14 Minutes Read
If Spartan Poker’s Final Table Series 6.0 drove up the temperature on the offline felts on Thursday, the Friday action was even more electrifying as PokerBaazi’s 1000X Series added more impetus to the day`s proceedings. Players better buckle up for a busy weekend, given the massive guaranteed tournaments lined up across all the major platforms. PokerStars India`s iconic MicroMillions series sounds off the action on Sunday, so even the upcoming players have reasons to rejoice.
With two flagship offerings dishing out insane prizes, five players notched up seven-figure scores on Friday. Standing tall among them all was Laksh Pal Singh, who has been on a rampage at FTS 6.0. The Young Gun is on a ₹30 Lakhs upswing in the last two days. Hot on the heels of his FTS #3 Thursday Titan victory the day before, Singh won Spartan Poker`s FTS #9 High Roller for a jaw-dropping ₹26.51 Lakhs last night – crossing ₹1 Crore in annual winnings. Not only did he become the first player to qualify twice for the FTS The Master Table, but he also laddered to #4 in the POY race and climbed to #2 on the FTS 6.0 leaderboard!
Sriharsha Doddapaneni (2nd for ₹18.58 Lakhs) and Rajat Mahajan (3rd for ₹12.27 Lakhs) were others banking seven-figure scores in FTS #9 Highroller.
Monam Hayat grabbed the other FTS gold medallion yesterday in Spartan Poker`s FTS #8 Friday Titan, winning the title for a career-best ₹14.81 Lakhs – over 2X his previous-best score – recovering seven-figure losses with one score. The win made Hayat the fourth player to advance to the FTS The Masters Table. The most profitable player of 2022, Sahil Chutani, finished runner-up for ₹9.97 Lakhs.
Vijay Kumar Maithani (Won FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack for ₹2.28 Lakhs), Amol Nimsarkar (Won FTS #7 Triple Chance for ₹1.32 Lakhs), and last night`s (7-Max) SPRINT champion Kanishka Samant (Won FTS #6 for ₹1.61 Lakhs) won the FTS silver medallions on Day 2 of the series.
Advait Rajguru had his best run in 2023 yet. The tournament pro hit it big in Adda52`s Mega Highrollers Weekend Friday tournament, MHW Big Game, taking it down for ₹14.75 Lakhs. Nikhil Agarwal locked in a personal-best ₹8.60 Lakhs as the runner-up.
The recent Wednesday High Roller runner-up finisher, Ankit Wadhawan, jumped over a five-week title slump with a victory march in the headline tournament on Day 1 of PokerBaazi’s 1000X Series 3.0, 1000X#3 Friday Prime, winning his maiden 1000X title for ₹4.05 Lakhs. He struck a heads-up deal with Young Gun Ujjwal Narwal (2nd for ₹4.03 Lakhs).
Lourembam Joshima Devi (Won 1000X#1 #Kickoff for ₹1.57 Lakhs), Rajneesh Thakur (1000X#4 (6-Max) for ₹1.31 Lakhs), and Cherag Batliwalla (Won 1000X#2 (5-Max) Turbo for ₹72,507) won the other 1000X Series marquees on Friday.
The two-time The MoneyMaker champion, Aditya Sushant, locked in an impressive ₹7.45 Lakhs through an FT finish and title victory. He notably shipped PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller for ₹5.16 Lakhs. Vinay Rajpal stood second for ₹3.41 Lakhs (won ₹3.55 Lakhs overall).
The user ‘ToiDoi11‘ won PokerStars India`s The Big Bash [8-Max, PKO] for ₹1.97 Lakhs (₹1.04 Lakhs in bounties). Posting his 10th FT finish of the year, Vishnu Khandelwal collected ₹1.63 Lakhs in second place (won at least ₹1.80 Lakhs overall).
Hardik Nair, Retheesh K R, Shyam Sundar, Vaibhav Arora, Himanshu Singh, Akhilesh Gautam, and Rahul Thakur won the other Friday majors!
Here are the Friday highlights!
Spartan Poker
FTS #9 High Roller (6-Max) – ₹1 Crore GTD
Buy-in – ₹1,05,000
Entries – 67
Re-entries – 22
Rebuys – 12
Prize Pool – ₹1,01,00,000
Places Paid – 13
It’s been an explosive start in the biggest-ever Final Table Series 6.0 for Laksh ‘b00mTilt23’ Pal Singh, who is on a ₹30 Lakhs upswing (over ₹35 Lakhs in total cashes) in the last two days.
The IOPC 10.0 The Crown champion, Singh, won FTS #3 Thursday Titan on Day 1 of the series and clinched a second FTS gold medallion (on consecutive days) by taking down the ₹1 Crore GTD FTS #9 High Roller (6-Max) last night! The Friday win has made Singh the first player to qualify twice for the ₹10 Lakhs GTD FTS The Master Table. And if that was not enough, his two-day heater has pushed him to #4 in the POY race, and he sits a close second behind Vaidik ‘TripleH’ Murkar on the FTS 6.0 Leaderboard!
