Daily Majors: Keshav Todi, Sandeep Singh & Aayush Arya Grab Top Honours on Monday With Solid Runs on PokerBaazi

The live poker action caught fire this month, with two major Asian stops running simultaneously. And with the record-breaking APT Manila Classic 2025 wrapping up over the weekend, the spotlight has firmly shifted to WPT Championship Cambodia 2025, which has a strong Indian brigade in attendance (with many Indians heading southwest from Manila) to hunt down those prestigious WPT trophies!

Meanwhile, back in the digital realm, PokerBaazi is stealing the show. They`ve upped the ante by launching the 2025 POY Leaderboard with ₹5 Crores in prizes for the top 100 finishers (and ₹1 Crore for the ultimate champion). But that’s not all! The “Road to NPS” satellite series, with its golden tickets to the highly anticipated ₹100 Crores GTD National Poker Series India 2025, has ignited a frenzy, leaving other platforms scrambling with steep overlays. Monday was no different, with PokerBaazi reigning supreme, especially with Natural8 India having a rare off day. The NPS 2025 is shaping up to be a monumental event for Indian poker – and everyone wants a piece of the action.

Keshav Todi was Monday`s hero. After 15 months of grinding on PokerBaazi, he finally achieved a major breakthrough, seizing his first flagship title in The Big Show and a career-best ₹5.06 Lakhs. This victory wasn’t just a personal triumph; it catapulted him back into profitability on the platform and crowned him the day’s top scorer. Sandeep Singh, the PPL The MoneyMaker champion from March 2020, was right behind him. He battled hard for his first 2025 title, finishing runner-up for ₹3.04 Lakhs, his best result of the year so far!

Young Gun Aayush Arya also made a statement. After a phenomenal 2024, where he finished #9 in the record-breaking Player of the Year race, the WSOP bracelet winner and 2023 People’s Poker Championship nominee seems to have picked up things right where he left off last year. Returning after a short break, he made a strong run in two of the biggest PokerBaazi flagships last night. He came this close to winning The Big Show for the second time in three weeks, finishing third for ₹2.43 Lakhs. And he had another real shot at taking down The Big Show Lite, finishing runner-up for ₹1.36 Lakhs. Arya’s four deep runs netted him ₹3.98 Lakhs, placing him second on Monday’s leaderboard, behind only Todi!

‘Prafss,’ a sporadic PokerBaazi grinder who won the Blockbuster Lite earlier this month, also had a fantastic Monday. They conquered The Big Show Lite, earning a site-best ₹2.06 Lakhs, erasing almost 60% of their past losses on the platform in one night.

‘chintu452,’ a PokerBaazi regular, finally had their moment in the sun. After seven years of grinding, they won the Daily Last Chance for their first flagship title, earning ₹1.80 Lakhs. This is their third-biggest score on PokerBaazi and sixth career title, recouping over a third of their platform losses in one epic run. Shivankar Bahl, another PokerBaazi loyalist and a two-time NPS India 2024 gold medalist, finished second for ₹1.19 Lakhs, his fifth-best score on the platform.

Rajneesh Thakur is proving that momentum is everything! The 2024 TLB runner-up has been crushing it this year, racking up wins like it’s nobody’s business. He added another title to his collection, winning Adda52’s Iron Man for ₹1.33 Lakhs after a heads-up deal. This is his sixth title this month and an incredible ninth this year. With over ₹48 Lakhs in yearly earnings (₹22.72 Lakhs in profit), he’s neck-to-neck with ‘Dhakedboy’ on PokerBaazi’s ₹5 Crore 2025 POY Leaderboard. Gourav Das, a former Maverick champion and The MoneyMaker runner-up, also had a great night. He turned a ₹275 satellite entry into a ₹1.32 Lakhs score by finishing runner-up in Iron Man. With another cash on PokerBaazi, he matched Thakur’s total Monday haul of ₹1.33 Lakhs.

Over at Junglee Poker, ‘pokerisbrand‘ conquered the Monday Monster for a cool ₹78,000.

The day also saw a host of other players leave their mark, including Puneet Jain, Karan Paul, Shivam Kumar Dubey, George Taggu, Sanchit Nag, Shailesh Patel, Saddam Qureshi, Sony Puthussery (who snagged two titles!), and Shibshambhu Ghosh, who all won the other Monday marquees!

Here are the Monday highlights!

PokerBaazi

The Big Show – ₹30 Lakhs GTD

Buy-in – ₹5,750

Entries – 315

Re-entries – 292

Prize Pool – ₹30,35,000

Places Paid – 87

While Sunday’s action on PokerBaazi was a frenzy of high-stakes battles and guarantee-crushing turnouts, Monday brought a more measured but equally exciting grind. Players flocked to the virtual felt for Day 2 of the “Road to NPS”—India’s biggest satellite series, offering over ₹2 Crores in tickets to the upcoming ₹100 Crores GTD National Poker Series India 2025.

This added influx of players fueled the action, with all of PokerBaazi’s Monday flagship tournaments soaring past their guarantees. At the heart of this thrilling Monday grind was a relatively unknown player, Keshav ‘MOTIMACHLI’ Todi, who spectacularly captured his first-ever PokerBaazi title, conquering the day’s biggest guaranteed event—the ₹30 Lakhs GTD The Big Show.

Playing on PokerBaazi for just 15 months, Todi was about to experience a night he’d never forget. He navigated a massive field of 607 entries (315 unique) in the 8 PM headliner, outlasting seasoned pros and hungry newcomers alike in an eight-hour-and-two-minute marathon. When the dust settled, Todi found himself hoisting the trophy, his first-ever PokerBaazi title! This incredible victory came with a career-best ₹5.06 Lakhs payday (surpassing the previous best ₹4.32 Lakhs he earned for a fifth-place finish in The MoneyMaker in 2023), pushing him back into profitability on the platform and making him the biggest winner of the day.

Keshav Todi’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹23.66 Lakhs | Site Profits: ₹4.23 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #1

While Todi celebrated his maiden victory, circuit regular Sandeep ‘PoKcey’ Singh was hunting for his first win of 2025 and second in The Big Show. This Ghaziabad-based grinder, best known for winning the PPL The MoneyMaker in March 2020, had two early exits but fired a third bullet and went on a scorching run. He ultimately finished as the runner-up, earning a handsome ₹3.04 Lakhs—his best score of the year so far.

Sandeep Singh’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹5.54 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹9.58 Lakhs

Young Gun Aayush ‘Learnnwin’ Arya, having closed out 2024 with a spectacular #9 finish in the record-breaking Player of the Year race, is proving to be a relentless force in 2025. This WSOP bracelet winner and 2023 People’s Poker Championship nominee started the year strong, grabbing victories in The Quest Lite and The Big Show Lite in January, followed by another win in The Big Show on the first Monday of February.

Arya was hungry for a repeat victory in The Big Show, but it wasn’t meant to be. He finished a strong third for ₹2.43 Lakhs. Not content with just one deep run, he also stormed to a runner-up finish in The Big Show Lite, raking in another ₹1.36 Lakhs. By the night’s end, his earnings had skyrocketed to almost ₹3.98 Lakhs from four deep runs, catapulting him to #78 on PokerBaazi’s ₹5 Crores GTD 2025 POY Leaderboard!

> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s The Big Show for ₹2,42,800

> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Big Show Lite for ₹1,35,720

> 13th in Adda52’s Iron Man for ₹10,975

> 22nd in PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance for ₹8,020

Aayush Arya’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹8.84 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.43 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Moves to #78 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY leaderboard

The Big Show final table was brimming with regulars riding high on form like Sunday’s BSS Super Value finalist Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh (4th for ₹1.85 Lakhs), Adwait ‘SSHOTT’ Pol (5th for ₹1.36 Lakhs), recent Sunday Head Hunter champion Saransh ‘saransh004’ Garg (6th for ₹1.13 Lakhs), ‘Deep260622’ (7th for ₹92,264), and ‘duksh’ (8th for ₹73,447) all adding to the drama and excitement.

With the “Road to NPS” satellites drawing hordes of players to PokerBaazi, the ₹5,750 buy-in The Big Show was a runaway success, crushing its guarantee and generating a scorching ₹30.35 Lakhs prize pool. The top 87 players shared in the spoils, with payouts starting at ₹10,319, making it another electric Monday on India’s leading poker platform. With just days left until the ₹100 Crores GTD NPS India 2025 kicks off on Sunday, the action on PokerBaazi is reaching fever pitch. And if Monday was any indication, this year’s NPS is set to be one for the history books.

