PSL is Going All-in For Charity With the Virtual Poker League (October 14-17)

VPL Launch
  • Profile picture
  • Attreyee Khasnabis October 14, 2020
  • 4 Minutes Read

Poker leagues have played a pivotal role in increasing poker’s popularity among the masses, as they have enhanced the game’s mass appeal by taking it on national television. Poker Sports League (PSL) was first in India to take steps to merge poker with team-play and bring new and seasoned players together as qualifiers and mentors. The brainchild of Dabur India Chairman Amit Burman, PSL, has previously hosted two successful seasons, and the league was all set to return for its third season in late 2019-early 2020. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing about a lockdown, plans for the third season were forgone.

But there is no reason to despair, for PSL is returning in a new avatar as PSL – Virtual (or PSL – V) with a whopping ₹1.80 Crore prize pool. In the runup to the PSL – V, the PSL is hosting an exhibition charity tournament, the Virtual Poker League (VPL)! The first-of-its-kind poker league will feature some of the biggest names of Indian poker competing in a team-based format with all the proceeds going to charity. Running from October 14 to 17, the VPL had hosted qualifiers from September 23 to 28.

 

All the action will take place on the free-to-play Hashtag Poker app available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store and streamed for viewers on the app and the Hashtag Poker YouTube channel.

In fact, CEO of Mind Sports League, Pranav Bagai, had eluded the possibility of hosting the PSL online in Episode 3 of The PokerGuru Show.

However, this time around, not only will the PSL be focussing on the spirit of competition, but also the spirit of charity. One of India’s leading poker leagues, PSL, has joined hands with United Way Chennai, ASSCOD, and Super School India, and will be donating ₹10 Lakhs for promoting education in the country and hence the tagline #AllinForCharity!

 

The 1st Virtual Poker League (VPL)

PokerGuru caught up with Bagai to find out more about the VPL, and he said, “The biggest USP of VPL is that the top 30 players of the country are coming together. They are giving four days of their time and playing for charity. That’s never happened before.”

 

Let’s take a quick look at how the teams have been formed:

> 6 teams

> 5 players per team

> 1 female player in every team

> 4 teams have 3 retained players from Season 2

> Rest of the players are from FB and PokerGuru’s Profit Ranking Leaderboard

> Players have been randomly assigned to teams

 

The six teams that will be participating in the VPL are as follows:

>Goan Nuts

>Delhi Czars

>Chennai Troopers

>Gujarat Falcons

>Deccan Aces

>Mumbai Anchors

 

Here are the players who will be competing from the different teams:

Mumbai AnchorsChennai TroppersDeccan AcesGoan NutsGujarat FalconsDelhi Czars
Sumit SapraSrihari BangSmita AgarwallaSiddharth KariaRomit AdvaniGoonjan Mall
Honey BijlaniAshish AhujaRajat SharmaDhaval MudgalMahima Walia DasSriharsha Doddapaneni
Abhishek GoindiRadhika ShankarSam ReddyMinissha LambaJaydeep DawerAnmol Mehta
Nikita LutherSharad RaoAnant PurohitAbhinav IyerZarvan TumboliNiharika Bindra
Nishant SharmaGaurav SoodKunal PatniArsh GroverRam KakkarShashank Jain

 

Virtual Poker League – Format

Three events will be played as part of the VPL, namely Event 1, Event 2, and the Finale. Event 1 will feature a Sit N Go – 6 Max format, while Event 2 will be an MTT – 30 Players (6 Max) format. The Finale will see one player from each team participate in a Sit N Go – 6 Max format.

 

Event 1

Five matches will be played as part of Event 1 starting at 4 PM on October 14. The last match will take place at 4 PM on October 16. 60,000 leaderboard points will be up for grabs in each match, with the winner getting 27,000 points, runner-up receiving 15,000 points, third-place finisher getting 9,000 points, fourth-place finisher banking 6,000, and fifth-place finisher bagging 3,000. The person who finishes sixth will get no points.

MatchDateTimePlayers
Match 1 October 144:00 PMSumit Sapra (Mumbai Anchors), Srihari Bang (Chennai Troppers), Smita Agarwalla (Deccan Aces), Siddharth Karia (Goan Nuts), Romit Adwani (Gujarat Falcons) & Goonjan Mall (Delhi Czars)
Match 2 October 148:30 PMSriharsha Doddapaneni (Delhi Czars), Rajat Sharma (Deccan Aces), Ashish Ahuja (Chennai Troopers), Mahima Walia Das (Gujarat Falcons), Honey Bijlani (Mumbai Anchors) & Dhaval Mudgal (Goan Nuts)
Match 3 October 154:00 PM
Minissha Lamba (Goan Nuts), Anmol Mehta (Delhi Czars), Radhika Shankar (Chennai Troopers), Jaydeep Dawer (Gujarat Falcons), Sam Reddy (Deccan Aces) & Abhishek Goindi (Mumbai Anchors)
Match 4 October 158:30 PM
Zarvan Tumboli (Gujarat Falcons), Abhinav Iyer (Goan Nuts), Nikita Luther (Mumbai Anchors), Niharika Bindra (Delhi Czars), Sharad Rao (Chennai Troopers) & Anant Purohit (Deccan Aces)
Match 5 October 164:00 PM Nishant Sharma (Mumbai Anchors), Arsh Grover (Goan Nuts), Gaurav Sood (Chennai Troopers), Shashank Jain (Delhi Czars), Kunal Patni (Deccan Aces) & Ram Kakkar (Gujarat Falcons)

 

Event 2

Event 2 will play out as a 30-player 6-max MTT with the winner receiving 45,000 points. Only the top 26 finishers will get points.

