Baazi Poker Tour: Nishant Sharma Leads Final 9 in ₹35K Main Event

The pièce de résistance of the Baazi Poker Tour (BPT) January 2020 edition, the ₹35K Main Event, has finally convened its nine-player final table! The event exceeded expectations by registering 609 entries across four starting flights and managed to surpass its massive ₹2 Crores guarantee that featured a reduced buy-in of ₹35,000 as compared to the ₹50,000 last edition.

Day 2 resumed with 104 runners and saw Phanindra Akkina starting out as the chip leader. The top 63 places were assured a min-cash of ₹70,100, and the money burst on Uday Moola, who was eliminated in 64^th place.

Following another 54 eliminations, the nine-handed final table was formed with veteran pro Nishant Sharma (cover image) bagging the overnight chip lead with 3.65 Million in chips.

Sharma had a flying start at the series with back-to-back final table finishes in the ₹10K Kick-Off (6^th for ₹1.19 Lakhs) and the ₹15K Big Bounty (7^th for ₹1.10 Lakhs) respectively. Proving how good of a player he truly is, Sharma bagged the Main Event Day 1D chip lead with a stack of 416,000. He played exceptionally well on Day 2 and is the frontrunner to win the Main Event trophy after bagging the most massive stack of 3,650,000.

PokerBaazi CEO Navkiran Singh, who championed the ₹100K High Roller for ₹31.82 Lakhs, made his second final table of the series with the second-largest stack of 2,730,000. Singh is on a heater and will undoubtedly be a player to watch out for as he comes back eyeing back-to-back titles.

Three players who deserve special mention are Gagandeep Singh, Shashank Jain, and Himanshu Dewan.

The former was down to just 4 BBs during bubble time but played phenomenally well to grab the chip lead by the second break of the day. Singh’s run ended at the hands of Vishrut Jain during Level 26, and he banked ₹2.80 Lakhs for his 12^th place exit.

Shashank Jain was another player on the brink of elimination as he was down to just 20,000 after losing a massive pot to Ayush Garg, but he quickly re-built his stack. He was eventually eliminated in 11^th place by Himanshu Dewan and pocketed ₹2.80 Lakhs.

Another player who made a commendable comeback was Dewan. He was crippled by Phanindra Akkina during Level 26 and was left with just 10,000. He took five double-ups to spin his stack up to 1,010,000 and has now entered the final table with 1,295,000 in chips.

Some notables who finished in the money include Phanindra Akkina (13^th for ₹2.32 Lakhs), Jasven Saigal (15^th for ₹2.32 Lakhs), Manoj Pentakota (17^th for ₹2 Lakhs), Pranay Chawla (21^st for ₹1.68 Lakhs), Aditya Sushant (29^th for ₹1.16 Lakhs), Harsh Dembla (45^th for ₹1.02 Lakhs), Sajal Gupta (47^th for ₹84,200), Vidwath Shetty (50^th for ₹84,200), defending champion Bharat Suda (55^th for ₹70,100) and Anish Patra (60^th for ₹70,100), along with PokerGuru Ambassadors Kartik Ved (24^th for ₹1.50 Lakhs), Madhav Gupta (27^th for ₹1.34 Lakhs), Ankit Wadhawan (28^th for ₹1.16 Lakhs), Jayjit Ray (42^nd for ₹1.02 Lakhs) and Gokul Raj (51^st for ₹84,200).

PokerGuru Ambassador Rony Chowdhury bubbled the final table, finishing 10^th for ₹2.80 Lakhs.

For a complete list of payouts, check here.

The nine-handed final table will resume at 2 PM, later today with the play starting at Level 27 with the blinds set at 30,000/60,000 and a running ante of 60,000.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Nishant Sharma – 3,650,000

2. Navkiran Singh – 2,730,000

3. Ayush Garg – 2,570,000

4. Vishrut Jain – 1,810,000

5. Jai Saha – 1,750,000

6. Gautam Sachdeva – 1,600,000

7. Vikas Mantri – 1,515,000

8. Siddharth Karia – 1,320,000

9. Himanshu Dewan – 1,295,000

Read the complete coverage of the event here.

Keep following PokerGuru for more exciting updates from the Baazi Poker Tour!