This Week in Poker: April 5 – 11

This Week in Poker: April 5 - 11
  • Profile picture
  • Attreyee Khasnabis April 13, 2023

In the PokerGuru feature, ‘This Week in Poker,’ we bring you the weekly round-up of the most significant online scores by Indian MTT players and the top stories from both the live and online poker circuits. Here are this week’s top stories!

The online poker action has been heating up in April with a plethora of exciting tournaments and big wins. From Spartan Poker’s India Turbo Masters to PokerBaazi’s National Poker Series India 2023, there’s been no shortage of action.

The standout winner this week was the anonymous player ‘wildernesscove‘ who won Spartan Poker’s ₹2 Crores GTD ITM #113 Main Event for a massive ₹34.71 Lakhs (from two stacks) and bagged away a jaw-dropping ₹38.22 Lakhs on Sunday, making them the worthy recipient of our “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title. Since the user has chosen to remain anonymous, the honor is bestowed to Shashank Shekhar, who finished a close #2 on the weekly charts with ₹36.96 Lakhs in total earnings and two flagship title victories.

Other top scorers for the week included Vivek Singh, Ankit Wadhawan, Areyann Gurbaxani, and Abhimanyu Mittal.

With four days of action left in the National Poker Series India 2023, Sunday will be a blockbuster! However, with WPT Prime India bringing live tournament action back to Goa on April 12, online turnouts have significantly declined. With the series slated to run in Goa until April 18, next week may notice further reduced online traffic.

But the possibility of declining numbers does not mean there are exciting things for online poker lovers to look forward to.

Just after the NPS, PokerBaazi’s PLO Championship will commence its second edition. With over ₹5 Crores in guaranteed prizes, players can enjoy non-stop PLO-4, PLO-5, and PLO-6 action from April 20 to 30. The series features 13 listed tournaments as trophy events and ₹10 Lakhs in real cash bonus set aside for the top-30 ranked players on the series leaderboard.

MPL Poker is back with its Cash Bash promotion offering up to 66% rakeback on cash tables and ₹8 Crores in guaranteed winnings in April. Players also stand a chance to win up to ₹20 Lakhs each this month. New sign-ups in April can claim a massive ₹30,000 Welcome Bonus.

PokerSaint`s brand-new April Cash Game Festival has a daily prize pool of ₹20 Lakhs awaiting cash game players. To participate, simply play on any cash table and accumulate VIP points to climb the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond leaderboards. With exciting rewards paid out every 6-hour RACE, you can showcase your skills and reap the rewards.

IndiaPlays is giving away free tickets to the ₹26+ Lakhs GTD IndiaPlays Bounty Championship to depositing players. The budget bounty series started on April 7, with 96 tournaments, guaranteed prize pools of ₹26 Lakhs, and additional bounty prizes for every player you eliminate. With buy-ins starting at just ₹55, IBC is the perfect battleground for micro and small-stakes tournament players.

In a critical industry development, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi granted his assent to the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling & Regulation of Online Games Bill 2022, which aims to ban all real-money online gaming in the state. Offenders could face imprisonment, fines, or both. Many top gaming platforms have stopped accepting players from Tamil Nadu, with others expected to follow suit once the same is published in the state gazette.

The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) recently notified the much-awaited final rules to regulate the online gaming industry, which includes appointing multiple Self-Regulatory Organisations (SRO) to decide which games are permissible. Gaming companies must ensure that their games are approved by an SRO before publishing them. The rules mandate banning online games or sites involving wagering, including advertising, and mandatory KYC verification for all online gamers.

In a significant setback to casino operators, the Bombay High Court in Goa dismissed petitions from casino companies challenging a government directive requiring them to pay the unpaid license fees from the COVID-19 lockdown period. The court emphasized that businesses, including casinos, must fulfill their financial obligations during the pandemic, which has impacted the government’s resources.

WPT Global named Ethan “Rampage” Yau its first-ever online poker content and brand ambassador! The popular poker vlogger will showcase the platform, engage the community with different activities, and play in the upcoming April tournaments on the site.

 

Online Railbird Report

This past week brought on abundant action for online tournament players with the India Turbo Masters 3.0 on Spartan Poker and the National Poker Series 2023 on PokerBaazi, setting the virtual felts ablaze.

