“I feel great; this is definitely my biggest win, biggest final table. At the moment, it’s all unreal but feels awesome. A bunch of friends made it all the more special!” said an excited Chirag Sodha, minutes after taking down the ₹3 Crores GTD NPS Main Event for a career-best ₹44.84 Lakhs. There was a boisterous rail of friends and former colleagues cheering him on the FT as he went on to win the prestigious title.

Sodha, the former PokerBaazi LIVE poker room manager, held a commanding chip lead coming into the FT, and he had a distinct advantage. The FT was teeming with relative newcomers, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi being his most significant threat. Moreover, two players on the eight-handed final table didn’t show up, effectively giving the others a two-place jump on the payouts table.

The NPS flagship final tables are part of the Baazi Poker Tour schedule and have been running alongside the BPT events at the PokerBaazi LIVE poker room at Casino Majestic Pride in Goa since Wednesday. The NPS Main Event was the second of three NPS FTs on the schedule to crown a winner. The online leg of the NPS Main Event logged in a giant 6,202-entry field across eight starting flights last week, generating a guarantee-crushing ₹3.10 Crores prize pool. Day 2 ran from 9 PM to 4:01 AM on Sunday, stopping following the ninth-place elimination of PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja (9th for ₹4.16 Lakhs).

While all eyes were on the NPS Main Event final table, the poor connectivity at the casino was a dampener since the event could not be live-streamed. Despite the constraints, the PokerGuru coverage team provided frequent updates from ground zero, and Sodha was hands down the star of the day. Come Wednesday afternoon, Sodha played the game the best he could. He went wire-to-wire, eventually striking a heads-up deal with Ritesh Kumar, to lock paydays, leaving only the NPS gold medal and ₹1 Lakh to play for. Sodha won that too, and his first live tournament title in style!

Speaking of his heads-up deal with Ritesh Kumar, Sodha said, “I have learned over time that it’s not necessary to think that if you’re a better player, you won’t make a deal. I think that’s wrong. So, I took a break spoke to my friends about it. At the same time, he (Ritesh Kumar) came to me saying the same thing. We still had the medal to play for, so I’m happy about it.”

Sodha admitted he was raring to play live poker after such a long gap. Even with the NPS Main Event final table coming up the next day, Sodha registered for the ₹15K Kickoff on Tuesday to get the feel of the live felts again. With the NPS title in his bag, Sodha is already looking forward to playing all the remaining tournaments on the BPT schedule.

We sat down with Chirag Sodha for a chat shortly after he took down the NPS Main Event title. You can watch the interview below.

Sodha and Balodhi were the only two regs on the final table. So what was Sodha’s strategy on the final table? “In terms of strategy, it was pretty basic; I didn’t want to take too many hands against Balodhi initially, especially not take any big flips…you have to do it eventually…in the end, it just turned out well,” Sodha clarified.

However, we have to hand it out to Ritesh Kumar. The cash game player had won his way into the NPS Main Event through a deposit offer and converted it into a career-defining finish! His run on the final table was awe-inspiring. Despite sporting a short stack at the start of the FT, he displayed remarkable perseverance and played his spots just right to walk away with a shining NPS silver medal and ₹39.34 Lakhs in prize money.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Chirag’ miyagi’ Sodha – 208,000

2. Ashutosh’ senojwod’ Balodhi – 200,000

3. Saroj’ eureka7777′ Mehta – 123,000

4. Vikram ‘Poker_lover’ Mishra – 108,000

5. Rajesh’ path1716′ Pawar – 85,000

6. Vikash ‘Vikash142’ Kumar – 69,000

7. Thakurlal ‘thakurlalyadav’ Yadav – 60,000

8. Ritesh ‘riteish0911’ Kumar – 32,000

Final Table Recap

In a surprising turn of events, two finalists didn’t show up today, and both were blinded out. Thakurlal Yadav got blinded out in eighth place, followed by Rajesh Pawar in seventh place.

