Siddharth Karia has reaped the reward for his flawless strategies and strong game at the U Series of Poker (USOP) Hai Phong 2024 series in Vietnam. One of the most consistent poker players in the country, Karia finished 17th place in Event 1: Madness Kick Off earlier in the series, and he’s now gone on to better that performance in another event.
We’re talking about Event #28: VND 11 Million Mini Main Event, which took place from 16th to 18th September. The guaranteed prize pool was VND 3 billion but the eventual prize pool was more than TRIPLED as it was taken up to VND 10,518,600,000 (~$427,410). This was because of of a total of 1,120 entries, with 140 players finishing in the money.
It’s not too often that we see a 5-way ICM deal but that’s what happened on the final table, where the final five players locked in their respective prize money and continued playing for the trophy. Eventually, Ilia Timofeev of Russia took home the title and the bulk of the money, taking home VND 1,253,247,000 while the 5th placed Manh Tu Nguyen also bagged upwards of VND 1.2 Billion.
Karia ended third even though he received the lowest payout from the final five players. He bagged VND 743,701,000 (~₹25 Lakh) for this effort, regularly updating his tournament progress on his Instagram stories as well. The final table wasn’t live streamed for those who were interested in updates. Here’s the final post from Karia after his tournament ended:
No | Name | Country | Amount |
1 | Ilia Timofev | Russia | VND 1,253,247,000* |
2 | Khac Thang Do | Vietnam | VND 919,567,000* |
3 | Siddharth Karia | India | VND 743,701,000* |
4 | Viet Dung Nguyen | Vietnam | VND 763,232,000* |
5 | Manh Tu Nguyen | Vietnam | VND 1,209,653,000* |
6 | Defeng Liu | China | VND 388,000,000 |
7 | Van Tai Tran | Vietnam | VND 307,900,000 |
8 | Anh Dung Tran | Vietnam | VND 236,000,000 |
9 | Erik Rozhynskyi | Ukraine | VND 176,000,000 |
10 | Hai Tao Luan | China | VND 131,600,000 |
As we mentioned above, it wasn’t Karia’s first cash at Hai Phong. He was part of the Event #1 Madness Kickoff that took place from 11th to 13th September. Out of a total of 1,324 entries, he was part of the 167 ITM list and stood 17th, taking a cash-out of VND 69,200,000. The poker player who took the lion’s share of the prize pool at that event was Nielsen Johnni, from Sweden – VND 1,650,000,000.
Karia is a formidable poker player who has had some good cashes in his professional career. He has played well in both national and international settings. According to Hendonmob, his first cash was at the Asia Championship of Poker—Platinum Series V (Macau), where he placed 2nd and took home HKD 41,010. In 2021, he had one of his highest rankings at the DeepStack Championship Poker Series II in Las Vegas, when he ranked 4th at their Event #67 and took home $4669.
Also Read: PokerStars India Announces Four Poker Ambassadors
Again, in 2023, he placed 4th at the APT Kickoff Event #1 at the Asian Poker Tour—APT Phu Quoc and took home approximately $5,361. In the same series, he stood 4th once again at Event #11, adding $1068 to his name. In India, he ranked 10th at the Deltin Poker Tournament in 2024, taking home ₹ $30,000. His best live cash prior to today was at the Baazi Poker Tour in 2019, when he placed third at the ₹100,000 High Roller and took home ₹17,74,200.
We will be posting more updates about everything that’s going on and happening at the USOP Hai Phong.
For more updates from the poker world, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram
Roy D’Silva is a published author and has covered various beats in his decade-long experience, including Bollywood, OTT and now poker. An avid cyclist and documentary buff, Roy’s looking to be right, front, and center of that one big story in the poker world.
Sign-up with Gutshot
Offer: Get extra 28% on all deposits Register
Grab Welcome Bonus
Offer: FTD 50% Bonus Money up to ₹20K. Deposit code ‘ALLIN50’ Register
Sign-up and get bonus
Offer: Up to ₹50,000* Register
Deposit with code GSTDISCOUNT
Offer: Get 100% GST discount on deposits Register
Sign-up with code GUTSHOT
Offer: Get ₹50 FREE Register
First Deposit Bonus
Offer: 100% up to €2,000 Register
Sign-up with Gutshot
Offer: Get 30% Instant Rakeback Register
Daily Winnings Up To ₹40 Crore!
Offer: Get ₹550 Joining Bonus For Free Register