The Hanoi USOP poker festival recently wrapped up its third event, it has already managed to gain international fame and success. This year, the event returned to the Crown Poker Club in Hanoi. During the 11 days of games and tournaments, it reached a historic milestone when the festival’s landmark prize pool surpassed VN₫ 104,438,509,000 or about USD 4.3 million!
That sum of money was divided to cover several of the most highly-anticipated games including the main event and superstar challenge for their prize pools. These were then divided up and awarded to the top players of the tournaments.
Hanoi USOP Event Overview
The Hanoi USOP event was a massive marathon of events, spanning 11 days and hosting more than 39 scheduled tournaments. Players would have a chance to win a piece of the prize and also a trophy to symbolize their success.
The prize pools of these events were created not just from guaranteed prizes, but also from the buy-in fees each player had to pay to enter. these could range from VN₫ 3,400,000 (approximately USD 140) to VN₫ 120,000,000 (about USD 4,965).
With so many trophies up for grabs, hundreds of players globally made the trip to Hanoi in hopes of taking home the gold. Having so many players here and paying the buy-in fee resulted in the prize pools surpassing VN₫ 100 Billion, the first time this ever happened in a Vietnam event. Below is a list of the highest-earning events.
- Main Event: VN₫ 29,158,200,000 (USD 1,212,000) – new Vietnam record
- Super High Roller: VN₫ 11,329,600,000 (USD 470,694)
- Superstar Challenge: VN₫ 10,212,100,000 (USD 424,000) – new Vietnam record
- High Roller: The Finale: VN₫ 9,835,800,000 (USD 408,675)
- High Roller: Megastack: VN₫ 7,740,600,000 (USD 321,387)
- High Roller: Superstack: VN₫ 7,226,500,000 (USD 300,042)
- Mini Main Event: VN₫ 5,494,000,000 (USD 228,110)
Hanoi USOP Winners
Much of the Hanoi USOP prize pool went to the main event reward, reaching a record-breaking VN₫ 29,158,200,000 (USD 1,212,000). The winner of this event was set to receive not a prize of about VN₫ 4,952,000,000, which is approximately USD 205,840 as well as the title of Hanoi USOP champion. That lucky winner was Indian poker player Vishal Ojha who dominated the table and took home both rewards.
Even with that massive prize, Vishal was not the biggest earner of the event. That honor belonged to Vietnam’s Hoang Hai Nam who dominated the first part of the high roller events, taking home two titles, the Superstar Challenge and the Super High Roller Event. With all his winnings, he amassed a total of VN₫ 6,200,000,000 (USD 256,570), becoming the festival’s biggest earner.
Hoang wasn’t the only multi-event winner. Another Vietnamese player, Nguyen Khoi won two events. Nguyen won the Hyper Turbo and Mixed NLH/PLO and was in 6th place at the Turbo event. He took home a prize of VN₫ 184,500,000 (USD 7,635).
Although he did not win all his events, India’s Kunal Patni still broke a record by cashing in seven events, the most of any player. He managed to enter the final table of the high roller event and outlasted the competition, winning a VN₫ 2,400,000,000 (USD 99,300) prize. Along with his success in half a dozen other events, Patni walked away earning VN₫ 3,152,300,000 (~USD 130,450).
Even without the main event trophy, Vietnam still managed to obtain 16 trophies throughout the Hanoi USOP event which left players eagerly anticipating the upcoming USOP Da Nang from November 17 to 27, 2023 at Furama Resort.
One event that was heavily hyped up was the USOP Hanoi Main Event which saw record-breaking prizes and plenty of actions.
To get all the details of this event and how it got started, you can read our USOP Hanoi Main Event post.