WPT India: Deepak Bothra Leads 29 Runners in ₹25K Big Bounty

The ₹25K Big Bounty is the third event on the World Poker Tour (WPT) India roster and commenced at 3 PM on October 17 onboard Casino Deltine Royale. The event registered 225 entries, which yet again fell short of surpassing the last edition’s 276-entry mark. Last year, Alok Birewar had collected ₹7.80 Lakhs out of a prize pool of ₹34.88 Lakhs for winning this event. This time around, the eventual champion will walk away with a top prize worth ₹6.63 Lakhs, with all 29 returning players assured to take home at least ₹19,500.

Following 15 levels of non-stop play, the field was whittled down to 29 players who have all advanced to Day 2, led by established pro Deepak Bothra. Bothra, who is a former WPT champion having won the ₹20K PLO event back in 2017 for ₹4.88 Lakhs, was the only player who managed to bag a 700,000 stack. Karan Kapoor (516,000) and Dhirendra Kumar (387,000), are the next top stacks. In fact, four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi was also seen in action and has made it through to Day 2 with 173,000 in chips.

The Day 2 action begins at 2 PM today, where the play will continue till a winner is declared. Running alongside the Day 2 of the Big Bounty will be the first starting flight, Day 1A, of the ₹55K Main Event, which kicks off at 3 PM.

Day 1 Recap

Late registrations were open for the first nine levels of play, and by the time the window closed, 225 entry slips had been sold.

Among the players who joined the fray early were the likes of Kunal Patni, Meherzad Munsaf, Nishant Sharma, Maria Kirloskar, Aditya Sushant, Anil Gulati, Abhishek Goindi and Siddarth Singhvi.

However, the spotlight was easily stolen by the one and only four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi. Though most of his Day 1 journey went unreported, he did find mention in a three-way hand alongside Romit Advani and Mohit Kalra during level 8. Advani had opened to 2,200, and Kalra shoved all-in for 8,000 from the button. Mizrachi reshoved from the small blind for 16,000, easily covering Kalra. Advani called, and all three players tabled their cards.

Romit Advani

Mohit Kalra

Robert Mizrachi

The board saw Kalra rake in the main pot with a rivered full house, while Mizrachi won the side pot.

Mizrachi has already assured himself his first score on this maiden Goa trip as he is part of the 29 survivors advancing to Day 2. He will be resuming play with a stack of 173,000.

Other notables who also progressed to Day 2 include Shravan Chhabria (247,000), Aditya Sushant (234,000), Sriharsha Doddapaneni (149,000), and Abhishek Goindi (55,000).

Vikram ‘Lungi’ Kumar, who had final tabled the ₹20K Kickoff, finishing third for ₹3.10 Lakhs, was back for the grind in the ₹25K Big Bounty, but sadly, this time around, he couldn’t make it to Day 2. During level 9, Kumar’s ran into Abhishek Sharma’s , which bettered to a flopped top pair, busting Kumar out of the competition.

Another well-known player who hit the rail empty-handed was Nishant Sharma. Sharma had open-shoved for 25,000 from UTG holding . Jeevendra Arora re-shoved from the cutoff, holding , for 40,000, covering Sharma. Sanjay Patel called from the small blind with . The board brought both Patel and Arora a flopped pair of queens, and they chopped the pot, while Sharma was sent packing to the rail.

PokerGuru Ambassador Faiz Alam was another player who failed to make the cut for Day 2 when his were cracked by Vikram Freeman’s which rivered trip queens, ending Alam’s run in the Big Bounty.

Pradeep Sharma was the last one out on Day 1, and incidentally, he also became the tournament bubble boy. On the board , Sharma’s did hit two pair, but it was no match for Karan Kapoor’s rivered flush.

End of Day 1 Chip Counts

Content and Images Courtesy: Online Poker News, India

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