Sunday Online Railbird Report: Joey Saha Wins Diwali Rush Main Event on PokerStars India, Ashish Ahuja Tops BSS SuperStack on PokerBaazi

It is festive season all the way with Diwali knocking on the door. The festival of lights is an occasion for friends and family in India to get together and also one where people often play card games. It was with the same Diwali spirit that domestic poker sites doled out crackling high–value tournaments this past Sunday.

For the first time ever, 9stacks came out with a special BoomBoom event, a ₹30 Lakhs GTD tournament, which was the biggest-ever guaranteed tournament since the site’s launch. It was hit by some massive overlays which offered some great value to all the players who joined the action. There were 266 entries with 108 re-buys which made for a shortfall of over ₹10 lakhs in the prize pool. Claiming the top prize was ‘Babuji44’ who added ₹7.20 Lakhs to their bankroll.

PokerStars India`s Diwali festivities came to a captivating close with the Diwali Rush ₹30 Lakhs GTD Main Event crowning a champion in Mumbai`s Joey ‘inisme’ Saha, who took top honors at the event along with a hefty payday of ₹6.21 Lakhs. Saha bested a 327-strong player field enroute his victory! Talking about his win, Saha said, “I managed to spin up a decent stack early on. The structure was really deep and slow which allowed me to pick my spots carefully and not be all in very often. I ran hot on the FT when it mattered and I’m reasonably happy with how I played!”

Saha, who has been playing poker since the past six years, primarily grinds on PokerStars and plans to start playing more on other sites like PokerBaazi as well because of the higher guarantees offered. “The online poker scene in India is becoming huge. Loads of sites offer huge guarantees and deposit offers and you can see a lot of new players joining the game. I think with a friendlier TDS legislation, the scene could become as big as anywhere else in the world,” he added.

While the Diwali Rush Main Event win is his biggest score on Indian sites, Saha, who works at a tech company and has also launched a start-up that sells fun socks, plans to continue studying poker and putting in more volume. He does want to try his hand at a few live events in the coming year.

Apart from the Main Event, Saha also won the Diwali Rush Last Chance Supersonic ₹1.2 Lakhs GTD for ₹33,065 and was runner-up in the Diwali Rush Mini Big- Rebuy Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD where he banked ₹25,310 while the event was won by ‘MrAanand’ for ₹34,670. Sandeep ‘effuno007’ Varma RS won the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD for ₹57,784.

Besides the Diwali Rush series, several other events were on the tap at PokerStars India this past Sunday. ‘Soo Pure’ was triumphant in the Sunday Storm ₹3 Lakhs GTD for ₹52,501 and ‘baby.driver18’ won the Sunday Stars ₹2 Lakhs GTD for ₹29,693. ‘nmishra8’ placed first in the Sunday Warm-Up ₹1 Lakhs GTD and collected ₹19,106 in prize money.

It was business as usual on India’s most trusted poker site, PokerBaazi and topping the winner’s list on the site was Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja, who took down the BSS SuperStack ₹15 Lakhs GTD tournament for ₹2.70 Lakhs. The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD crowned a winner in ‘TheHungryKid’ who pocketed ₹1.22 Lakhs, alongside, ‘plofish’, who won the BSS PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.20 Lakhs and ‘md20’, who won the BSS MegasStacks ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.09 Lakhs.

The regular Sunday events on MadOverPoker crowned champions in Dhananjoy ‘Dhananjoy’ Karmakar (Dynamite for ₹45,000), Rumit ‘Heyyounotyouyesyou’ Khade (Grenade for ₹32,922) and Sam ‘Lokimon’ Anand (NightCrawler for ₹16,000).

Boom Boom ₹30 Lakhs GTD – 9stacks

Entries – 266

Re-buys – 108

Prize Pool – ₹30,00,000

Places Paid – 45

The Boom Boom ₹30 Lakhs GTD on 9stacks was the biggest-ever guaranteed tournament hosted by the site since its launch. Following overlays of close to ₹10 Lakhs, the event saw ‘Babuji44’ outlasting the 374 entries to take home the ₹7.20 Lakhs top prize, while online regular Akshay ‘rahuldravid’ Nasa placed second winning ₹4.80 Lakhs.