Position Leaderboard
Points &
Bonus Chips
%
Distribution
1st45,00015%
2nd36,000 12%
3rd30,00010%
4th25,500 8.50%
5th22,500 7.50%
6th18,000 6%
7th15,000 5%
8th12,0004%
9th10,5003.5%
10th9,000 3%
11th9,000 3%
12th7,5002.5%
13th7,5002.5%
14th6,000 2%
15th6,000 2%
16th6,000 2%
17th4,500 1.5%
18th4,5001.5%
19th4,5001.5%
20th4,5001.5%
21st3,0001%
22nd3,0001%
23rd3,0001%
24th3,0001%
25th3,0001%
26th1,5000.5%

 

Finale

After the completion of the first two events, the third event that will be played is the Finale. Herein, each team will select one representative to participate. The team starting stack will be determined by individual performances in the first two events.

There is a process that will be followed when selecting players for the Finale. It is as follows:

> For the retained PSL teams, mentors will nominate the player to represent the team

>For the new teams, a democratic voting process would take place

>In case of a draw, a decision would be made by a coin toss or random number generator

 

Embracing the Spirit of Charity & Competition

VPL is not just about encouraging team-building in poker, but also about having charitable intentions. To promote education in the country, PSL has joined hands with three notable charities, United Way Chennai, ASSCOD, and Super School India. The VPL boasts of a total charity prize pool of ₹10 Lakhs, sponsored entirely by PSL and Hashtag Poker.

United Way Chennai: A non-profit organization that works to eradicate poverty and ensuring that everyone has access to quality health care and education. United Way Chennai has been dedicatedly working towards bringing about a holistic development of schools in dire need of interventions.

ASSCOD: The Association for Sustainable Community Development, aka ASSCOD, is a registered NGO working for women’s empowerment in the rural regions of Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1994, the voluntary organization focuses on the health issues of the underprivileged and is working to promote the social and economic development of people situated in rural locations.

Super School India: It is a Delhi-based NGO that provides sex education and English training to underprivileged children. A youth-run initiative, the organization works with children and young people to equip them with relevant skills to succeed in life.

 

Live Streaming Bonanza

Keeping in mind that PSL is the world’s biggest poker league in terms of participation and prize pools, there is no doubt that the VPL is going to be a blast. The VPL will also be live-streamed on the Hashtag Poker App and Hashtag Poker YouTube channel.

PSL Head of Productions, Sidharth Mishra, speaking to PokerGuru explained how the integration between Hashtag Poker and PSL came about.

Sidharth Mishra

 

“Due to the COVID issue, we couldn’t go ahead with PSL on an on-ground basis. We already have a Hashtag Poker app, a play money app, so we thought of integrating this into the PSL. We are still the only team in the country which can do poker streams, so we thought of migrating the live experience to the online experience.”

Being in charge of production is a considerable task, and Mishra has taken all the steps necessary to ensure that poker lovers will enjoy a seamless live streaming experience.

“Let’s get to why the equipment kit that we sent to players? If you see, PokerStars had a cards-up stream with Joey Ingram and other guys. Even though we can see cards up, we will also see players and their faces. For green screen, we wanted consistency for the broadcast, and it gives you a lot of flexibility in terms of post-production and also to make the packaging dynamic.”

Mishra also talked about the obstacles he faced in setting up the production process of the live stream.

“We got OBS experts to figure out the tech-related issues apart from the existing production team. So, I will say we are very tech-heavy. One major issue we had was in Zoom calls, the video feed keeps switching if someone drops out, which changes the players’ seat positions. So, we have actually created a video conferencing platform specifically tailored to our needs. So even if a player drops, the windows won’t shift. That was one of the biggest hurdles.”

He also revealed, “We are getting Sam Razavi to commentate on the stream from London. We also have Raj Juneja and Sriram, who are going to be in our studio to commentate. The idea is to make the user experience seamless. We also have a host who will be helping with the show.”

Reiterating how the VPL is a forerunner for the upcoming PSL season, Mishra said, “VPL is a precursor to what the eventual PSL Virtual is going to be. It allows us to test the setup, test graphics, and all other aspects of the stream. We are planning to put it up on OTT platforms as well. Currently, we are in touch with top OTT platforms for the same. PSL is obviously is going to be a bigger property for us.”

So, gear up for some unadulterated poker action with the VPL and keep following PokerGuru for more updates from PSL –V and the VPL!

5 1 vote
Article Rating

Related Players

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru