WSOP 2019 Team India Report Card: Over 100 Cashes, 8 FT Finishes & a Bracelet!

The 50^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) provided the global poker community with 50 days of unrelenting poker action which saw 90 WSOP gold bracelet tournaments declaring winners! The biggest poker extravaganza of the year was packed to the punch with high-octane action both on and off the felts. From several bracelet events crowing first-time winners to players making junk food related prop bets. From the inaugural BIG 50 event becoming the largest live tournament ever with 28,371 entries to the most prestigious event of the series, the 50^th-anniversary special Main event, crowing a new ‘World Champion.’ Even Mother Nature made her presence known when an earthquake rocked Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on July 5. The 2019 WSOP had it all!

While the series was a special one since the brand was celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, it was also a landmark series for Team India for several reasons. The largest-ever contingent of Indian players attended this year’s series which resulted in more than 100 cashes, eight final table finishes, two six-figure scores, and one bracelet!

With such a big battalion of Indians present at the series, it was no surprise that there were numerous deep runs by our challengers throughout the schedule. In this feature, we will briefly recap the most noteworthy feats of the Indian battalion at the 2019 WSOP.

One man who had stood out among the crowd of Indian players was our Young Gun Abhinav Iyer. He has been in extraordinary form since the start of 2019 and was one of the early arrivals at the WSOP. He played the full schedule and held back the best for the last. Out of the eight cashes he registered at the series, the one that helped him etch his name in the annals of Indian poker history was his bracelet win in The Closer for a colossal payout of $565,346 (~₹3.87 Crores)! Iyer is officially India’s first solo-bracelet winner, and for this, he is most deservingly our “Star of the Series.”

Though this is India’s third consecutive year of bringing home the coveted gold bracelet, it is the first time the bracelet was claimed in a solo live event. Previously, Aditya Sushant and Nipun Java had won the Tag Team bracelet in 2017, with Nikita Luther defending the title in 2018. Meanwhile, Java had secured a bracelet in the online event, Event #71: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Championship, in 2017 as well.

While Iyer is the talk of the town, there was a fleet of other fantastic performances by Indian contenders at the 2019 WSOP. PokerGuru Ambassadors Kartik Ved and Ashish Ahuja were two of the most consistent players from the Indian squad. Ved picked up seven scores in the series which includes running the deepest in the Main Event among the Indian challengers. Ahuja was another outlier who posted an incredible nine scores at the series and even made it to the final table in Event #42: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em / Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack 8-Handed at his debut appearance at the WSOP!

Another Ahuja who had a rocking time in Las Vegas this summer was Ankit Ahuja. He bagged the highest score in a non-WSOP event as he championed the Venetian DeepStack Championship $1.1K MonsterStack for $266,824 (~₹1.84 Crores).

Let’s take a quick glance at the notable performances by Team India this summer:

WSOP 2019 Team India Report Card

This list of achievers is an ideal union of established pros and rising players signifying the diversity of talent that exists in the country.

1. Star of the Series & Highest Scorer

Abhinav Iyer For Winning The Closer For $565,346 (~₹3.87 Crores)

This honor undoubtedly goes to the only and only Young Gun Abhinav Iyer. The Mumbai-based pro registered his first live score way back in 2014 and since then has amassed a total of 38 scores on the live felts, amounting to $797,573 (~₹5.49 Crores) in live tournament earnings. He has been in awe-inspiring right form from the start of the year. He kicked off 2019 by taking down the 2019 Asian Poker Tour (APT) Vietnam Main Event for VND 2,269,092,000 (~₹69.51 Lakhs). He picked up four more cashes, en route to what was most likely his second trip to the WSOP.

Iyer’s poker resume boasts of a litany of online scores. He was unstoppable in January when he took down back-to-back events on PokerBaazi – the FRI-YAY ₹10 Lakhs GTD for ₹2.30 Lakhs January 19, The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.38 Lakhs on January 20, and the BSS SuparStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.04 Lakhs on January 21. His most recent virtual wins include The Bout ₹10 Lakhs GTD for ₹2.36 Lakhs on May 21 and the Thursday MonsterStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.39 Lakhs on May 24.

