

The USOP Grand Finale ran from November 29 to December 11, 2024 at the luxurious Pullman Grand Hotel in Hai Phong, Vietnam, and made poker history for the U Series of Poker and for Vietnam poker throughout its duration.

USOP Grand Finale Festival Wrap

The main attraction for the entire USOP Grand Finale festival was the big bold numbers plastered all over their promotions and it did not disappoint. The 23 “guarantee events” of this series overshot the VND 100 Billion festival guarantee to a record prize pool of over VND 236 Billion. That figure still doesn’t include the other 46 trophy events – that had no guarantee, but generated their own worthy prize pools. There were a total of 69 trophy events in the schedule.

Check out the numbers and turnout via the Festival Results.

Tao Wei Chang Crowned USOP Player Of The Year

It was no contest for the USOP Player of the Year title which was awarded to Taiwan’s Tao-Wei Chang. Chang had been accruing points since the first USOP event in Taiwan and was way ahead by the finale. Chang accrued 6,395 points which as over 2,000 points more than his closest challenger. For Chang’s incredible achievement, he was awarded an 18-karat electroplated gold bracelet adorned with 312 Mozambique diamonds. 

Nikolai Babushkin Wins Player Of The Series

Of course, the festival’s end also marked the awarding of the USOP Grand Finale Player of the Series. The title went to Russia’s Nikolai Babushkin, who earned an 18-karat electroplated gold USOP ring with 80 Mozambique diamonds embellished into it. More than a fine piece of jewelry, the ring symbolizes the winning proficiency and consistency that is a mark of a true poker talent. Nikolai Babushkin made several deep cashes to earn him several points, including two championships in the Win The Button and the 5-card PLO events.

Record Breaking Events

From start to finish, players poured in resulting record breaking events at the USOP Grand Finale. Here are some of the most popular events that smashed its previous numbers.

Main Event

The most-anticipated and highlighted event of the series was the Main Event, which also set its own records. The promotion of a VND 40 Billion Guarantee was already an unprecedented bold goal, but it’s easy to throw out those guarantees. What’s important is if those goals are met. In the case of the Main Event, a record-breaking 1,958 total entries can attest to the success of the event, which built a Main Event prize pool of VND 57,976,380,000 (~USD 2,283,660) – making it way past their original mark.

Main Event winner Choi Hun Tae of Korea also made history by winning the biggest payout in Main Event history to the tune of VND 9.2 BILLION (USD 362,705). What’s even more impressive is that this Main Event win was Choi’s first ever recorded live cash, and  confessed to being a recreational player, who was just looking to “feel the poker festival experience.” Certainly, he’s felt it in a big way by securing the event’s largest payout from its largest field ever and including his name in the history books. 

Madness Kick Off

The opening Madness Kickoff set the pace for the festival with a record 1,582 entries – the most for an opening event in USOP and Vietnam poker history, The 606 Day 1C entries marked the largest number of any entries in an opening event flight, adding yet another feather to the history-making cap. The bar of their VND 10 Billion prize pool guarantee was pushed to  VND 14,722,092,000 (~US$ 580,000).

Madness Kickoff champion Herve Gouzil of France received a champion’s purse of VND 2,150,000,000 (~USD 84,000) – the biggest payout for a USOP opening event. For Gouzil, it was also a personal milestone since it was his first live cash on Asian soil and a first place finish at that. 

Superstar Challenge

The Superstar Challenge is one of the signature events of the USOP. This edition in the Grand Finale, surpassed the brand’s own records by bringing in 127 entries to build VND 13,012,420,000 (~USD 513,000), improving from the previous record of 118 entries  and VND 12.8 billion prize pool.

Benjamin LeBlond of Canada earned the title of Superstar Challenge champion and bagged a first place share of  VND 3.23 Billion (~USD 127,000), which was again the biggest top prize for this event in USOP history. Personally, for LeBlond, it was his first ever championship in Asia after several final table appearances in other poker festivals.

Mini Main Event

The Mini Main Event was originally supposed to be a Mystery Bounty Hunter event, but had to be changed to a normal event due to technical issues. Despite this short hiccup, players still made their way to the felt to build a record-breaking field of 1,166 strong, generating a prize pool of VND 19,728,720,000 (~USD 777,000), which surpassed the initial offering of VND 15 Billion.

The top two placers Ma Hao Hui of China and Van Tien Ha of Vietnam agreed to an ICM deal which altered the payouts for the top two. Ma Hao Hui earned a career high VND 2,835,000 (~USD 111,000) and the champion’s trophy while Va TIen Ha secured VND 2,600,000,000 (~USD 102,000) as the runner-up. 

Championship Event

Wrapping of the USOP Hai Phong Grand Finale was the High Roller Championship, which saw John Matsuda of the Philippines bag the championship out of a record 1,059 entries. The manner in which he won was also historic because it was the first time that action had to be given a time limit due to restrictions from local authorities. 

Play was stopped with 6 players still with chips at the final table with the agreed ruling that the one with the most chips at the end would become the champion and the final payouts distributed via the ICM computation system. John Matsuda topped the final 6 with a commanding 14 million chip stack and earned VND 3,700,000,000 (~USD 145,700) for his championship run. This was Matsuda’s first win outside of the Philippines and the poker pro has expressed his intention to participate in more events in other countries.

HR Sunday Special Megaboost

The High Roller: Sunday Special Megaboost was next to make poker history by bringing in a record 311 high roller entries – the highest number of entries to a High Roller event, surpassing the previous record of 169.   Those entries helped to  build a VND 20,463,800,000 (~USD 806,000) prize pool, doubling the original VND 10 Billion guarantee. The average attendance for high roller events is around the 100 range with 150 already considered a huge field by high roller standards. But then, 311 TOTAL ENTRIES! THAT is historic.

Following those record numbers, it goes without saying that Sunday Special Megaboost champion Wai Kin Hang of Malaysia took home a historic champion’s purse of VND 3,773,800 (~USD 148,000) along with a USOP trophy. This championship also marks Hang’s biggest earning ever from his  first ever USOP title and first championship in Asia. 

That concludes the 13-day USOP Grand Finale! Stay tuned for the 2025 USOP schedule!

USOP Grand Finale – Schedule
USOP Grand Finale – Live Updates
USOP Grand Finale- Photos
USOP Grand Finale – Festival Results