Final Table Results

1. Babuji44 – ₹7,20,000
2. Akshay ‘rahuldravid’ Nasa – ₹4,80,000
3. Vinay ‘Cantilever’ B – ₹3,09,000
4. Sidhdarth ‘sidj’ Jain – ₹2,40,000
5. Kapil ‘icecube’ Arora – ₹1,65,000
6. Shariq ‘Kidpoker107’ Khan – ₹1,12,500
7. Hosagavi aka DJ24 – ₹93,000
8. Deepak ‘orionn7’ Raina – ₹72,000
9. Abhishek ‘Abhi2345’ Pandey – ₹60,000
10. Ankit ‘d00mtr00p3r’ Wadhawan – ₹45,000

Diwali Rush Main Event ₹7,700 NLHE ₹30 Lakhs GTD – PokerStars India

Entries – 327

Re-entries – 174

Prize Pool – ₹35,07,000

Places Paid – 87

The Diwali Rush Main Event ₹30 Lakhs GTD on PokerStars India was another high-value tournament that took place this past Sunday and outlasting the 501-strong field, which included 327 entries and 174 re-entries, was Mumbai-based Joey ‘inisme’ Saha who won the event for a whopping ₹6.21 Lakhs.

Joey Saha

Final Table Results

1. Joey ’inisme’ Saha – ₹6,21,394
2. aaokabhihavelip – ₹4,45,928
3. MarwadiPro – ₹3,20,009
4. paragonyounker – ₹2,29,646
5. bruce.lee0247 – ₹1,64,800
6. Amar ‘AceConsultant’ Mehta – ₹1,18,264
7. iliklikingbttns – ₹84,870
8. youcantcallme – ₹60,904
9. J44TR4M – ₹51,012
10. NeumannVon – ₹42,726

BSS SuperStack ₹15 Lakhs GTD – PokerBaazi

Entries – 175

Re-entries – 99

Prize Pool – ₹15,00,000

Places Paid – 34

The Baazi Super Sunday (BSS) SuperStack ₹15 Lakhs GTD tournament on PokerBaazi saw a total of 175 entries. Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja claimed the top prize of ₹2,70,000 after defeating Sagar ‘sagarpupul’ Choudhury heads-up.

Ashish Ahuja

Final Table Results

1. Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja – ₹2,70,000
2. Sagar ‘sagarpupul’ Choudhury – ₹1,98,750
3. Sahil ‘CairyHunt’ Agarwal – ₹1,47,000
4. Aditya ‘gangajal’ Sushant – ₹1,18,500
5. Inferape – ₹92,250
6. Sumit ‘boronyx’ Sapra – ₹69,000
7. Bahu ‘intervntion’ Bali – ₹57,750
8. Vinay ‘vinay09’ Rajpal – ₹43,500
9. Pranav ‘pranavpoker’ Khandalkar – ₹32,250
10. Khooshi – ₹30,750

The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD – PokerBaazi

Entries – 149

Re-entries – 95

Prize Pool – ₹6,10,000

Places Paid – 30

The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD tournament at PokerBaazi attracted a total of 149 entries and the assured prize pool of ₹5,00,000 was surpassed, with the total prize pool reaching ₹6,10,000. ‘TheHungryKid’ emerged the winner and banked ₹1,22,000 for his finish.

Final Table Results

1. ‘TheHungryKid’ – ₹1,22,000
2. AbhishekRathod – ₹82,655
3. Md ‘007Bahubali’ Zeeshan – ₹62,220
4. Prateek ‘DABANGG2’ Sharma – ₹48,800
5. Identity – ₹37,820
6. Vivek ‘Nutpeddling729’ Singh – ₹28,060
7. Alok ‘shockmaster’ Ranjan- ₹24,400
8. Avish ‘thehorse7’ Sharma – ₹18,300
9. Faiz ‘AilaGaya’ Alam – ₹13,725
10. Pranav ‘Salmon123’ Bagai – ₹13,115

BSS PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD – PokerBaazi

Entries – 68

Re-entries – 25

Prize Pool – ₹5,00,000

Places Paid – 14

The Baazi Super Sunday (BSS) PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD tournament on PokerBaazi drew 68 entries this Sunday and claiming the top honors was ‘plofish’ who won the event for ₹1,20,000, while Team PokerBaazi Pro Abhishek ‘AbhishekRathod’ Rathod finished runner-up for ₹92,500.

