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DPT July 2018: Eka Vedantham Wins His Maiden Live Title in ₹65K High Roller

PG News July 29, 2018
8 mins Read

It’s been a busy week for Baadshah Team Pro Eka Vedantham (cover image) who came agonizingly close to winning his first-ever tournament title in the ₹15K Deep Dive NLH at the Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) July edition, only to dive into the ₹65K High Rollerevent right after.

And now, Vedantham who is also the member of Poker Sports League (PSL) team Gujarat Falcons has finally crossed this crucial milestone in his accomplished poker career. Working his way up to the final day and defeating a tough opponent in the event’s February edition champion Alok Birewar, Vedantham took down the event to collect the top prize of ₹27.15 Lakhs.

It wasn’t easy for Vedantham as he met stiff competition on the final day from pros including one of the most consistent domestic tournament players and PokerBaazi Team Mentor Jasven Saigal. Fresh off his title win at the ₹15K Deep Dive NLH where he edged past Vedantham in the heads-up play, Saigal was back to the DPT felts for a shot at another title. However his run was cut short early on the final table where he finished ninth for ₹3.19 Lakhs.

The event was hosted onboard the floating Casino Deltin Royale in Goa and attracted 166 entries that allowed players to make one re-entry. Eliminations came quick on the opening day and 62 runners bagged their chips for Day 2, with Jugal Advani (398,500) leading the way, while Vedantham was in the firing line with the fourth largest stack of 215,000.

Day 2 Recap

Sahil Arora was the first casualty as play began on Day 2 after Ankesh’s pocket jacks busted his ace-nine.

For Nishant Sharma who had a phenomenal summer with a stellar 34^th place finish in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, the High Roller journey ended even before the money bubble. After Birewar min-raised under-the-gun to 10,000, action folded to Sharma who 3-bet shoved 120,000 from the small blind and was called by Birewar. Birewar held against Sharma’s . The board didn’t help Sharma who was sent to the rail.

After a tough run in the ₹15K Deep Dive NLH, Vikram ‘Lungi’ Kumar had another tough day and though Kumar reached the final day, his pocket tens lost to Abhisek Panda’s pocket queens when the latter flopped full house, busting Kumar on the stone cold money bubble.

Adda52 celebrity pro Minissha Lamba’s deep run in the event ended in a hand where Vishal Bajaj moved all in preflop for 150,000 from the hijack and Vishrut Jain made the call from the button . The action folded to Lamba who moved all in for her remaining 180,000 from the small blind and Jain was quick to make the call.

Vishal Bajaj

Vishrut Jain

Minissha Lamba

On a five-deuce-five-six-eight flop, Jain’s pocket aces scored a double knockout, sending Lamba out in 14^th place and Bajaj in 15^th place, with both players cashing ₹2.13 Lakhs each.

Others who reached Day 2 but fell short of the final table included Syed Saif Ahmad (11^th for ₹2.66 Lakhs), Abhishek Panda (12^th for ₹2.40 Lakhs), Deepak Singh (13^th for ₹2.40 Lakhs), Ritesh Khatwani (16^th for ₹1.86 Lakhs) and Nikhil U (17^th for ₹1.86 Lakhs), while Gokul Krishna, Malav Parikh and Sahil Arora, all fell short of the money.

Ashish Munot (10^th for ₹2.66 Lakhs) bubbled the final table after his pockets eights were cracked by Vedantham’s pocket jacks and the latter commenced final table play with a sizeable chip lead.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Eka Vedantham- 13,80,000

2. Alok Birewar- 11,65,000

3. Tarang Patel- 8,30,000

4. Vishrut Jain- 8,20,000

5. Ashish Kaushik- 8,15,000

6. Amrita Sethi- 7,50,000

7. Jugal Advani- 5,55,000

8. Jasven Saigal- 2,95,000

9. Niwesh Sharma- 2,72,000

Final Table Recap

It couldn’t have been more disappointing for Jasven Saigal than to make it to the final table only to be sent packing to the rail first, especially given his impressive form in the opening event. Saigal clashed with Birewar in a hand where he moved all in for 323,000 from under-the-gun holding ace-queen and was snap-called by Birewar in the small blind with pocket aces. The board ran jack-ten-three-five-nine and Birewar collected the pot eliminating Saigal in ninth place.

Next, Niwesh Sharma was shown the door when Birewar opened the pot for 60,000 prompting Sharma to move all in for 249,000. Birewar called with against Sharma’s . Birewar rivered an ace-high straight on the rundown , eliminating Sharma in eighth place.

Jugal Advani was the next to exit in seventh place after his queen-jack ran into Ashish Kaushik’s pocket fives that held up on the ace-six-seven-four-ace board.

Within minutes, Amrita Sethi was eliminated in sixth place. Action folded to Kaushik who completed from the small blind with . Sethi raised to 280,000 from the big blind with and Kaushik 3-bet all in. Sethi called putting her tournament life at risk. It looked like Sethi would scoop the pot but the board ran , favoring Kaushik instead.

Tarang Patel then moved all in from under-the-gun with and he got a quick call from Birewar in the big blind. Birewar held and with the board bringing three hearts, Birewar’s flush relegated Patel to the rail in fifth place.

Soon Vishrul Jain moved all in for 370,000 from under-the-gun and Kaushik led in for 3.1 Million from the small blind, enough to make it a two-way encounter.

Kaushik

Jain .

The board ran and Kaushik`s full house eliminated Jain in fourth place.

Despite chipping up through Jain, Ashik Kaushik lost out to Birewar after his jack-ten came up against Birewar’s ace-five with the eight-five-queen-five-three board bringing three of a kind for Birewar. Kaushik left for the cash cage in third place.

Right till the last stages of the tournament Alok Birewar held a dominant position and was the favorite to win. Before the bubble. he sent Asheque Elahi to rail and knocked key opponents like Saigal, Kaushik and Sharma out of the final table. The heads-up now saw a persistent Birewar defending the title, even taking the chip lead for a while but Vedantham who had entered the heads-up in lead with 5 Million chips always sprung back to take charge.

In the last hand, Birewar tossed in 50,000 from the button and Vedantham from the big blind checked. The flop was checked by Vedantham while Birewar jammed for 915,000 and Vedantham called. The and completed the board. Vedamtham had flopped two pair of sevens and sixes with his and this was good enough for him to earn the pot against Birewar who could only manage one pair with his . Birewar settled for the runner-up finish while Vedantham claimed the title.