Saroj Mehta made the best of her stack, cashing in sixth place. The relatively inexperienced player waited patiently for the absent seats to be blinded out before jamming . She got a call from PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi, who held pocket nines. Mehta failed to connect and was shown the door.

Next up, Vikash Kumar ran his into Ritesh Kumar’s , losing his tournament life in fifth place.

Chirag Sodha kept chipping up and claimed his next victim in Vikram Mishra. Sodha jammed with and Mishra snap-called with . Both players hit the ten on the board , but Sodha’s ace-kicker kept him ahead, eliminating Vikram Mishra in fourth place.

PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi held the second chip lead entering the FT and seemed to be on track to follow his stablemate and the recent NPS #69 – Super Highroller champion Kartik Ved. However, Balodhi didn’t get the start he was expecting. He doubled the short-stacked Ritesh Kumar twice and eventually lost all his chips to him. The hand in question saw Ritesh Kumar open on the button, and Balodhi defended his big blind with . Kumar bet the flop and Balodhi check-called. The turn was the , and both players checked their options. The fell on the river, and Kumar jammed for 165K. Balodhi left with his last 41K, called, only to see the bad news.

The heads-up between Chirag Sodha and Ritesh Kumar began with Sodha holding a dominating 567,500 in chips vs. Kumar’s 317,500. The two players struck a deal during the break, even before the heads-up match could begin. Sodha, who had the chip advantage locked in ₹43.84 Lakhs, while Kumar assured himself an impressive ₹30.34 Lakhs.

With the payouts decided, the duo resumed play to fight for the NPS gold medal and ₹1 Lakh cash prize kept in play. It didn’t take Sodha long to clinch the title. On the deciding hand, Sodha open-shoved , and Kumar, who was staring at an 8-to-1 chip deficit, made the easy call with . The board ran out , and Sodha rivered a flush to emerge as the new NPS Main Event champion.

Final Table Results

1. Chirag Sodha – ₹44.84 Lakhs*

2. Ritesh Kumar – ₹39.34 Lakhs*

3. Ashutosh Balodhi – ₹20.90 Lakhs

4. Vikram Mishra – ₹13.99 Lakhs

5. Vikash Kumar- ₹10.17 Lakhs

6. Saroj Mehta – ₹8.09 Lakhs

7. Rajesh Pawar – ₹6.61 Lakhs

8. Thakurlal Yadav – ₹5.30 Lakhs

*denotes a heads-up deal

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

And it`s finally over! The crowd favorite Chirag Sodha has won the 2022 NPS Main Event for a career-best ₹44.84 Lakhs and the NPS Gold Medal!

However, we have to give it to Ritesh Kumar – the cash game player who had won his ticket to the NPS Main Event through a deposit offer and ended up banking a life-changing score. His FT run was nothing short of exemplary, coming in with a short 6-BB stack, Kumar jumped up the ranks fast to collect the NPS Silver Medal and a whopping ₹39.34 Lakhs.

The deciding hand of the heads-up had Chirag Sodha open-shoving . Staring down at an over 8:1 chip deficit, Kumar made the easy call with . The board ran and Sodha`s rivered flush got him the title.

Chirag Sodha has pulled ahead into an almost insurmountable chip lead over Riteish Kumar, making it near impossible for him to come back from here.

The hand in question saw Sodha limping in with and Kumar checked his big blind with .

Flop

Sodha bet 20K and Kumar check-called.

Turn

Sodha bet 45K and Kumar check-called again.

River

Sodha fired a bet of 105K. Kumar tank-called, losing most of his stack on the showdown.

Chip Counts

Chirag Sodha – 793K

Riteish Kumar – 92.5K

The two finalists cracked a heads-up deal during the break!

Chirag Sodha, because of his chip advantage, has locked in ₹43.84 Lakhs, while Riteish Kumar, who had won his seat in the NPS Main Event through a promotional giveaway and entered the FT with a 6-BB stack, has assured himself an equally impressive ₹39.34 Lakhs!

The duo will soon start the heads-up for the ₹1 Lakhs cash prize and the NPS Gold Medal left in play.