Final Table Results

1. plofish – ₹1,20,000
2. Abhishek ‘AbhishekRathod’ Rathod – ₹92,500
3. Neeraj ‘SelfClaimedPro’ Kumar – ₹66,250
4. donjon – ₹52,500
5. Bunty ‘3streakbluff’ Choudhary – ₹35,000
6. Avadh ‘Sting240’ Shah – ₹27,500
7. Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood – ₹21,250
8. vane_shado – ₹18,750
9. Identity – ₹13,750
10. matpoker – ₹12,500

BSS MegaStack ₹ 5 Lakhs GTD – PokerBaazi

Entries – 113

Re-entries – 56

Prize Pool – ₹5,00,000

Places Paid – 22

The Baazi Super Sunday (BSS) MegaStack ₹ 5 Lakhs GTD on PokerBaazi saw a total of 113 entries and the top 22 spots were paid, with the top prize being claimed by ‘md20’ who pocketed ₹1,09,250 for his win.

Final Table Results

1. md20 – ₹1,09,250
2. Pranav ‘pranav.bang1’ Bang – ₹80,000
3. Vivek ‘Nutpeddling729’ Singh – ₹60,000
4. Sandy ‘Ziigmund’ Lamba – ₹45,250
5. Vinay ‘vinay09’ Rajpal – ₹33,000
6. SHIVSHAKTI – ₹24,000
7. Ankit ‘akj290’ Jajodia – ₹20,500
8. Borntogamble – ₹15,750
9. Akash ‘UtgWithUrMOM’ Malik- ₹11,750
10. Sid ‘CornerPocket’ Khanna – ₹10,750

Diwali Rush Deep Hyper Turbo NLHE – ₹2,200 NLHE ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD – PokerStars India

Entries – 85

Re-entries – 16

Prize Pool – ₹2,50,000

Places Paid – 17

The Diwali Rush Deep Stack Hyper Turbo ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD at PokerStars India pooled in a total of 85 entries. The top 17 places were paid and taking the winner’s spot was Sandeep ‘effuno007’ Varma RS who pocketed ₹57,784 in prize money.

Final Table Results

1. Sandeep ‘effuno007’ Varma RS – ₹57,784
2. Sooo Pure – ₹42,769
3. aslidurr – ₹31,655
4. Poker_Basilisk – ₹23,429
5. infinitesuns – ₹17,341
6. billz48 – ₹12,835
7. imhobadshah – ₹9,500
8. ATTA5437 – ₹7,031
9. KarmaPoker77- ₹6,217
10. koomattacks – ₹5,497

Sunday Storm – ₹3 Lakhs GTD – PokerStars India

Entries – 203

Re-buys – 405

Add-ons – 84

Prize Pool – ₹3,00,000

Places Paid – 35

Topping the Sunday Storm ₹3 Lakhs GTD tournament on PokerStars India was ‘Soo Pure’ who locked in ₹52,501 after a heads-up deal with runner-up ‘sneakysani’ who pocketed ₹49,099.

Final Table Results

1. Sooo Pure – ₹52,501*
2. sneakysani – ₹49,099*
3. shootist52 – ₹30,940
4. paragonyounker – ₹22,423
5. tuome89 – ₹16,251
6. PepperChicken – ₹11,777
7. mompoker60 – ₹9,534
8. sara@11108 – ₹7,718
9. Joey ‘inisme’ Saha – ₹7,718
10. knightrider1982 – ₹6,247

*denotes heads-up deal

Dynamite – MadOverPoker

Entries – 79

Re-entries – 13

Prize Pool – ₹1,50,000

Places Paid – 10

Dynamite at MadOverPoker attracted a total of 79 players and claiming the top spot was Dhananjoy ‘Dhananjoy’ Karmakar, who pocketed ₹45,000 for his win.

Final Table Results

1. Dhananjoy ‘Dhananjoy’ Karmakar – ₹45,000
2. Prashant ‘Prashant12’ Kumar – ₹30,000
3. Jason ‘Poplucky44’ Gurung – ₹18,000
4. Ajay ‘ajay4712’ Maddeshia – ₹15,000
5. Shivam ‘champhiyan’ Shukla – ₹12000

Diwali Rush Mini Big Rebuy Turbo – ₹550 NLHE (6-Max) ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD – PokerStars India

Entries – 107

Re-buys – 129

Add-ons – 27

Prize Pool – ₹1,50,000

Places Paid – 17

‘MrAanand’ finished first in the Diwali Rush Mini Big Rebuy Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD on PokerStars India for ₹34,670, while Joey ‘inisme’ Saha finished runner-up for ₹25,310.