The mystery player ‘wildernesscove’ stole the show, winning a staggering 38.75 Lakhs from a career-defining Sunday. The player seized Spartan Poker’s ITM showstopper, 2 Crores GTD ITM #113 Main Event, for a personal-best 34.71 Lakhs (from two stacks) and made another podium finish in ITM #111 Sunday Supersonic (3rd for 4.05 Lakhs).

As ‘wildernesscove’ chose to remain anonymous, the “PokerGuru Star of the Week!” title goes to Shashank Shekhar, the week`s second biggest winner. Shekhar won two titles and wrapped up the week with 36.96 Lakhs in total earnings. On Thursday, he won Spartan Poker’s ITM #90 Thursday Big Turbo, earning 6.91 Lakhs before taking down Adda52-hosted MHW Colossus on Sunday. Sidestepping 74 other top regs (96 total entries) in the 1 Crore GTD tournament, Shekhar eventually struck a heads-up deal to win 26.07 Lakhs (his third-best online score).

Shashank Shekhar
Shashank Shekhar

 

His top finishes include:

> 1st in Adda52’s MHW Colossus for 26.07 Lakhs (heads-up deal)

> 1st in Spartan Poker’s ITM #90 Thursday Big Turbo 6-Max for 6.91 Lakhs (heads-up deal)

> 11th in Adda52’s MHW Topliners for 1.87 Lakhs

 

Vivek Singh was the other trailblazer and made away with 36.36 Lakhs this week on the back of three final table scores. His two seven-figure paydays came in Spartan Poker’s ITM #113 Main Event (3rd for 14.43 Lakhs) and Adda52’s MHW Colossus (4th for 11 Lakhs) on Sunday.

Vivek Singh
Vivek Singh

 

His top finishes include:

> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s ITM #113 Main Event for 14.43 Lakhs (from 3 stacks)

> 4th in Adda52’s MHW Colossus for 11 Lakhs

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s ITM #81 Wednesday Big Turbo 6-Max for 6.06 Lakhs (heads-up deal)

> 8th in Spartan Poker’s ITM #90 Thursday Big Turbo 6-Max for 1.06 Lakhs

 

Ankit Wadhawan was another top pro headlining the weekly charts, netting a massive 30.92 Lakhs and crossing 4 Crores in tracked online profits. Wadhawan posted an impressive seven final table finishes this past week, most notably chopping Adda52’s MHW Colossus (2nd for 22.43 Lakhs) with Shashank Shekhar.

Ankit Wadhawan
Ankit Wadhawan

 

His top finishes include:

> 2nd in Adda52’s MHW Colossus for 22.43 Lakhs (heads-up deal)

> 5th in Spartan Poker’s ITM #90 Thursday Big Turbo 6-Max for 2.26 Lakhs

> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#43 Deepdive for 1.62 Lakhs

 

Upcoming poker talent Areyann Gurbaxani has been on a fantastic run at the record-breaking NPS India 2023. He is the only player to have won three gold medals in the ongoing series that has catapulted him to the #1 position on the NPS Podium leaderboard. He was one of the most power-packed performers of the week, winning three tournaments and posting a runner-up finish, netting 21.73 Lakhs altogether.

Areyann Gurbaxani
Areyann Gurbaxani

 

His top finishes include:

> 2nd in Adda52’s MHW Big Game for 9.91 Lakhs (heads-up deal)

> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#59 Sunday Kick-Off for 4.38 Lakhs

> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#49 (7-Max) SPRINT for 3.12 Lakhs

> 1st in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for 1.10 Lakhs

 

Abhimanyu Mittal added 19.09 Lakhs across his weekly run from five final table finishes and bagged the NPS gold medal in PokerBaazi’s NPS#55 Friday Force (7.74 Lakhs).

Abhimanyu Mittal
Abhimanyu Mittal

 

His top finishes include:

> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#55 Friday Force for 7.74 Lakhs

> 4th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#56 HighRoller for 5.27 Lakhs

> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s ITM #89 Thursday Supersonic for 2.51 Lakhs

 

Laksh Pal Singh, Gaurav Sood, Saurabh Rohilla, Goonjan Mall, Puneet Dua, and Shagun Jain were the week’s other top online scorers.