The tournament director has sent the two finalists on a 15 minutes break as they make arrangements for the start of the heads-up play.

PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi has hit the rail in third place, collecting his best-recorded live tournament finish worth ₹20.90 Lakhs!

Riteish Kumar opened on the button for 32K and Ashutosh Balodhi defended his big blind with .

Flop

Kumar bet 16K and Balodhi check-called.

Turn

Both players checked their options.

River

Kumar jammed for 165K. Balodhi had 41K behind and called off only to see the bad news.

With Balodhi`s elimination, the heads-up match has been set up b/w Chirag Sodha and Riteish Kumar.

Heads-up Chip Counts

Chirag Sodha – 567,500

Riteish Kumar – 317,500

With the action folded to him, Chirag Sodha moved all-in with and Vikram Mishra snap-called with .

Both players hit the ten on the board but Sodha`s ace kicker came into play.

Vikram Mishra collected ₹13.99 Lakhs in fourth place.

Chip Counts

Chirag Sodha – 526K

Vikram Mishra – Busted

Vikash is one player who made noise on the NPS Main Event FT but his dream run ended in fifth place, with his losing out to Riteish Kumar`s ].

Vikash Kumar collected a hefty ₹10.17 Lakhs for his fifth-place finish.

Down to 61K in chips, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi found the perfect spot to shove on the button. Chirag Sodha in the big blind called off with .

Nothing changed on the runout , and Balodhi got the double-up he had been eyeing for some time now.

Chip Counts

Ashutosh Balodhi – 135K

Chirag Sodha – 413K

Saroj Mehta played tight to outlive the two absent stacks, but her tournament run ended in sixth place – fetching her a career-best ₹8.09 Lakhs.

After folding Ace-Jack the previous hand, Mehta moved all-in with her short stack with . The other short stack on the FT, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi, woke up with pocket nines in the small blind and jammed over the top.

The board blanked out!

Chip Counts

Ashutosh Balodhi – 91K

Saroj Mehta – Busted

Saroj Mehta is a refreshing sight on this FT and her lack of experience aside, she`s added vibrancy to the other serious business.

Mehta was dealt on the last hand and she announced all in. The action folded around to the chip leader Chirag Sodha who made the call with .

Both of them caught a piece of the board but Mehta got the better of it to double up. Raking in the pot, she said to the dealer, “Bacha liya apne.”

Chip Counts

Chirag Sodha – 409K

Saroj Mehta – 58K

Riteish Kumar has been on a doubling up spree and scored his third double-up on the FT through the chip leader Chirag Sodha.

The action saw Kumar leading out for 21K with . Sodha called with .

Flop

Sodha bet 17K and Kumar check-called.

Turn

The action went check-check.

River

Kumar checked and Sodha moved all in but Kumar found the courage to call – catching the chip leader off-guard on his bluff attempt.

Chip Counts

Riteish Kumar – 204K

Chirag Sodha – 410K

The other orphan stack on the NPS Main Event FT belonging to Rajesh Pawar has blinded out in the first orbit after the break. He took the seventh place payout worth ₹6.61 Lakhs.

Down to six players (and one stack), Chirag Sodha is the runaway chip leader, while PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi, who had come in as the second chip lead, is now the second shortest stack.

Chip Counts
Chirag Sodha – 412,500
Riteish Kumar – 148,000
Vikram Mishra – 113,500
Saroj Mehta – 22,500
Vikash Kumar – 48,000
Ashutosh Balodhi – 22,500
Rajesh Pawar – 7,500

The first of the two absent players on the FT, Thakurlal Yadav, has blinded out in 8th place and will get credited ₹5.30 Lakhs!

A quick look at the online stats of the NPS Main Event finalists makes it clear that at least three of the six players on FT are relatively inexperienced,

This was most evident in the last hand in which Saroj Mehta limped in with pocket tens before Riteish Kumar announced all-in with pocket kings. And just when we thought we`d see fireworks, Vikash Kumar folded and Mehta followed suit with her tens!!

