PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved aka ‘TheInternetKid’ is the NPS #69 – NPS Super Highroller champion! The WSOP bracelet winner entered the six-handed final table, played live on-board the PokerBaazi LIVE poker room at Casino Majestic Pride in Goa as the chip leader, and pulled out a dominating run to collect the NPS gold medal and ₹22.09 Lakhs in prize money.

The FT turned into a long-drawn battle that stretched far longer than initially anticipated, especially the heads-up match where Karan Pantola made a valiant attempt to outdo the more experienced Ved, but it was not to be.

Ved, a protégé of poker veteran Aditya ’Intervention’ Agarwal, is in top form and had only this past Sunday won Spartan Poker`s The Prestige for a record second time. He also happens to be among a handful of Indians who can boast of winning both – a WSOP bracelet and the domestic touchstone of success – The Millionaire. And now, Ved, who has cashed twice in the past BPT editions – both times in the Main Event (2019 and 2020) – has added an NPS title to his long list of accomplishments.

The first of the three NPS 2.0 final tables to play out live at the Baazi Poker Tour, NPS Super Highroller ran Day 1 on PokerBaazi on March 18 and clocked in 311 entries to record an overlay shortfall of ₹6.70 Lakhs on its ₹1 Crore prize pool guarantee. The play was halted once the six-handed final table was formed.

The FT was littered with PokerGuru Ambassadors, with half the field wearing the Red and Blue PokerGuru patch. And while Ved (3,176,000) held the FT chip lead, his stablemate Vishal ‘Vishzz’ Bajaj (3,000,000) was a close second in chips. Karan ‘Mahadevpoker’ Pantola (1,012,000), Ayush ‘Proman502’ Garg (972,000), Nishant ‘rektace’ Kumar (735,000), and PokerGuru Ambassador Gokul ‘Nygma’ Raj (436,000) were the others in contention.

Moreover, four of them were past The Millionaire champions, namely – Ved, Bajaj, Garg, and Raj.

Day 2 was scheduled to start at 1.30 PM but got slightly delayed due to internet connectivity issues.

You can watch the FT live-stream replay on PokerBaazi’s YouTube channel or read through our event coverage here.

We spoke to Ved shortly after the event. You can watch the interview below.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Kartik ‘TheInternetKid’ Ved – 3,176,000

2. Vishal ‘Vishzz’ Bajaj – 3,000,000

3. Karan ‘Mahadevpoker’ Pantola – 1,012,000

4. Ayush ‘Proman502’ Garg – 972,000

5. Nishant ‘rektace’ Kumar – 735,000

6. Gokul ‘Nygma’ Raj – 436,000

Final Table Recap

PokerGuru Ambassador Vishal Bajaj was a close second in chips starting out, but it was just not his day, and he was the first player to depart. He lost a big pot to the start-of-day chip leader Kartik Ved in what Ved described as one of the most crucial hands of the day. Not long after that, Bajaj doubled up Ayush Garg before losing the remainder of his stack to Ved, his falling to the eventual champion’s who hit a full house on the runout .

The NPS #19 Double Jump champion Nishant Kumar was out next, taking home a fifth-place payout.

Even as eventual runner-up Karan Pantola scored a crucial double-up, Ayush Garg found his stack dwindling. Garg eventually hit the rail in fourth place.

Three-handed play went on at a slow pace, but PokerGuru Ambassador Gokul Raj finally gave way as he ran his into Ved’s . Raj failed to connect on the rundown , exiting in third place.

Kartik Ved (720,000) held an over 3:1 chip lead over Karan Pantola (220,500) at the start of the heads-up match, and the duo exchanged blows for two hours. Pantola had a swingy ride, and the match came to the brink of ending on several occasions, but each time Pantola managed to double up to get back in the game. Despite the significant disadvantage, Pantola doubled up four times during heads-up play and almost came at par with Ved at one point.

However, the victory was staring at Ved’s face, who soon reclaimed the lead. The final hand saw Pantola move all in for his last 117,000, and Ved called.

Karan Pantola

Kartik Ved

Ved turned a winning two-pair on the runout to clinch the NPS gold medal!

Final Table Results (INR)

1. Kartik ‘TheInternetKid’ Ved – ₹22.09 Lakhs

2. Karan ‘Mahadevpoker’ Pantola – ₹15.50 Lakhs

3. Gokul ‘Nygma’ Raj – ₹9.97 Lakhs

4. Ayush ‘Proman502’ Garg –₹7.38 Lakhs

5. Nishant ‘rektace’ Kumar – ₹5.54 Lakhs

6. Vishal ‘Vishzz’ Bajaj – ₹4.43 Lakhs

It’s been an exciting start for the 2022 BPT that had the ₹15K Kickoff running in tandem with the NPS Super Highroller. You can follow the event coverage here.

Keep following PokerGuru for the latest updates from the National Poker Series FTs and the 2022 Baazi Poker Tour!