Playing his A-game, Singh edged past a 67-player field (101 total entries) full of the top poker players in the country in Spartan Poker`s FTS #9 High Roller (6-Max) on Friday, shipping the ₹1.05 Lakh buy-in tournament for a jaw-dropping ₹26.51 Lakhs – crossing ₹1 Crore in annual winnings. One of the top MTT pros in the country, Sriharsha ‘lvey2’ Doddapaneni, finished runner-up for ₹18.58 Lakhs.
Singh gave his online bankroll a significant boost, raking in a massive ₹26.68 Lakhs from two deep runs, which include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #9 High Roller (6-Max) for ₹26,51,250
> 57th in PokerBaazi`s 1000X#3 Friday Prime for ₹16,310
Laksh Pal Singh’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹12.83 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹5.56 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #5 | Finished #20 in the 2022 Leaderboard Standings (Total Cashes) | Annual Winnings: ₹1.08 Crores | Moves to #4 in the 2023 Leaderboard Standings (Total Cashes) | Ranked #2 on the FTS 6.0 Leaderboard
Doddapaneni posted ₹18.45 Lakhs in Friday winnings as he also collected bounties in PokerStars India’s The Big Bash [8-Max, PKO] and made Day 2 in FTS Marathon! His online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹7.96 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹4.14 Crores
Wednesday`s top scorer, The Money Maker 30.0 third-place finisher Srihari ‘bangbang99’ Bang, had another firecracker run, netting ₹11.46 Lakhs from the following:
> 4th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #9 High Roller (6-Max) for ₹9,64,550
>12th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #8 Friday Titan for ₹1,14,100
> 14th in Adda52’s MHW Big Game for ₹67,188
Srihari Bang’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹6.57 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹85.86 Lakhs
The IOPC July 2021 The Crown champion, Vaibhav ‘Lang Syne’ Temani, made away with ₹9.06 Lakhs across two deep runs, which include:
> 5th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #9 High Roller (6-Max) for ₹7,77,700
> 11th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #8 Friday Titan for ₹1,28,100
Vaibhav Temani`s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.47 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.09 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #1
Last month`s Destiny 26.0 winner, Gaurav ‘zillastar’ Bhandari, scored an insane ROI in FTS #9 High Roller. He entered through a ₹4,400 satellite and finished sixth for ₹6.06 Lakhs.
The two POY contenders – Young Gun Arsh ‘BigggTymeR’ Grover (7th for ₹4.80 Lakhs) & Ashish ‘0mg_spew’ Munot (8th for ₹3.78 Lakhs), Guneet ‘GeeKay’ Kwatra (9th for ₹2.81 Lakhs), Young Gun Aayush ‘Eureka226’ Arya ((11th for ₹2.32 Lakhs), Pranav ‘Waking Up’ Bang (12th for ₹2.07 Lakhs), and Shashank ‘gtoexploiter77’ Jain (13th for ₹2.07 Lakhs) were other notables scoring payouts in ₹1 Crore GTD FTS #9 High Roller (6-Max).
A 101-player starting field ensured that the FTS #9 High Roller just about hit the advertised ₹1 Crore GTD, and 13 players got a share of the ₹1.01 Crore collected in prize money.
Final Table Results
FTS #8 Friday Titan – ₹70 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹27,500
Entries – 159
Re-entries – 57
Rebuys – 50
Prize Pool – ₹70,00,000
Places Paid – 31
Monam ‘Mhk123’ Hayat saw his fortunes changing overnight after his breakthrough run in Spartan Poker`s ₹70 Lakhs GTD FTS #8 Friday Titan yesterday. Stuck seven figures playing online MTTs, Hayat recovered all his losses and then some by outlasting a 159-player field (266 total entries) in the ₹27,500 entry buy-in Friday flagship, winning the FTS gold medallion and a career-best ₹14.81 Lakhs – over 2X his previous-best score.
Hayat fired three bullets in the 8 PM tournament, busting a 10-month-long title slump and becoming the fourth player to book a seat on the ₹10 Lakhs GTD The Masters Table (Laksh Pal Singh has qualified twice already).
