This Week in Poker: August 5 – 11

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker,’ we bring you the weekly roundup of the most significant online scores by Indian MTT players and the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit.

Here are this week’s top stories!

What a week it has been! From ‘Alex_52′ posting two WSOP final table finishes to all the leading poker sites hosting flagship online events, there was a lot of action.

Before we get to the domestic action, let’s start off by recapping ‘Alex_52’’s spectacular run over the past week. 29-year-old ‘Alex_52’ happens to be an investment banker turned entrepreneur who has been raking up quite a storm at the ongoing WSOP Online series on GGPoker and Natural8. Believe it or not, he is on a half-a-million-dollar upswing in the last two weeks! His breakout run started last month when ‘Alex_52’ finished runner-up in the record-smashing IOPC Main Event – The Crown on Spartan Poker. He chopped the top prize three-way with Harshit Sanghi and Sumit Sapra for a career-best ₹42.36 Lakhs. Two weeks down the line, he has already improved upon that smashing run twice over!

After conquering the domestic felts, he set his sights on the biggest prize in the game – the WSOP gold bracelet. On August 6, ‘Alex_52’ made heads turn when he missed winning the gold bracelet by a hair’s breadth in Event #52: $1,000 NLHE. A brutal beat on the final hand forced ‘Alex_52’ to concede the title to Alex ‘astazz’ Stasiak. Still, a runner-up finish fetched him a career-best $207,190 (~₹1.55 Crores). Three days later, ‘Alex_52’ once again found himself standing within striking distance of the gold bracelet in Event #55: HK$8,000 NLHE Asia Championship. Confirming that he is on a heater of a lifetime, Bhatia placed third for a HK$1,804,691 payday that translates to a life-altering ₹1.75 Crores payday – his new personal-best score. All this adds up to over ₹3.7 Crores in just the last fortnight! For this phenomenal performance, he is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

‘d0rk21’, who finished sixth in Event #55: HK$8,000 NLHE Asia Championship for HK$ 653,684 (~₹63.67 Lakhs), and ‘OBellaCiao’, who placed 15th in the same event for HK $120,314 (~₹11.71 Lakhs) were the other Indian pros who raked in the big WSOP scores this week.

One of the most prolific winners this week was Canada’s Daniel Dvoress. The high-stakes pro was widely touted as among the top players in the game without a bracelet. He let go of that tag on Sunday when he championed a field of 6,299 entries in Event #48: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER to claim the most significant prize money of the series yet – a whopping $1.489 Million!

Moving on to the domestic action, Spartan Poker’s GPS came to an end on Sunday with the ₹1 Crore GTD GPS Millionaire crowning a champion in ‘Rahul2646,’ who pocketed a ₹15.91 Lakhs after a heads-up deal with ‘mannu2424’ (runner-up for ₹14.98 Lakhs).

While the GPS has wrapped up, the site has launched its Ultimate Value Series (UVS) from August 11, which will run till August 16. Comprising of 36 tournaments, the series offers more than ₹1 Crore in guaranteed prizes. Moreover, the site also announced a month-long promotion, ‘The Big Xchange,’ that offers better VIP Exchange Rates to players.

Another series that has been running alongside the GPS is Adda52’s AOPS. The ₹1 Crore GTD AOPS Mini Main Event Finale registered 1,780 entries across six starting flights, falling ₹11 Lakhs short of the guarantee. Former Millionaire winner Guneet ‘guntz’ Kwatra came out on top to win the title and a career-best ₹25 Lakhs! PokerGuru Ambassador Vivek Singh, Nishant Sharma, Goonjan Mall, and Sajjan Barnwal were the other prominent winners this week.

Up and coming online poker site, Poker Dangal also announced the return of its popular Dangal Value Series (DVS). Running from August 18 to 22, the series promises ₹45 Lakhs in prize pool guarantees.

Another big news that `s shaking up the industry is the recent re-branding of FTRpoker to Blitz Poker. The reason for the undue global attention to this rebranding exercise is its association with the ‘King of Instagram’ Dan Bilzerian.

GGPoker has been known for coming up with innovative features for its platform, and its latest revelation was the addition of the SnapCam. The feature allows players to send a 15-second video of themselves to others on the table.

Online Railbird Report

Banking the single-largest score on domestic sites this week was MTT reg Guneet ‘guntz’ Kwatra. The player from Bengaluru topped the ₹1 Crore GTD AOPS Mini Main Event Finale to win a career-best ₹25 Lakhs cash prize. He further placed fourth in the AOPS Big Game for ₹2.25 Lakhs, to become the biggest scorer this week (domestic sites). No wonder then that Kwatra is leading the monthly leaderboard with over ₹30 Lakhs in winnings.

Finishing runner-up to Kwatra in the AOPS Mini Main Event Finale was former AOPS Full House winner Rohit ‘rohitvaswani’ Vaswani, who collected ₹13.89 Lakhs.

Moving over to the Sunday flagships at Spartan Poker, two anonymous players booked top finishes in the ₹1 Crore GTD GPS#35 The Millionaire. ‘Rahul2646’ was named the latest Millionaire champion and won ₹15.91 Lakhs following a heads-up chop with ‘mannu2424’ (runner-up for ₹14.98 Lakhs).