The two stacks blinding out on the table have changed the FT dynamics significantly.

PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi has just doubled up Riteish Kumar AGAIN. Balodhi opened UTG for 12K and Kumar ripped it all in for 80.50K. Balodhi called.

Ashutosh Balodhi

Riteish Kumar

Balodhi was a 60:40 favorite to take down the pot but the poker gods had other plans as the board ran , securing Kumar another double up!

Chip Counts

Riteish Kumar – 162K

Ashutosh Balodhi – 59K

Vikash Kumar has been active in two back-to-back hands, BUT with different results!

In the first hand, online reg Vikram Mishra opened UTG with , and the action folded to Vikash Kumar, who called off with .

Flop

Kumar bet 6.5K, and Mishra raised it to 18K. Kumar called.

Turn

The action went check-check.

River

Kumar bet 13K, and Mishra moved all-in after hitting his set. Kumar gave it some thought before tank-folding.

After a few hands, Kumar doubled up through PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi with his holding on against Balodhi`s .

It`s been a terrific start for PokerGuru Staking at the ongoing series, with Kartik Ved championing the NPS Super Highroller last night. The team is looking in good shape for another NPS Gold Medal sweat today, with PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi among the top stacks on the NPS Main Event FT.

However, Balodhi has run into a rough start after doubling the short-stacked Riteish Kumar in under 10 minutes of the FT play. The hand in question saw him opening . Kumar moved all in from the small blind with . The action folded back to Balodhi, and he called.

The board opened , doubling up Kumar.

Unfortunately, since the FT is being recorded in a cordoned environment, noting player chip counts is difficult, but we will do our best to update them here during breaks.

There`s some bad news, everyone. The dodgy internet onboard the Casino Majestic Pride ship had caused several issues with the live stream yesterday. The Hashtag Production team looking to avoid similar problems today has decided against a live stream for the event.

The action is being recorded and will be put up after the event gets over.

It was a solid start for the Baazi Poker Tour yesterday and today promises to be even better!

We are on Day 2 of the series, and it’s a BIG one, to say the least, with three events on the schedule. Kicking off the day will be the magnum opus of NPS 2.0, the ₹3 Crores GTD NPS Main Event!

The ₹5,500 buy-in NPS Main Event logged in a smashing 6,202-entry field across eight starting flights last week, generating a guarantee-crushing ₹3.10 Crores prize pool. Day 2 ran from 9 PM to 4:01 AM on Sunday, stopping following the ninth-place elimination of PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja (9th for ₹4.16 Lakhs).

Well-known reg Chirag ‘miyagi’ Sodha is chip leading the way coming into the FT with PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh ‘senojwod’ Balodh (2,000,000) close on his coattails and in with a chance at making it two-for-two at the series for PokerGuru Staking!

Saroj ‘eureka7777’ Mehta (1,230,000), Vikram ‘Poker_lover’ Mishra (1,080,000), Vikash ‘Vikash142’ Kumar (690,400), and Riteish ‘riteish0911’ Kumar (316,100) are others who`ve made it here in time for the FT, which pays over ₹50 Lakhs and the NPS Gold Medal to the eventual champion!

Surprisingly, two finalists – Rajesh ‘path1716’ Pawar (851,400) and Thakurlal ‘thakurlalyadav’ Yadav (597,800) are not here, and their stacks have been put out, but they will get blinded.

There are two other events on the Thursday roster – Day 2 of the 15K Kickoff gets underway at 2 PM, and Day 1 of the ₹15K Big Bounty is due to start two hours later at 4 PM.

The PokerGuru live coverage team is on the ground to bring you all the updates. However, we apologize for the delays because of internet connectivity issues at the venue.

The NPS Main Event finalists – barring two players have arrived at the PokerBaazi LIVE poker room onboard Casino Majestic Pride in Goa.

There is going to be a small delay in the start of the event due to internet issues causing problems for the live stream. We’ll keep you posted once the cards are in the air.