Monam Hayat`s online stats (Spartan Poker and PokerBaazi): Lifetime Winnings: ₹57.79 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.08 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2023: #1
The ‘₹12 Crore Club’ member Sahil ‘d0nkish’ Mahboobani raked in ₹3.22 Lakhs across three deep runs on Friday, which include:
> 8th in Spartan Poker`s FTS #8 Friday Titan for ₹1,82,700
> 7th in PokerBaazi`s 1000X#3 Friday Prime for ₹83,589
> 10th in PokerBaazi`s The Weekly HighRoller for ₹55,500
Sahil Mahboobani’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹12.23 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹4.29 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #4
The most profitable player of 2022, Sahil ‘C.Dickens’ Chutani (2nd for ₹9.97 Lakhs), Rajat ‘SlugaBed’ Mahajan (3rd for ₹7.03 Lakhs), Rising Star Ritwik ‘Fisherman1997’ Khanna (4th for ₹5.70 Lakhs), Rahul ‘hedonictreadmill’ Singroha (5th for ₹4,50,800), Sreekanth ‘Vhagar’ Narayan (6th for ₹3,42,300), and this week`s Destiny 26.0 winner Avneesh ‘IamAM’ Munjal (7th for ₹2,49,900) were other top regs on the FTS #8 Friday Titan final table.
The 8 PM FTS flagship witnessed an overlay shortfall of ₹3.50 Lakhs, and 31 players cashed in on the value on offer.
Final Table Results
FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,750
Entries – 262
Re-entries – 85
Rebuys – 120
Prize Pool – ₹11,67,500
Places Paid – 47
Vijay ‘Abhimanisha’ Kumar Maithani had an eventful start to the weekend. He championed a 467-entry field (262 unique) in Spartan Poker’s ₹10 Lakhs GTD FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack, nailing the 11 PM marquee for a personal best ₹2.28 Lakhs (his second title this year). Site-reg Suraj ‘MR.BEAST’ N Yadav earned ₹1.45 Lakhs in second place.
Maithani collected ₹2.32 Lakhs last night across two deep runs, which include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack for ₹2,27,546
> 35th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #6 for ₹4,235
Vijay Maithani’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹14.29 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2023: #2
Suraj ‘MR.BEAST’ N Yadav lapped up over ₹1.49 Lakhs across two ITM finishes, which include:
> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack for ₹1,44,537
> 112th in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#3 Friday Prime for ₹7,340
Suraj N Yadav’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.73 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #3
Vikhyat ‘Super Saiyan’ Ahlawat scored ₹1.28 Lakhs from five deep runs, which include:
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack for ₹1,08,344
> 3rd in Adda52’s Kill Shot PLO Bounty for ₹10,628
> 43rd in Spartan Poker’s FTS #7 Triple Chance for ₹3,425
> 92nd in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#1 Kickoff for ₹3,327
> 174th in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#4 (6-Max) for ₹1,866
Vikhyat Ahlawat’s online stats (excluding PokerStars India): Lifetime Winnings: ₹1.58 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹33.95 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2023: #4
Adarsh ‘I m d GOAT’ Jha (5th for ₹69,116), Anant ‘Dr.infinitipower’ Malik (6th for ₹52,771), and Anish ‘TeenTakle1212’ Arora (7th for ₹38,761) also FT-ed FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack.
The ₹2,750 entry buy-in tournament generated a hefty ₹11.67 Lakhs prize pool, and 47 players got paid.
Final Table Results
FTS #7 Triple Chance – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹1,100
Entries – 446
Re-entries – 289
Rebuys – 484
Prize Pool – ₹12,19,000
Places Paid – 103
Making a primetime 8 PM start on Spartan Poker, the ₹10 Lakhs GTD FTS #7 Triple Chance had 1,219 hopefuls (446 unique players) ponying up ₹1,100 each to enter the race for FTS glory. The tournament played down to a five-way deal that declared Amol ‘Likita Nuther’ Nimsarkar the champion, who won the FTS silver medallion and the top prize of ₹1.32 Lakhs.
Sangeeta ‘Duchabdi’ Kumari (2nd for ₹1.29 Lakhs), ‘Soundgasm’ (3rd for ₹1.27 Lakhs), Akanksha ‘HashBrownie’ Singh (4th for ₹1.16 Lakhs), and Goonjan ‘gmtesting’ Mall (5th for ₹1.0 Lakhs) were other finalists benefitting from the deal.
The ‘₹10 Crore Club’ poker reg Goonjan ‘gmtesting’ Mall cashed ₹1.82 Lakhs through four ITM finishes which include:
> 5th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #7 Triple Chance for ₹1,05,714* (five-way deal)
> 27th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #8 Friday Titan for ₹68,600
> 47th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #6 for ₹4,720
> 31st in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for ₹2,700
Goonjan Mall’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹10.36 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹4.11 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #1
Sachin ‘brownguy26’ Raj (7th for ₹33,766) was the other known player on the 8-max FTS #7 Triple Chance final table.
The ₹1,100 entry buy-in multi-entry tournament collected a generous ₹12.19 Lakhs prize pool, and the top 103 finishers got paid.