PokerGuru Ambassador Vivek Singh was another trailblazer this week and won over ₹13 Lakhs. Singh’s best performance came in Adda52’s AOPS Godfather that he won for ₹7.05 Lakhs, alongside a runner-up finish in PokerBaazi’s The Summit for ₹3.30 Lakhs. Singh further championed PokerStars India`s ₹7 Lakhs GTD Sixth Sense last night for ₹1.19 Lakhs in addition to finishing fifth in the PPL #30 Mini High Roller for ₹1.61 Lakhs. Over these scores, Singh raked in 13.15 Lakhs in winnings. Supplementing his cash winnings for a package worth ₹3.70 Lakhs that he won in Spartan Poker’s Destiny 15.0 SnG Finale.

‘RangeMerge‘(GPS #19 High Roller ₹50 Lakhs GTD for ₹13.25 Lakhs), ‘AdhirathSingh’ (GPS #13 Destiny ₹35 Lakhs GTD for ₹9.90 Lakhs), Nishant Sharma (GPS #33 Sunday SuperStack for ₹7.71 Lakhs) and Goonjan Mall (2nd in GPS #19 High Roller for ₹8.98 Lakhs) are next in line on this week`s top winners list.

Nishant Sharma further placed runner-up in Adda52’s AOPS Millions for ₹4.65 Lakhs to collectively rake in ₹12.36 Lakhs. Goonjan Mall’s week’s tally crossed ₹11 Lakhs since he picked up another ₹2.12 Lakhs for placing third in PokerBaazi’s The Summit.

Sajjan Barnwal was on a winning spree and shipped an incredible five titles this week. His biggest score was ₹7.44 Lakhs that he won in the AOPS Mini Highroller.

The notable scores of the week include:

Read the complete report here

Poker Dangal Announces Dangal Value Series (DVS) Promising ₹45 Lakhs in GTDs

Another edition of Poker Dangal’s popular Dangal Value Series (DVS) is on the anvil and about to start on August 18. The 16-event series will run until August 22, doling out at least ₹45 Lakhs in cash prizes.

FTRPoker Rebrands Itself As Blitz Poker After Joining Hands With Dan Bilzerian

Prominent India-facing online poker site FTRPoker is now Blitz Poker. The site has associated itself with Instagram sensation Dan Bilzerian and relaunched in a “Bigger, Better & Ballsier” avatar!

Read the complete report here

Spartan Poker Announces Exclusive VIP Exchange Rates in ‘The Big Xchange’

Spartan Poker has announced a month-long offer of better VIP Exchange Rates through its latest promotion ‘The Big Xchange.’

Read the complete report here

GGPoker Launches SnapCam Feature

GGPoker Network has introduced an all-new SnapCam feature that lets players send 15-second videos of themselves to others on the table.

Read the complete report here

WSOP Online

India`s ‘Alex_52’ was on a heater of a lifetime. Chasing his first bracelet at the 2020 WSOP Online series taking place on GGPoker and Natural8, Bhatia came close to the finish line twice in just four days.

The first of the two was his runner-up finish in Event #52: $1,000 NLHE. Playing as ‘Alex_52,’ he conceded the title to Canada’s Alek ‘astazz’ Stasiak, who took it down for $273,505. ‘Alex_52’ finished a close second for a staggering $207,190 (~₹1.55 Crores)!

Read the complete report here

Four days later, ‘Alex_52’ was back in contention in Event #55: HK$8,000 NLHE Asia Championship. Once again, ‘Alex_52’ fell within striking distance of the bracelet, finishing third for an even better HK$1,804,691 (₹1.75 Crores). Not only is this Alex_52’s all-time personal best score, but he’s also the best Indian performer at the ongoing series, and the week’s online topper, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

There were a few other Indian players who ran deep in Event #55. ‘d0rk21’ finished 6th for HK$ 653,684 (₹63.67 Lakhs).

India’s first solo bracelet champion ‘OBellaCiao’ (15th for HK $120,314 – ₹11.71 Lakhs), was the third Indian to post a deep run in the event.

Brazil’s Luis ‘Xapilskinha’ Assuncao Garla took down the event to win the bracelet and HK$ 3,551,611.32 (~$461,709.47).

Read the complete report here

India’s ‘raavan’ (Event #56: $1,500 GGMasters WSOP Edition (High Roller – 26th for $12,130 – ₹9.07 Lakhs), and “PgTilt” (Event #53: $800 Double Stack PLO – 9th for $8,854 – ₹6.63 Lakhs) were the other commendable performers at the series this week.

The biggest winner of the week was none other than the Canadian high stakes pro Daniel Dvoress. He outlasted a field of 6,299 entries to win Event #48: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER for a colossal $1.489 Million! This happens to be Dvoress’ first career bracelet and also one of the biggest cash prizes to be ever awarded in the history of online poker!

Read the complete report here

With this, we conclude this week’s roundup of the latest news updates and developments from the world of poker. We will return again next week with our weekly report, stay tuned.