WSOP 2019: Kunal Punjwani & Kalyan Chakravarthy Make the Final Table in $1.5K Double Stack

The 50^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) may be on its last legs, but Team India has not given up hopes of securing its first-ever solo gold bracelet. Attempting to make this dream come true is the dynamic duo of Kunal Punjwani and Kalyan Chakravarthy, both of whom have made the final table in the $1.5K NLHE Double Stack.

Day 2 had started off with 357 runners returning to contend for the grand prize of $530,164 (₹3.63 Crores), along with the coveted gold bracelet. By level 35, 348 players had been eliminated from the competition, leading to the commencement of the nine-handed final table.

Chakravarthy entered the final table with a stack of 12.5 Million, while Punjwani had 10.4 Million. The latter got to work straight away and eventually eliminated Pablo Fernandez in ninth place for $43,847, following which play was halted for the day. Punjwani ended the day placed fourth on the final table leaderboard with 15,500,000 (31 big blinds), while Chakravarthy ended up as the shortest stack of the day with 9,925,000 (20 big blinds). While both Indians are assured of a minimum payout of $56,850 (₹38.97 Lakhs), they will have their sights set on the top prize.

Chakravarthy had shipped the Venetian DCPS Event #99: $600 NLH Monster Stack $750K GTD last year for ₹1.01 Crores and has picked up several deep runs on both the domestic and international felts. Though he will return on the final day with the shortest stack, he does possess the ability to make a comeback and can undoubtedly give his competitors a run of their money.

Punjwani, too, has had a lot of exposure playing on international felts. Most notably, he had final tabled the HK$3,000 NLHE Hyper Turbo event at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau Poker Cup 28, where he finished fourth for ₹2.51 Lakhs. Starting the final day with the fourth largest stack will definitely give him the boost needed to gun for the top prize.

Day 2 was expected to crown a champion; however, an extra day has now been added to the schedule for the event. Dutchman Freek Scholten will be leading the eight finalists on the final day with his stack of 26 Million (50 big blinds). The play will begin at 11 AM (Pacific Time Zone) on July 14.

Event 82: $1,500 NLHE Double Stack – Day 2

Day 2 of the $1.5K NLHE Double Stack saw 357 players return to the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on July 12, which included a group of six Indian challengers.

Kalyan Chakravarthy had stormed into Day 2 with 1,174,000 (73 big blinds) which was the fourth biggest stack at the end of Day 1. He first appeared on the live coverage during level 31 when it was reported that his stack had swelled to 7.5 Million. He was next seen two levels later as he lost some of his chips to Tom Koral, taking his stack down to 7.2 Million. By level 34, his chip count had touched the 10 Million-mark. He entered the final table with a count of 12.5 Million.

Another Indian who had been creating quite the stir at the WSOP was Kunal Punjwani. He was last seen in $1,111 Little One for One Drop where he finished 468th for $2,400 (~₹1.64 Lakhs). He presently has four cashes at the series and is assured a fifth in this event. He had entered Day 2 with 705,000 (44 big blinds) in chips, and by level 28 his stack had increased to 2.45 Million. Three levels later, he eliminated Abdullah Alshanti when the latter’s ran into Punjwani’s . The board gave Punjwani three-of-a-kind aces, busting Alshanti in 30^th place for $13,808.

At the time the final three tables were redrawn, Punjwani had the 11^th biggest stack of 5.2 Million, which reached 5.3 Million once the field whittled down to the last two tables.

During level 33, he found a double up through Gary Solomons. Punjwani’s bested Solomons’ . The runout brought Solomons a flopped pair of queens, but Punjwani rivered a clubs flush to climb up to 11 Million in chips. Soon after that, Punjwani joined his fellow countryman Chakravarthy on the nine-player final table with 10.4 Million in chips.

WSOP first timer Goonjan Mall was a late arrival at the series, but since then he has made his presence felt. He opened his scorecard at the series with a min-cash in the $10K Main Event where he finished 1,115^th for $15,000 (~₹10.28 Lakhs). Following his elimination from the Main Event, he immediately jumped into the $1.5K NLHE Double Stack. He carried a stack of 266,000 (17 big blinds) into Day 2.

He made quite a comeback on Day 2 and was first reported in the live coverage during level 28 when he won a pot against Hye Park which saw his stack cross the 4 Million-mark (4,200,000).

He continued putting the pressure on his tablemates and won another hand against Adam Hendrix. Mall 3-bet an open from Hendrix who was then forced to fold his hand. “Bluffing?” asked Hendrix. “Have you seen me bluff yet today?” replied Mall with a smirk as he raked in the pot.

When the final three tables were redrawn, Mall held the second-largest stack of 8.7 Million. Sadly, Mall’s run came to an end in a rather dramatic manner. Mall was all-in with against Pablo Fernandez who held . Mall was an almost 55% favorite to win the hand preflop, but the runout changed the game in Fernandez’ favor as he clipped an ace of the river to eliminate Mall in 19^th place for $17,063 (~₹11.69 Lakhs). Nevertheless, not only is this Mall’s best live score at the WSOP, but also his personal-best live score overall.

Himmat Singh (120^th for $3,654 – ₹2.50 Lakhs), Young Gun Karan Radia (209^th for $2,911 – ₹1.99 Lakhs) and Sachidananda Sivakumar (253^rd for $2,911 – ₹1.99 Lakhs), rounded out the Indians cashes on Day 2.

Other notables who also finished in the money included Vinodkumar Paddolkar (15^th for $26,833), David Miscikowski (29^th for $13,808), Jayaram Kovoorchathoth (31^st for $13,808), Mike Leah (34^th for $13,808), Vinny Pahuja (35^th for $13,808), Rajesh Vohra (42^nd for $11,284), Ryan Laplante (43^rd for $11,284), Nikhil Gera (48^th for $9,314), James Collopy (64^th for $6,542) and Joseph Cheong (80^th for $5,567).

Following Hye Park‘s 10^th place elimination for $34,138, the nine-handed final table was formed.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Freek Scholten – 23,000,000

2. Darren Rabinowitz – 19,400,000

3. Tom Koral – 16,800,000

4. Adam Hendrix – 14,900,000

5. Philip Scaletta – 14,700,000

6. Pablo Fernandez – 13,000,000

7. Kalyan Chakravarthy – 12,500,000

8. Kunal Punjwani – 10,400,000

9. Barry Shulman – 5,100,000

Final Table Recap

On the 13^th hand of the final table, Pablo Fernandez jammed from the small blind and Punjwani, who was in the big blind, asked for a count before deciding to call.

Pablo Fernandez

Kunal Punjwani

The community cards revealed , dismissing Fernandez from the competition in ninth place.

Following Fernandez`s elimination, the play was halted for the day, and Freek Scholten emerged as the overnight chip leader with 26 Million (50 big blinds). He will lead the remaining eight finalists to the final day on July 14.

Final Day Chip Counts

1. Freek Scholten – 26,000,000

2. Darren Rabinowitz – 20,050,000

3. Barry Shulman – 18,450,000

4. Kunal Punjwani – 15,500,000

5. Adam Hendrix – 15,350,000

6. Philip Scaletta – 13,575,000

7. Tom Koral – 10,550,000

8. Kalyan Chakravarthy – 9,925,000

Content & Images Courtesy: World Series of Poker

Keep following PokerGuru for daily updates from the 2019 WSOP!