Final Table Results
*denotes a 5-way deal
FTS #6 – ₹8 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹1,650
Entries – 282
Re-entries – 70
Rebuys – 200
Prize Pool – ₹8,28,000
Places Paid – 47
The two-time IPC Main Event champion Kanishka ‘Wildflower’ Samant turned up the heat on Friday, bagging two title victories and locking in ₹4.06 Lakhs through four deep runs.
Two hours before shipping PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) SPRINT (₹2.19 Lakhs), the poker coach bagged his first FTS silver medallion in Spartan Poker’s ₹8 Lakhs GTD FTS #6 for ₹1.61 Lakhs. Samant’s Friday run has vaulted him to #4 on the FTS 6.0 leaderboard.
His Friday finishes include:
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) SPRINT for ₹2,18,750
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #6 for ₹1,61,377
> 6th in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for ₹15,852
> 26th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack for ₹9,690
> Made Day 2 in Spartan Poker`s FTS #Marathon – Day 1B
Kanishka Samant’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹3.96 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.36 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #3 | Annual Winnings: ₹30.21 Lakhs | Ranked #4 on the FTS 6.0 Leaderboard
The FTS #2 champion Ravi ‘Rvjn91’ Jain was chasing his second silver medallion in the series (3rd overall) but fell in second place, scoring ₹1.02 Lakhs.
Kunal ‘Pokachu’ Shalin (5th for ₹49,018) and Aryan ‘bob_marley’ Singh (8th for ₹20,203) were the other players who FT-ed FTS #6.
The ₹1,650 buy-in tournament collected a guarantee-smashing ₹8.28 Lakhs prize pool, and the top 47 finishers scored a payday.
Final Table Results
₹50 Lakhs GTD FTS – Marathon – Day 1B
Day 1B: Entries: 217 | Re-entries: 53 | Rebuys: 172 | Survivors: 53 | Chip Leader: Amit ‘Kavipri 2.0’ Gehani (271,449)
Combined: Entries: 465 | Re-entries: 93 | Rebuys: 369 | Survivors: 123 | Chip Leader: Amit ‘Kavipri 2.0’ Gehani (271,449)
FTS 6.0 Leaderboard Standings – Day 2
After an exhilarating start on Thursday, India Poker Championship`s biggest-ever FTS 6.0 witnessed an action-packed day unfold yesterday.
The FTS #1 Big Bang champion Vaidik ‘TripleH’ Murkar (1,756 points) is still the player to catch on the series leaderboard. However, competition beckons as Laksh ‘b00mTilt23’ Pal Singh (1,564 points) has whooshed to #2 (climbing two places) after winning FTS #9 High Roller for back-to-back FTS gold medallions.
Last night`s FTS #6 runner-up finisher, Ravi ‘Rvjn91’ Jain (1,502 points), has jumped from #5 to #3.
Rank Player Points
1 Vaidik ‘TripleH’ Murkar 1,756
2 Laksh 'b00mTilt23' Pal Singh 1,564
3 Ravi 'Rvjn91' Jain 1,502
4 Kanishka 'Wildflower' Samant 1,328
5 insufficient funds 1,237
6 Amol 'Likita Nuther' Nimsarkar 1,095
7 UpNdOwN 1,011
8 Vinay 'vinay0902' Rajpal 892
9 Ganesh 'Fedorholz2020' Kamat 864
10 Abhimanisha 838
‘Elbulli’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Monster Stack for ₹46,221), Rahul ‘Thakur615’ Thakur (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Chip Up – Triple Chance for ₹22,369), ‘AceBase23’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Sundowner – Triple Chance for ₹21,931), ‘ROYpv’ (Won ₹50K GTD Monster Stack 4 Card PLO for ₹17,325), ‘ZooZ77’ (Won ₹50K GTD The Centurion for ₹9,955), and ‘rags291’ (Won ₹50K GTD Turbo – Triple Chance for ₹9,162) won the other Spartan Poker marquees.
PokerBaazi
1000X#3 Friday Prime – ₹35 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹8,850
Entries – 544
Re-entries – 621
Prize Pool – ₹40,77,000
Places Paid – 148
On the heels of a runner-up finish in Spartan Poker’s Wednesday High Roller, Ankit ‘d00mtr00p3r’ Wadhawan championed the headline tournament on Day 1 of PokerBaazi’s 1000X Series 3.0, ₹35 Lakhs GTD 1000X#3 Friday Prime, winning his maiden 1000X title for ₹4.05 Lakhs – his first title victory after over five weeks.
The FTS 3.0 Main Event champion, Wadhawan, trounced a 1,165-strong field (544 unique) in the 7:30 PM headliner and chopped the title heads-up with Beast Mode Poker India co-founder, Young Gun Ujjwal ‘Mr_Robot’ Narwal (2nd for ₹4.03 Lakhs).
