PokerStars India “Star of the Month:” December Champion Siddharth Gangwar Tops the Week #1 Standings in January Race

2021 has begun, bringing with it promises of more exciting poker runs and big success stories! The New Year’s onset also means that PokerStars India’s “Star of the Month” leaderboard race has officially entered its fourth month.

The “Star of the Month” – December, Siddharth Gangwar, makes the headlines yet again – this time for topping the January Week #1 leaderboard standings. Gangwar had championed the December Finale on December 30, beating out the more experienced Kunal Patni heads-up to win MTT tickets worth ₹1.15 Lakhs and a PokerStars India goodie bag!

We have to hand it to Gangwar for his sheer consistency. He has lived up to his indubitable reputation of qualifying for the “Star of the Month” Finale in the opening week itself. If Gangwar had stormed into the December Finale in Week #1 last month, he has done one better this time as he leads the 25 Week #1 qualifiers with 677 TLB points.

Swapnil Patil (591 points), Partho Datta (546 points), Sandeep Varma (491 points), and PokerGuru Ambassador Rony Chowdhury (477 points) are the other players on the Week #1 qualifiers list.

Also making it to the January Finale are PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja (376 points), Sagar Choudhury (346 points), Prashant Sekar (304 points), Manish Lakhotia (298 points), Shardul Parthasarathi (256 points), Dhaval Mudgal (173 points), PokerGuru Ambassador Ashutosh Balodhi (173 points), Sreeharsha Boneni (168 points), and Armaan Kochhar (163 points).

The rules of the “Star of the Month” mega leaderboard race are simple. Every week, players who finish ITM in the two daily qualifying tourneys hosted at the 7.30 PM and 10.30 PM slots from Mon-Sat and the 5 PM and 10.30 PM slots on Sundays earn TLB points. Each week, the top-25 ranked players make it to the month-ending Finale, where the winner walks away with a PokerStars India goodie bag and tournament tickets worth ₹1.15 Lakhs, while the runner-up receives MTT tickets worth ₹35,000. For more details and the latest standings, visit the promotions page.

PokerStars India Star of the Month Leaderboard Standings (December 28 – January 3)

Let’s take a look at the top 5 qualifiers from Week #1 of January.

Top 5 Qualifiers

1. Siddharth Gangwar

Leaderboard Points – 677

Siddharth ‘gangnam gangi’ Gangwar enjoyed a memorable week on PokerStars India. The highlight for Gangwar had to be winning the SOTM December Finale on Monday! Not surprisingly, he has made it into the Finale again and this time by topping the January Week #1 standings.

Gangwar started building up his tally of TLB points from Wednesday, where he final tabled the Night on Stars, placing third for ₹57,344 while also finishing ITM in the Bigstack Turbo. Two days later, Gangwar placed runner-up in the Highroller for ₹1.83 Lakhs. Gangwar closed out an eventful week with three more qualifying scores, accumulating 677 TLB points – enough to earn him the #1 spot on the Week #1 standings.

Qualifying Scores

– 3rd in the Night on Stars ₹5 Lakh GTD for ₹57,344 on December 30

– 14th in the Bigstack Turbo ₹1 Lakh GTD for ₹1,817 on December 30

– 2nd in the Highroller ₹10 Lakh GTD for ₹1,83,021 on January 1

– 19th in the Battle Royale ₹5 Lakh GTD for ₹4,053 on January 1

– 18th in the Sunday Special PKO ₹15 Lakh GTD for ₹19,020 on January 3

– 9th in the Sunday Supersonic ₹1.5 Lakh GTD for ₹2,636 on January 3

2. Swapnil Patil

Leaderboard Points – 591

Swapnil Patil, who plays as ‘pokpom1’ on the site, trails Gangwar on the Week#1 leaderboard with 591 TLB points. Patil raked in his first points after taking down the Bigstack Turbo on December 29 for ₹30,488. He went on to score two runner-up finishes in the Night on Stars and another Bigstack Turbo, respectively.

Qualifying Scores

– 1st in the Bigstack Turbo ₹1 Lakh GTD for ₹30,488 on December 29

– 2nd in the Night on Stars ₹5 Lakh GTD for ₹56,424 on December 30

– 2nd in the Bigstack Turbo ₹1 Lakh GTD for ₹18,582 on January 1

3. Partho Datta

Leaderboard Points – 546

Partho ‘SpidermanIndia’ Datta caught his big break in the ₹5 Lakhs GTD Night on Stars on December 30, where he toppled a field of 284 entries to win ₹62,597. He struck a four-way deal, and among the other two top finishers were Swapnil Patil and Siddharth Gangwar – the two players ranked above him in the Week #1 standings. Along with two more qualifying scores over the weekend, he accumulated 546 TLB points, rounding out the top three spots on the Week #1 standings.

Qualifying Scores

– 1st in the Night on Stars ₹5 Lakh GTD for ₹62,597 on December 30

– 33rd in the Eliminator ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹2,707 on December 2

– 44th in the Sunday Special PKO ₹15 Lakh GTD for ₹4,570 on December 4

4. Sandeep Varma

Leaderboard Points – 491

Accomplished MTT pro Sandeep ‘effuno007’ Varma accumulated 491 TLB points on the Week #1 leaderboard on the back of three qualifying scores. His best score came on Tuesday when he championed the ₹5 Lakh GTD Sixth Sense for ₹76,265. He also ran deep in the Night on Stars the following day to spin up on the leaderboard standings.

Qualifying Scores

– 41st in the Battle Royale ₹5 Lakh GTD for ₹1,875 on December 28

– 1st in the Sixth Sense ₹5 Lakh GTD for ₹76,265 on December 29

– 9th in the Night on Stars ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹7,921 on December 30

5. Rony Chowdhury

Leaderboard Points – 477

PokerGuru Ambassador Rony ‘GoGetters1’ Chowdhury ranks #5 on the Week #1 standings. He started out by posting a third-place score worth ₹76,708 in the Sixth Sense on Tuesday and topped that up by placing fifth in the Highroller on New Year’s eve for ₹72,613. Another deep run in the Sunday Special PKO brought Chowdhury’s tally to 477 TLB points.

Qualifying Scores

– 3rd in the Sixth Sense ₹5 Lakh GTD for ₹76,708 on December 29

– 5th in the Highroller ₹10 Lakh GTD for ₹72,613 on December 31

– 12th in the Sunday Special Progressive KO ₹15 Lakhs GTD for ₹13,108 on January 3

Do Note –

> You need to have a registered account on PokerGuru to enter this leaderboard challenge

> Your profile must be updated with your PokerStars India screenname

> Your PokerStars India screenname must be opted-in on SharkScope (https://www.sharkscope.com/#Screenshot-Opt-In.html/PokerStars.in)

> All TLB points in decimals will be rounded off to the nearest integer

> Prizes will be credited within 72 hours of the completion of the Finale.

> Merchandise will be delivered within 14 working days of the completion of the Finale.

> The tickets will be non-exchangeable and non-transferable.

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the PokerStars India ‘Star of the Month’ Leaderboard race!