Final Table Results

1. Keshav ‘MOTIMACHLI’ Todi – ₹5,05,935
2. Sandeep ‘PoKcey’ Singh – ₹3,03,500
3. Aayush ‘Learnnwin’ Arya – ₹2,42,800
4. Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh – ₹1,84,528
5. Adwait ‘SSHOTT’ Pol – ₹1,36,272
6. Saransh ‘saransh004’ Garg – ₹1,12,902
7. Deep260622 – ₹92,264
8. duksh – ₹73,447

The Big Show Lite – ₹10 Lakhs GTD

Buy-in – ₹2,000

Entries – 440

Re-entries – 340

Prize Pool – ₹13,57,200

Places Paid – 118

PokerBaazi just keeps the action coming! After a wild Sunday, the action didn’t let up. The ₹10 Lakhs GTD The Big Show Lite turned into another epic battle, the clash echoing into the wee hours of Tuesday. A staggering 440 players, with a total of 780 entries, answered the 7:30 PM call to arms. And from this intense struggle, a champion rose: ‘Prafss!’

A shadowy figure, ‘Prafss’ has intermittently graced PokerBaazi’s MTT scene since March 2018. A first taste of victory came with a (6-Max) BSS SPRINT title last July. Then, a seven-month drought. But February has been kinder, with a Blockbuster Lite win at the start of the month and now, this dominant display.

‘Prafss’ battled for six hours and 15 minutes against a field of seasoned regulars and ambitious newcomers, even firing a couple of bullets along the way. They showed that experience and grit can be a potent combination, walking away with a personal best ₹2.06 Lac. That’s almost 60% of their past losses on the platform recouped in a single, glorious night!

Prafss’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹13.47 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #2

Then there’s the engineer of odds, Young Gun Aayush ‘Learnnwin’ Arya, a WSOP bracelet winner and the 2024 POY #9. He’s carried his unstoppable 2024 momentum into 2025, with victories in The Quest Lite and The Big Show Lite in January, another The Big Show win at the start of February, and a fourth-place finish in Adda52’s The Mint DPT Edition. These are just appetizers for a player of his calibre.

After a brief period off the radar, Arya made a partial comeback on Sunday, and last night, he exploded back onto the scene with a dominant Monday performance. Four deep runs yielded almost ₹3.98 Lakhs, highlighted by a runner-up finish in The Big Show Lite and a third-place showing in The Big Show. This put him second on the Monday scorecard, trailing only The Big Show champion Keshav Todi!

> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s The Big Show for ₹2,42,800

> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Big Show Lite for ₹1,35,720

> 13th in Adda52’s Iron Man for ₹10,975

> 22nd in PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance for ₹8,020

Aayush Arya’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹8.84 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.43 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Moves to #78 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard

The Big Show Lite final table also spotlighted other regulars like Kanish ‘NotPhilIveyy’ (5th for ₹63,653), Anil ‘Anil1986’ Sharma (7th for ₹40,716), and last week`s BSS Super Value runner-up Sachin ‘browguy26’ Raj (8th for ₹29,723).

Like other PokerBaazi flagships, the ₹2,000 buy-in The Big Show Lite was an absolute frenzy! The prize pool swelled to a mouthwatering ₹13.57 Lakhs, obliterating the guarantee and showering 118 players with payouts. Even the min-cash was a respectable ₹4,072, highlighting PokerBaazi’s dedication to providing the most thrilling and rewarding online poker experience, with packed virtual felts even on a Monday night. With turnouts like this, the upcoming NPS India 2025 has the potential to rewrite the record books.

Final Table Results

1. Prafss – ₹2,06,294
2. Aayush ‘Learnnwin’ Arya – ₹1,35,720
3. MrJo – ₹1,00,433
4. emotionalDunks1 – ₹77,360
5. Kanish ‘NotPhilIveyy’ – ₹63,653
6. bigbull11 – ₹51,981
7. Anil ‘Anil1986’ Sharma – ₹40,716
8. Sachin ‘browguy26’ Raj – ₹29,723

Daily Last Chance – ₹10 Lakhs GTD

Buy-in – ₹2,500

Entries – 290

Re-entries – 237

Prize Pool – ₹11,45,698

Places Paid – 82

The “Road to NPS” satellites have unleashed a torrent of players onto PokerBaazi. Everyone’s chasing those golden tickets to the NPS India 2025. And the action didn’t stop, even as Tuesday morning approached. The ₹10 Lakhs GTD Daily Last Chance kept the virtual felt hot until the break of dawn.

Two hundred and ninety players, 527 total entries, packed the 10:30 PM flagship. But only one could emerge from the chaos. After a gruelling night of poker combat, the enigmatic ‘chintu452’ rose above the rest, claiming their first-ever flagship victory and a place in Daily Last Chance history.

‘chintu452’ has been a regular on the PokerBaazi MTT scene since August 2018, known for their exploits primarily in the micro-to-low stakes. But they caught fire last night during the five-hour and 49-minute slugfest that was the Daily Last Chance. Three well-aimed bullets resulted in a handsome ₹1.80 Lakhs. This isn’t just a win; it’s a statement. It’s their third-biggest score on PokerBaazi and their sixth career title on the platform, recouping over a third of their platform losses in one fell swoop.

chintu452’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹26.17 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #1

Shivankar ‘BlueCheese7’ Bahl, another PokerBaazi loyalist, and an NPS India 2024 gold medalist, was so close to getting his first win this year. Fresh off a fourth-place finish in the Summit Lite, he nearly took down the Daily Last Chance. But it wasn’t to be. Nevertheless, the runner-up finish landed him ₹1.19 Lakhs, his fifth-best score on PokerBaazi.

Shivankar Bahl’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹30.06 Lakhs | Site Profits: ₹7.21 Lakhs

The Daily Last Chance final table was a star-studded affair, featuring notables like last week’s The Quest Lite runner-up Vishal ‘karan23’ Kumar (3rd for ₹89,364), Saturday’s same event finalist Parth ‘PapuLasith’ Shah (5th for ₹55,681), February’s Sunday Head Hunter winner Rishabh ‘rgeader’ Gupta (6th for ₹45,828), and the red-hot Yash ‘Riraizer’ Chitre, who was riding high from his Sunday (6-Max) BSS SPRINT victory (8th for ₹26,924).

The ₹2,500 buy-in Daily Last Chance was another example of the booming interest in PokerBaazi. This late-night flagship surpassed its guarantee, generating a generous ₹10.09 Lakhs prize pool. Sixty-five players got paid, with even the min-cash a respectable ₹5,548, more than double the buy-in. The rewards were definitely worth it for those who braved the late-night grind.

Final Table Results

1. chintu452 – ₹1,79,760
2. Shivankar ‘BlueCheese7’ Bahl – ₹1,18,580
3. Vishal ‘karan23’ Kumar – ₹89,364
4. Rasherboy – ₹65,649
5. Parth ‘PapuLasith’ Shah – ₹55,681
6. Rishabh ‘rgeader’ Gupta – ₹45,828
7. amitrai112000 – ₹36,204
8. Yash ‘Riraizer’ Chitre – ₹26,924

Puneet ‘arhanhit’ Jain (Won ₹5 Lakhs GTD (7-Max) Afternoon Boost for ₹54,483), Karan ‘paul7788’ Paul (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD PLO-5 Boost for ₹36,900), Shivam ‘daddyaddy’ Kumar Dubey (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD PLO-6 Daily for ₹30,450), ‘NAZIM’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Daily Boost for ₹26,160), ‘pradipkumarbauri’ (Won ₹1 Lakh Boost for ₹12,290), George ‘geotag’ Taggu (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD 6-Max SPRINT for ₹11,730), ‘rasherboy’ (Won ₹1 Lakh Midnight SPRINT for ₹10,350), and Sanchit ‘deuceseven27’ Nag (Won ₹1 Lakh Boost for ₹9,052) won the other Monday marquees on PokerBaazi.

Junglee Poker

‘pokerisbrand’ won the ₹4.50 Lakhs GTD Monday Monster for ₹78,397.

‘reese’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Monday Battleground for ₹48,750), ‘sdnmv7’ (Won ₹75K GTD Monday Sunsetter for ₹16,929), and ‘mrarunachal’ (Won ₹50K GTD Hangover for ₹11,623) won the other Monday marquees on Junglee Poker.

Adda52

Iron Man – ₹8 Lakhs GTD

Buy-in – ₹2,750

Entries – 147

Re-entries – 138

Re-buys – 5

Prize Pool – ₹8,00,000

Places Paid – 44

The online poker world is a jungle, teeming with players who’ve turned the game into their bread and butter. While the top pros grab the headlines in the biggest tournaments, the mid-stakes and smaller-stakes grinders are the unsung heroes. Then there are volume beasts like Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur, who plays relentlessly, squeezing out every advantage to consistently finish in the black – a strategy that works in the long run! It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and Thakur is running it like a champion.

And 2025 has been his year so far. After a stellar 2024 campaign that saw Thakur clinch the #2 spot on the TLB (points) leaderboard, he’s showing no signs of slowing down. This Monday was no exception, as he conquered Adda52’s ₹8 Lakhs GTD Iron Man – his sixth title of the month and a remarkable ninth of the year!

Thakur kicked off the year with a trio of victories in January and has been on a tear ever since. February has seen him conquer PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) Afternoon Boost, Daily Last Chance, and Adda52’s Nighttide DST Adda and Voyager DPT Edition. He even shipped PokerBaazi’s (PLO-5) Boost just last Friday.

Then came Monday—two hundred and ninety entries, 147 unique faces, all vying for the Iron Man title. Thakur navigated the field like a master strategist at work. He battled his way to the top in the 8 PM showdown, finally seizing his first Iron Man victory and a handsome ₹1.33 Lakhs after a heads-up deal, wrapping up a night where, unusually for him, this was his sole score. But his annual earnings are approaching the stratosphere, with over ₹48 Lakhs in total winnings and a staggering ₹22.72 Lakhs in profits. He’s not just playing; he’s building an empire. And with his eyes fixed on PokerBaazi’s ₹5 Crore 2025 POY Leaderboard, where he currently shares the lead with ‘Dhakedboy,’ that ₹1 Crore prize is well in his sights!

But the Iron Man story has another twist. Gourav ‘piyush0657’ Das, a former Maverick champion and The MoneyMaker runner-up, was also in the hunt. He had a great run, making it to heads-up and walking away with a respectable ₹1.32 Lakhs after the deal – his fourth-best score on Adda52 and his sixth-best overall. That is a fantastic return, especially considering he satellited into the tournament for just ₹275. That’s a 482X return on investment. He even added a small cash in the PokerBaazi Boost (106th for ₹492), boosting his total Monday earnings to ₹1.33 Lakhs.

Gourav Das’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹74.63 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹31.86 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #1

The Iron Man final table had two other heavy hitters in the mix. Sunday’s Pocket Kings finalist Aditya ‘whatisteend’ Kulkarni locked up a fourth-place finish, boosting his bankroll by ₹61,361. Right behind him was Nandan ‘LotJ24’ Pugalia in fifth, who walked away with ₹45,257.

As seen on Sunday, the “Road to NPS” satellites on PokerBaazi created ripples, leading to overlays across the board on other platforms. The Iron Man wasn’t immune, falling short of its ₹8 Lakhs guarantee by a steep ₹1.04 Lakhs. However, the ₹2,750 buy-in tournament still provided excellent value, with the top 44 players cashing for at least ₹6,039 – more than double their initial investment. It was a night of big wins and even bigger potential, especially for the top finishers.

Final Table Results

1. Rajneesh ‘rajneesh620’ Thakur – ₹1,33,281*
2. Gourav ‘piyush0657’ Das – ₹1,32,454*
3. Spadeflushpoker – ₹83,195
4. Aditya ‘whatisteend’ Kulkarni – ₹61,361
5. Nandan ‘LotJ24’ Pugalia – ₹45,257
6. oldregret703 – ₹33,379
7. JC1870 – ₹24,619
8. samantaraju – ₹18,158

*denotes a heads-up deal

₹25 Lakhs GTD Masterminds Arena Main Event – Day 1A

Day 1A > Entries – 83 | Re-entries – 37 | Re-buys – 2 | Survivors – 12 | Chip Leader – ‘Ace2311’ (359,619)

The Masterminds Arena title winners of the day included Shailesh ‘MrShailesh’ Patel (Won ₹3 Lakhs GTD MMA PKO 8-Max for ₹68,027), ‘Sirfuxalot20’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD MMA Monster Stack for ₹46,228), ‘rjthegod’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD MMA 6-Max for ₹28,940), Saddam ‘sam0594’ Qureshi (Won ₹1.25 Lakhs GTD MMA Daily for ₹24,444), ‘DontStopMeNow’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD MMA PKO for ₹21,419), ‘spraggy123’ (Won ₹75K GTD Turbo 6-Max for ₹15,030), and ‘Devil4694’ (Won ₹50K GTD MMA PLO 6-Max for ₹6,331).

Pocket52

‘rana88’ won the ₹75K GTD Soda for ₹22,500.

Spartan Poker

‘LUCKY00007’ (Won ₹3 Lakhs GTD Supreme for ₹49,443), Sony ‘swAAmi’ Puthussery (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Bullet for ₹44,400), Sony ‘swAAmi’ Puthussery (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Monster Turbo for ₹22,200), ‘bluefloyd’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Monster Turbo for ₹19,450), and Shibshambhu ‘robot3’ Ghosh (Won ₹50K GTD Holdem for ₹12,300) won the Monday marquees on Spartan Poker.

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