It was only a matter of time before something even more significant would come his way, and it happened at the 2019 WSOP. With the series already on its last legs, Team India was yet to secure the most talked about solo gold bracelet. Up until that point Iyer had already picked up six scores at the series, and he finally brought India her first-ever solo gold bracelet in Event #84: The Closer – $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for a personal best score of $565,346 (~₹3.87 Crores). This was not only the biggest score of Iyer’s career but also the highest score by an Indian at any poker tournament in recent history, justifying Abhinav Iyer’s claim as the “Star of the Series”.

2. Most Cumulative Cashes (WSOP)

Abhinav Iyer Picked Up 8 Cashes For $585,548 (~₹4.03 Crores)

Unsurprisingly, the lone Indian bracelet winner would also have the most cumulative cashes at the series. So once again, Abhinav Iyer’s name comes up in this feature as the Indian with the most cumulative cashes at the 2019 WSOP. Iyer bagged a total of eight scores, amounting to $585,548 (~₹4.03 Crores) in earnings among the Indian contingent. Being one of the early arrivals at the series, Iyer took full advantage of playing the full schedule and was in blistering form all through the series.

Taking into consideration his 408^th place finish in Event #62: $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed for $3,031 (~₹2.07 Lakhs) from 2018, Iyer’s present tally of WSOP winnings stand tall at $588,579 (~₹4.05 Crores).

Abhinav Iyer Cashes at the 2019 WSOP

Notably, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja bagged the highest number of cashes at this year’s series, nine in total, his total earnings of $113,026 (~₹77.88 Lakhs) was significantly lower than Iyer’s, due to the latter’s end of series bracelet win which catapulted Iyer to the top of the cumulative cashes leaderboard.

3. Deepest Run in the Main Event

Kartik Ved Cracked the Top 100, Finishing 51^st for $173,015 (~₹1.18 Crores)

Making his second appearance at the WSOP, PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved was one of the early birds to arrive at the 2019 WSOP and played the full schedule. Ved posted seven scores in this year’s WSOP banking a cumulative $215,107 (~₹1.48 Crores) for his work through the summer. He got off to a flying start by finishing in the top 30 (29^th for $34,279 – ₹23.77 Lakhs) in Event #3: BIG 50 – $500 No-Limit Hold’em, his best performance of the series came in the event that mattered the most – Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em MAIN EVENT – World Championship.

A total of 10 Indian finished in the money; however, Ved was the only Indian who made it through to Day 6. Making back-to-back deep runs in the Main Event, Ved was successful in improving upon his 128^th place finish in the Main Event last year as he ultimately finished 51^st for $173,015 (~₹1.18 Crores). Incidentally, this was the second-largest score by an Indian at the 2019 WSOP.

In a recent interview with PokerGuru, Ved talked about his experience at the Main Event, recapping how the Main Event is different from the other events at the series, “The Main Event is unlike any other tournament in the world. It is the most prestigious tournament ever, but it’s also an exhaustive one. While discipline and patience are crucial to succeeding in this 10-day tournament, luck too plays an important role. I managed to maintain a 100 BB+ stack each day until I entered Day 6, so suffice to say I was comfortably cruising through as the field around me began to narrow down.”

4. Best Debutant

Ashish Ahuja Makes Dream Debut With 9 Cashes For $113,026 (~₹77.88 Lakhs)

The second PokerGuru Ambassador to feature in this list, Ashish Ahuja has genuinely had a dream debut in the ‘World’s Biggest Poker Festival’ collecting nine cashes for cumulative winnings of $113,026 (~₹77.88 Lakhs). The lawyer-turned-poker player posted his maiden WSOP score in Event #16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed where he finished 142^nd for $2,742 (~₹1.90 Lakhs).

Fondly known as “Rocky,” Ahuja “Balboed” his way to the final table in Event #42: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em / Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack 8-Handed and came tantalizingly close to making his debut historical. Sadly, he fell short of becoming the first player to bring home India’s first solo bracelet, ultimately finishing fifth for $48,914 (~₹34.10 Lakhs). This is presently his career-best live score.