Final Table Results

1. MrAanand – ₹34,670
2. Joey ‘inisme’ Saha – ₹25,310
3. I am VR4Poker – ₹18,477
4. prawnpickle – ₹13,488
5. 1II|1II|II1| – ₹9,847
6. PaddyJi – ₹7,188
7. Sogani22 – ₹5,884
8. ghost22_ss – ₹4,817
9. godsplanning – ₹4,817
10. Apratim ‘HUSTLER.0081’ Chatterjee – ₹3,943

Diwali Rush Last Chance Supersonic – ₹1,100 NLHE ₹1.2 Lakhs GTD – PokerStars India

Entries – 137

Re-entries – 28

Prize Pool – ₹1,65,000

Places Paid – 27

Joey ‘inisme’ Saha continued with his stellar form and yet again claimed the title in the Diwali Rush Last Chance Supersonic ₹1.2 Lakhs GTD on PokerStars India for ₹33,065.

Final Table Results

1. Joey ‘inisme’ Saha – ₹33,065
2. Manavgosain1997 – ₹25,011
3. pg470621 – ₹18,919
4. tuffcookie – ₹14,311
5. Radmod – ₹10,825
6. jivrajss – ₹8,188
7. nanoString – ₹6,194
8. SamWise Ripper – ₹4,685
9. Psychonaut007 – ₹3,544
10. shellay777 – ₹2,891

Grenade – MadOverPoker

Entries – 57

Re-entries – 4

Prize Pool – ₹1,00,000

Places Paid – 7

MadOverPoker’s Grenade awarded ₹32,922 in first-place prize money to Rumit ‘Heyyounotyouyesyou’ Khade.

Final Table Results

1. Rumit ‘Heyyounotyouyesyou’ Khade – ₹32,922
2. Hriday ‘Sigma’ Mondal – ₹23,077
3. Mayank ‘jmdms’ Shekhar – ₹12,000
4. Beena ‘ravann’ BP – ₹11,000
5. Kiran ‘Babu bhai’ Ghosh – ₹9,000

Sunday Stars – ₹2,500 NLHE ₹2 Lakhs GTD – PokerStars India

Entries – 58

Re-entries – 29

Prize Pool – ₹2,00,000

Places Paid – 15

‘baby.driver18’ won the Sunday Stars ₹2 Lakhs GTD on PokerStars India for ₹29,693, after agreeing to a four-way deal with ‘prawnpickle’ (runner-up for ₹38,254), ‘Sogani22’ (3^rd for ₹31,265) and ‘NNomadas’ (4^th for ₹27,779).

Final Table Results

1. baby.driver18 – ₹29,693*
2. prawnpickle – ₹38,254*
3. Sogani22 – ₹31,265*
4. NNomadas – ₹27,779*
5. oxymor0n32 – ₹13,887
6. Poker_Basilisk – ₹10,212
7. bot_ps.in – ₹7,509
8. LeoBazooka – ₹6,579
9. Chalah – ₹5,764
10. imhobadshah – ₹5,050

*denotes four-way deal

Sunday Warm-Up – ₹800 NLHE, ₹1 Lakhs GTD – PokerStars India

Entries – 81

Re-entries – 41

Prize Pool – ₹1,00,000

Places Paid – 20

Outlasting a field of 122 entries, ‘nmishra8’ took down the Sunday Warm-Up ₹1 Lakhs GTD on PokerStars India and bagged ₹19,106 in prize money, after striking a heads-up deal with ‘ashishchann’, who finished runner-up for ₹18,944.

Final Table Results

1. nmishra8 – ₹19,106*
2. ashishchann – ₹18,944*
3. Rishab19 – ₹12,015
4. Sogani22 – ₹8,910
5. SamWise Ripper – ₹6,607
6. prawnpickle – ₹4,900
7. Samu ‘AKumarss’ Rai – ₹3,634
8. R@r!nG – ₹2,694
9. PickleRick46 – ₹2,382
10. gauti2402 – ₹2,105

*denotes heads-up deal

NightCrawler – MadOverPoker

Entries – 31

Re-entries – 9

Prize Pool – ₹50,000

Places Paid – 8

Sam ‘Lokimon’ Anand claimed the top spot at NightCrawler on MadOverPoker and banked ₹16,000 for his efforts.

Final Table Results

1. Sam ‘Lokimon’ Anand – ₹16,000
2. GORAMD9 – ₹9,500
3. Susanta ‘Cowboy’ Das – ₹7,250
4. Hriday ‘Sigma’ Mondal – ₹5,250
5. Rajnish ‘CHIPCHOR’ Singh – ₹3,750

That’s it for this week’s Sunday Online Railbird Report. We will be back next week with a roundup of all the major Sunday scores.