Ankit Wadhawan’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹11.70 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.67 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #5 | Annual Winnings: ₹74.29 Lakhs | Moves to #16 in the 2023 Leaderboard Standings (Total Cashes) | Finished #16 in the 2022 Leaderboard Standings (Total Cashes)
Last night’s The Weekly HighRoller and MHW Big Game finalist Vinayak ‘salmanbhai’ Bajaj (3rd for ₹2.45 Lakhs), Bibhu ‘Daniel_Ivey’ Agarwal (4th for ₹1.97 Lakhs), January’s The MoneyMaker champion Himanshu ‘pokerbrat7’ Arora (6th for ₹1.17 Lakhs) and FTS #8 Friday Titan finalist Sahil ‘ImHighIshove’ Mahboobani (7th for ₹83,589) were the notables on the 1000X#3 Friday Prime final table.
The ₹8,850 entry buy-in flagship filled in a guarantee-smashing ₹40.77 Lakhs in the prize pool, and the top 148 finishers reaped the rewards.
Final Table Results
*denotes a heads-up deal
1000X#1 Kickoff – ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹1,650
Entries – 549
Re-entries – 560
Prize Pool – ₹16,63,500
Places Paid – 148
The Afternoon PLO-5 Boost winner from February 13, Lourembam ‘ninjakari’ Joshima Devi, pulled out a dominating run in PokerBaazi’s 1000X Series 3.0 series-opener. She outplayed a guarantee-crushing 1,109-entry field (549 unique) in the ₹15 Lakhs GTD 1000X#1 #Kickoff for a personal-best ₹1.57 Lakhs (her third title of the year). The user ‘mimoh’ scored a better ₹1.73 Lakhs as the runner-up, courtesy of a heads-up deal.
Joshima Devi made deep runs in PokerBaazi`s 1000X#4 (6-Max) (198th for ₹1,866) and Daily Night SPRINT (48th for ₹1,443), posting over ₹1.60 Lakhs in Friday earnings. Her PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹28.49 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2023: #3
Onas ‘papatumhare’ Malhotra (3rd for ₹99,810), Nikhil ‘muraxion’ Unnikrishnan (5th for ₹63,712), and Vinay ‘Vinstill’ B (8th for ₹24,953) were other online regs on the 1000X#1 Kickoff final table.
The ₹1,650 entry buy-in tournament had the top 148 finishers digging into the ₹16.63 Lakhs prize pool.
Final Table Results
*denotes a heads-up deal
The Weekly HighRoller – ₹12 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹11,000
Entries – 129
Re-entries – 93
Prize Pool – ₹22,20,000
Places Paid – 22
Aditya ‘gangajal’ Sushant is getting more active in online MTTs, and the increased volume has produced terrific results. The two-time The MoneyMaker champion posted an impressive ₹7.45 Lakhs in Friday earnings through an FT finish and title victory.
The WSOP bracelet winner scored the winning touchdown in PokerBaazi’s ₹12 Lakhs GTD The Weekly HighRoller, shipping the Friday tournament for the second time in seven weeks for ₹5.16 Lakhs.
Sushant’s Friday finishes include:
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller for ₹5,16,150
> 6th in Adda52’s MHW Big Game for ₹2,28,438
Aditya Sushant’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹7.91 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.33 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #5
The IOPC 14.0 leaderboard topper Vinay ‘vinay09’ Rajpal accumulated ₹3.55 Lakhs through four ITM finishes, which include:
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller for ₹3,40,770
> 15th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #7 Triple Chance for ₹9,276
> 64th in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#4 for ₹3,608
> 166th in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#2 (5-Max) Turbo for ₹1,259
Vinay Rajpal’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹5.96 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.15 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #7 | Ranked #13 on the 2023 Leaderboard Standings (Total Cashes)
Thursday’s FTS #4 Thursday Grande champion, Vinayak ‘salmanbhai’ Bajaj, kept the charge going by raking in ₹7.26 Lakhs through six deep runs (and one bounty), which include:
> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller for ₹2,49,750
> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#3 Friday Prime for ₹2,44,650
> 8th in Adda52’s MHW Big Game for ₹1,34,375
> 30th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #8 Friday Titan for ₹53,738
> 8th in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) SPRINT for ₹36,608
> 34th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #6 for ₹5,299
Vinayak Bajaj’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹8.88 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.20 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #3
The BTS#15 Tuesday Prime winner Anirban ‘pottysingh’ D Das (4th for ₹1.77 Lakhs), the BTS#5 Sunday Prime champion Suneeth ‘suneethkalmady’ Kalmady (5th for ₹1.33 Lakhs) and Thursday’s (7-MAX) SPRINT finalist Siddharth ‘FrancescoTotti’ Ranshevre (6th for ₹1.08 Lakhs) round out The Weekly HighRoller final table.
The ₹11,000 entry buy-in flagship registered a 222-entry field (129 unique), posting a guarantee-crushing ₹22.20 Lakhs prize pool. The top 22 finishers crossed the money line.
Final Table Results
(7-Max) SPRINT – ₹12 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹3,850
Entries – 209
Re-entries – 158
Prize Pool – ₹12,84,500
Places Paid – 49
Having stayed away from the spotlight through most of 2022, Kanishka ‘Highness’ Samant has shifted gears recently. Coming in strong after a third-place finish in FTS #2 on Thursday, the two-time IPC Main Event champion won two flagship tournaments last night, rounding up an impressive ₹4.06 Lakhs.
The poker coach landed his biggest Friday score in PokerBaazi’s ₹12 Lakhs GTD (7-Max) SPRINT, navigating a reg-laden 367-strong field (158 unique) to collect ₹2.19 Lakhs. ‘CrystalTurtle44’ finished runner-up for ₹1.45 Lakhs.
Making the win even more impressive was the fact that less than two hours ago, Samant bagged his first FTS silver medallion in Spartan Poker’s ₹8 Lakhs GTD FTS #6 for ₹1.61 Lakhs, climbing to #4 on the FTS 6.0 leaderboard.
His Friday finishes include:
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) SPRINT for ₹2,18,750
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #6 for ₹1,61,377
> 6th in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for ₹15,852
> 26th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #10 Turbo – Monster Stack for ₹9,690
Kanishka Samant’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹3.96 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.36 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #3 | Annual Winnings: ₹30.21 Lakhs | Ranked #4 on the FTS 6.0 Leaderboard
Amit ‘quark’ Kaushik (3rd for ₹1.13 Lakhs), Neeraj ‘neerunj’ Sattawat (4th for ₹74,244), Clinton ‘clintontavares’ Tavares (5th for ₹60,628), and Uttam ‘brokenpocker’ Gope (6th for ₹48,040) round out the (7-Max) SPRINT final table.
The ₹3,850 entry buy-in tournament paid 49 finishers a share from the ₹12.84 Lakhs prize pool.
Final Table Results
1000X#4 (6-Max) – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹1,100
Entries – 633
Re-entries – 611
Prize Pool – ₹12,44,000
Places Paid – 209
Given Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur’s impeccable consistency on PokerBaazi, it is hardly surprising to see the #2 ranked player on the annual TLB (points) leaderboard pulling ahead into an early lead on the just-started 1000X Series leaderboard.
Thakur took the 1000X Series 3.0 tournaments by storm yesterday, cashing all four of them – he won the ₹10 Lakhs GTD 1000X#4 (6-Max) – adding ₹1.82 Lakhs in Friday winnings. Last edition’s 1000X#16 Mini Main Event champion, Thakur, most notably juggernaut his way to the top of the 1,244-entry field (633 unique) in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#4, clinching his second 1000X title for ₹1.31 Lakhs. A three-way deal earned Sameer ‘tandoori’ Agarwal (2nd for ₹1.29 Lakhs) and Dinesh ‘htc170209’ Kukreja (3rd for ₹1.34 Lakhs) better payouts.
Rajneesh Thakur’s Friday finishes include:
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#4 for ₹1,31,034* (3-way deal)
> 20th in PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller for ₹27,750
> 40th in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) SPRINT for ₹8,992
> 101st in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#3 Friday Prime for ₹8,155
> 90th in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#1 Kickoff for ₹3,327
> 31st in PokerBaazi’s Daily Night SPRINT for ₹1,816
> 148th in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#2 (5-Max) Turbo for ₹1,259
Rajneesh Thakur’s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹6.17 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹99.99 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2023: #8 | Ranked #2 on the 2023 TLB (Points) Leaderboard | Ranked #1 on the 1000X Series Leaderboard
The ₹1,100 entry buy-in 1000X#4 filled in ₹12.44 Lakhs in the prize pool and 209 players got paid.
Final Table Results
*denotes a three-way deal
1000X#2 (5-Max) Turbo – ₹6 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹660
Entries – 611
Re-entries – 700
Prize Pool – ₹7,86,600
Places Paid – 220
After a litany of top finishes in the last six months, Cherag ‘cheragb’ Batliwalla finally scored the long-overdue win in PokerBaazi’s ₹6 Lakhs GTD 1000X#2 (5-Max) Turbo. He came out on top of a 1,311-entry field (611 unique) in the 5 PM marquee to collect ₹72,507 – bagging his first title in almost a year.
1000X#2 (5-Max) Turbo ended in a four-way that awarded ‘sun9869’ (2nd for ₹66,283), Amit ‘pokman875’ Singh (3rd for ₹82,947), and ‘sushil1977’ (4th for ₹68,911) comparable payouts.
Cherag Batliwalla’s online stats (excluding PokerStars India): Lifetime Winnings: ₹18.24 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹63,788 | Titles Won in 2023: #1
1000X#2 (5-Max) Turbo saw the top 220 finishers getting a share of the ₹7.87 Lakhs prize pool.
Final Table Results
*denotes a four-way deal
(7-Max) Afternoon Boost – ₹5 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,200
Entries – 141
Re-entries – 136
Prize Pool – ₹5,54,000
Places Paid – 53
The user ‘SHIPITUP18’ raced past the 277-entry field (141 unique) in PokerBaazi’s ₹5 Lakhs GTD (7-Max) Afternoon Boost, scoring their maiden title victory on the site and a winner’s payday worth ₹85,648. The user also cashed the 1000X Series 3.0 series-opener 1000X#1 Kickoff (17th for ₹16,635), posting ₹1.02 Lakhs in Friday earnings.
SHIPITUP18’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹6.16 Lakhs | Titles Won: #1
Last month’s Afternoon Boost winner, Avinash ‘ladda’ Koneru, came up one place short of winning the daytime marquee for a second time in two weeks. He added ₹82,051 through three deep runs, which include:
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) Afternoon Boost for ₹64,873
> 46th in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#1 Kickoff for ₹9,981
> 16th in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for ₹7,197
Avinash Koneru’s online stats (excluding PokerStars India): Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.08 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹44.23 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2023: #2
Shriram ‘MasterBet10’ Varma (4th for ₹37,395) and Rising Star Aman ‘KarmaPoker’ Parakh (7th for ₹15,290) were other known players on the (7-Max) Afternoon Boost final table.
The top 53 finishers earned a share from the ₹5.54 Lakhs prize pool.
Final Table Results
1000X Leaderboard Standings – Day 1
PokerBaazi’s biggest-ever ₹6.50 Crores GTD 1000X Series 3.0 kicked off yesterday, and the massive turnouts across all four 1000X tournaments testified to site patrons enjoying the 1000X value proposition.
Last night`s 1000X#4 (6-Max) champion Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur (1,824 points) has stormed into an early lead on the series leaderboard with the 1000X#3 Friday Prime champion Ankit ‘d00mtr00p3r’ Wadhawan (1,551 points) ranked #2.
The 1000X#1 Kickoff winner Lourembam ‘ninjakari’ Joshima Devi (1,491 points) rounds out the top three names on the leaderboard.
Rank Player Points
1 Rajneesh 'msdhoni' Thakur 1824
2 Ankit 'd00mtr00p3r' Wadhawan 1551
3 Lourembam 'ninjakari' Joshima Devi 1491
4 Cherag 'cheragb' Batliwalla 1368
5 Ujjwal 'Mr_Robot' Narwal 1097
6 Dinesh 'htc170209' Kukreja 1034
7 Sameer 'tandoori' Agarwal 998
8 mimoh 983
9 sun9869 967
10 Sanjugowda143 957
Retheesh ‘shaddy’ K R (Won ₹2.50 Lakhs GTD Daily Boost for ₹49,320), Shyam ‘ayyappa1963’ Sundar (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD 7-Max Midnight SPRINT for ₹45,380), Vaibhav ‘Vaibhi18’ Arora (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Daily Night SPRINT for ₹42,990), Himanshu ‘himanshu.zak’ Singh (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD PLO-5 Boost for ₹35,650), ‘Badshah05’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Afternoon PLO-5 Boost for ₹24,180), ‘pokerbaazijul’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD PLO-6 Boost PKO for ₹23,580) and ‘RAJATJAIN14’ (Won ₹50K GTD 5-Max Daily for ₹6,100) won the other PokerBaazi marquees.
IndiaPlays
TDS -Texas – ₹100K GTD
Buy-in – ₹800
Entries – 81
Rebuys – 28
Prize Pool – ₹1,00,000
Places Paid – 24
IndiaPlays user ‘Sayan42’ won The Dominator Series’ Friday marquee, ₹100K GTD Texas, for ₹23,250. The user ‘XWNB9599’ placed runner-up for ₹16,250.
Final Table Results
‘Sammy11’ (Won ₹25K GTD TDS Texas for ₹6,250) and ‘XWNB9599’ (Won ₹10K GTD TDS Texas Bounty for ₹2,750) won the other The Dominator Series titles.
PokerStars India
The Big Bash [8-Max, PKO] – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,500
Entries – 113
Re-entries – 77
Regular Prize Pool – ₹5,25,000
Bounty Prize Pool – ₹4,75,000
Total Prize Pool – ₹10,00,000
Places Paid – 23
PokerStars India user ‘ToiDoi11’ outlasted the 190-player field (113 unique) in the site’s ₹10 Lakhs GTD The Big Bash [8-Max, PKO], winning the primetime tournament for ₹1.97 Lakhs (₹1.04 Lakhs in bounties). Posting his 10th FT finish of the year, the IOPC January 2023 Monday Prime winner Vishnu ‘violator2018’ Khandelwal (opted out of our tracking) collected ₹1.63 Lakhs (₹70,625 in bounties) in second place.