His other notable score at the series came in Event #34: $1,000 Double Stack No-Limit Hold’em where he netted $37,421 (~₹26.06 Lakhs) for his 15^th place finish.

Ashish Ahuja Cashes At the 2019 WSOP

Even though he was, without a doubt, the most consistent player from Team India at the series and is an ideal candidate for the “Best Debutant” title, other WSOP first-timers, like Siddharth Mundada, Deepak Bothra, Young Gun Siddharth Karia, Naresh Veeravalli and Aditya Systla also deserve to be mentioned for their exceptional performances and deep runs in many bracelet events.

5. Highest Score Outside the WSOP

Ankit Ahuja Wins the Venetian DeepStack Championship $1.1K MonsterStack For $266,824 (~₹1.84 Crores)

Though WSOP was the center of attraction for most Indian players who had made it to Las Vegas, many of them also participated in the numerous poker tournaments running alongside the WSOP in other establishments. While several Indians did manage to score in these events, Ankit Ahuja amassed the biggest non-WSOP score of $266,824 (~₹1.84 Crores) by taking down Event #75: $1,100 NLH MonsterStack at the Venetian DeepStack Championship series.

The event had attracted 2,233 entries, and Ahuja outlasted them all to reach the heads-up against Jesse Cohen. The two finalists eventually finalists decided to opt for an even heads-up chop that awarded them both $266,824 each. However, as Ahuja had the chip lead at the time the deal was agreed upon, he was declared as the winner and walked away with the trophy.

PokerBaazi CEO and Founder, Navkiran Singh, deserves a special mention here since he was the only other Indian to ship a non-WSOP event this summer. He won Event #88: $400 PLO Bounty $30K GTD of the Venetian DeepStack Championship series, along with $11,517 (~₹7.88 Lakhs) in first-place prize money. Singh also collected an impressive 20 bounties along the way worth an additional $2,000 (~₹1.36 Lakhs) in cash prize, taking him total winnings in the event to roughly ₹9.24 Lakhs.

Another player who deserves special mention here is India’s lone female bracelet winner, Nikita Luther, who came excruciatingly close to clinching her maiden WPT title in Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas, but ultimately lost it to Ben Farrell after a brutal beat, finishing runner-up for $109,300 (₹75.32 Lakhs) instead.

6. Most Consistent Player at the WSOP

Aditya Agarwal Participated in His 14^th Consecutive WSOP in 2019 & Cashed For a Record 8^th Time in the Main Event

One of the first players to represent India at the biggest stage of poker was PokerStars India Team pro Aditya Agarwal. A journey that started way back in 2006 when Agarwal was just 21 years old has sprawled into a 14-year-long association with the WSOP. His first cash at the series came back in 2007. His tradition of scoring in the Main Event also began in the same year. Despite this series being a rough one for the poker maestro, Agarwal still managed to score in the Main Event. His 844^th place finish for $18,535 (~₹12.70 Lakhs), took his tally of Main Event cashes to eight. He is now just three cashes away from overtaking Berry Johnston’s record of 10 Main Event cashes.

Agarwal’s present winnings at the WSOP stand tall at $580,782 (~₹4 Crores).

7. Most Final Table Finishes (WSOP & Others)

Abhinav Iyer, Ankit Ahuja, Nikita Luther, Raghav Bansal, Kunal Punjwani, Kalyan Chakravarthy, Ashish Ahuja & Navkiran Singh Make Final Table Finishes

Perhaps the most heavily contested category of this feature – we have eight Indians who were able to final table WSOP and non-WSOP events this summer. Since this has been the best performance by Team India in Las Vegas thus far, suffice to say we had a tough time selecting who would top this category. While Abhinav Iyer had the most significant final table finish this year, driven by the fact that he won the coveted gold bracelet and banked the highest score by an Indian at the series, the other final tables finishes are equally momentous and deserve to be mentioned.

Team India’s Final Table Finishes (WSOP & Other)

Content & Images Courtesy: World Series of Poker