Khandelwal made other deep runs in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) SPRINT (36th for ₹9,634) and 1000X#3 Friday Prime (137th for ₹7,340), rounding up at least ₹1.80 Lakhs in Friday earnings.
The Big Bash final table was replete with regs like Sanish ‘sneakysani’ Chhabra (3rd for ₹72,795), Anmolraj ‘modi chai wala’ Singh Chawla (4th for ₹50,534), Rony ‘GoGetters1’ Chowdhury (5th for ₹54,611), Deepankur ‘dp8218’ Gupta (6th for ₹40,470), Ashit ‘Cringing’ Sharma (8th for ₹35,006), and Xavier ‘xaviervz’ Anthony Vas (9th for ₹22,791).
The ₹5,500 entry buy-in flagship registered an overlay shortfall of ₹50,000, and 23 players made the payouts list.
Final Table Results (Including Bounties)
Hardik ‘hardiknair’ Nair (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Uppercut for ₹37,818), ‘gb253’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Ultrasonic for ₹30,970), ‘Nix-MHR’ (Won ₹50K GTD Bounty Adrenaline 6-Max for ₹13,167), and Akhilesh ‘GM2318’ Gautam (Won ₹50K GTD Super Stack PKO 8-Max for ₹12,678) won the other PokerStars India marquees.
Adda52
Adda52 MHW Big Game – ₹50 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹27,500
Entries – 118
Re-entries – 97
Prize Pool – ₹53,75,000
Places Paid – 24
Advait ‘ronaldinho018’ Rajguru won his second title of the year last night and reeled in a big one! The tournament pro outplayed a 215-player field (118 unique) full of regs in Adda52`s Mega Highrollers Weekend Friday tournament, ₹50 Lakhs GTD MHW Big Game, banking the top prize of ₹14.75 Lakhs – his best finish of 2023. The former The Ballers champion, Nikhil ‘nikhil234880’ Agarwal, secured a personal-best ₹8,60,000 in second place.
Not done yet, Rajguru also ran deep in PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller, rounding out a hefty ₹15.44 Lakhs (at least) in Friday earnings – ranking third among the day`s top scorers.
Rajguru’s known Friday finishes include:
> 1st in Adda52’s MHW Big Game for ₹14,75,438
> 8th in PokerBaazi’s The Weekly Highroller for ₹68,820
In addition to posting a fourth-place finish in the MHW Big Game (₹4.62 Lakhs), Arjanveer Singh ‘arjan30’ Chadha fired up deep runs in PokerBaazi’s 1000X#3 Friday Prime (91st for ₹8,155), and PokerStars India’s The Big Bash [8-Max PKO] (XXX for ₹1,250), locking in ₹4.72 Lakhs overall.
Arjanveer Singh Chadha`s online stats: Lifetime Winnings: ₹13.57 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹4.69 Crores | Titles Won in 2023: #3 | Finished #3 in the 2022 Leaderboard Standings (Total Cashes)
FTS #8 Friday Titan fifth-place finisher Rahul ‘qwerty3293’ Singroha (5th for ₹3.23 Lakhs), and last night`s The Weekly HighRoller champion Aditya ‘a_sushant’ Sushant (6th for ₹2.28 Lakhs) were other regs on the 6-max MHW Big Game final table.
The #1 ranked player in the country, Young Gun Gaurav ‘BuildPuntOK’ Sood (7th for ₹1.75 Lakhs), Thursday`s top scorer Vinayak ‘bhai_on_mary_jane’ Bajaj (8th for ₹1.34 Lakhs), WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav ‘checkshove’ Iyer (9th for ₹1.08 Lakhs), and Tarush ‘tarush123’ Gupta (10th for ₹94,063) also posted a deep run in the Friday headliner.
The ₹50 Lakhs GTD MHW Big Game collected a guarantee-crushing ₹53.75 Lakhs prize pool, and 24 players scored a payday.
Final Table Results
Friday Bounty – ₹4 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,700
Entries – 118
Re-entries – 77
Prize Pool – ₹4,77,360
Places Paid – 21
The FTS #6 and (7-Max) SPRINT champion Kanishka ‘kanishka27’ Samant (6th for ₹15,852), Mayank ‘AreyBetaRaise’ Maruka (7th for ₹21,270), and Firoz ‘proff_z4’ Khan (8th for ₹14,820) were others on the 8-max ₹4 Lakhs GTD Friday Bounty.
The 195-entry field collected a ₹4.77 Lakhs prize pool, shared by 21 top finishers.
Final Table Results (Includes Bounties)
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