 

Notable Winners of the Week

PlayerPrize AmountEventPoker Site
“wildernesscove”₹34.44 LakhsITM #113 Main Event ₹2 Crores GTDSpartan Poker
Shashank Shekhar₹26.07 LakhsMHW Colossus ₹1 Crore GTDAdda52
Puneet Dua₹12.70 LakhsNPS#56 HighRoller ₹1 Crore GTDPokerBaazi
Ujjwal Narwal₹10.91 LakhsMHW Big Game ₹50 Lakhs GTDAdda52
“1levelup”₹8.47 LakhsNPS#61 Mini Main Event ₹75 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Pramod Kumar₹8.32 LakhsITM #111 Sunday SuperSonic ₹40 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Rohit Mishra₹8.21 LakhsNPS#42 Big Knockout (PKO) ₹30 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Abhimanyu Mittal₹7.74 LakhsNPS#55 Friday Force ₹50 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Anuj Yadav₹7.04 LakhsITM #81 Wednesday Big Turbo ₹25 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Shashank Shekhar₹6.91 LakhsITM #90 Thursday Big Turbo (6 Max) ₹30 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
“NikitaLuther”₹6.69 LakhsNPS#48 (PLO-4) HighRoller ₹30 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Vikram Mishra₹6.28 LakhsNPS#74 (PLO-5) HighRoller ₹30 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Saransh Garg₹6.20 LakhsITM #98 Friday SuperSonic (6-Max) ₹40 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Shagun Jain₹6.12 LakhsGodfather ₹25 Lakhs GTDAdda52
Ishaan Pandya₹5.44 LakhsNPS#68 Big Knockout ₹25 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
“$0gani22”₹5.16 LakhsITM #89 Thursday Supersonic ₹25 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Saurabh Rohila₹4.77 LakhsNPS#60 KnockOut (PKO) ₹20 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Tanmay Benara₹4.38 LakhsITM #80 Wednesday Supersonic ₹25 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Areyann Gurbaxani₹4.38 LakhsNPS#59 Sunday Kickoff ₹25 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
“AllwaysTilting”₹4.27 LakhsTuesday High Roller (6 Max) ₹15 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Satyapal₹4.18 LakhsITM #112 DeepStack Turbo ₹18 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Abhishek Batra₹3.85 LakhsNPS#57 SPRINT ₹20 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Sanat Mehrotra₹3.47 LakhsThe Mint ₹14 Lakhs GTDAdda52
“aajtohogaa”₹3.44 LakhsNPS#62 Sunday ₹30 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Prashanth Sekar₹3.33 LakhsNPS#43 DeepDive ₹15 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Areyann Gurbaxani₹3.12 LakhsNPS#49 (7-Max) SPRINT ₹15 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Sanat Mehrotra₹3.07 LakhsMega Stack ₹17 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Pradip Ghosh₹3.01 LakhsMaverick ₹15 Lakhs GTDAdda52
Samyak Sethi₹2.95 LakhsNPS#75 SPRINT ₹15 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Adwait Pol₹2.75 LakhsSunday Special [8-Max] PKO ₹15 Lakhs GTDPokerStars India
Vishal Bajaj₹2.63 LakhsThe Colosseum [6-Max] ₹12 Lakhs GTDPokerStars India
Avneesh Munjal₹2.63 LakhsNPS#69 Deepdive ₹12 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Vaibhav Bhatia₹2.59 LakhsSunday HighRoller ₹12 Lakhs GTDPokerStars India
Harsh Dev Jhirmiria₹2.51 LakhsNPS#53 Slamdunk ₹12 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Advait Rajguru₹2.49 LakhsNPS#58 Marathon ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Ashish Ahuja₹2.45 LakhsITM #108 DST ₹10 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Kapil Sethi₹2.41 LakhsNPS#64 Sunday Sail ₹15 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Gaurav Sood₹2.39 LakhsBounty Builder HR ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerStars India
“roshan789”₹2.36 LakhsNPS#76 MegaDive ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Aniket Waghmare₹2.27 LakhsNPS#41 SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Bharat Vasan₹2.22 LakhsNPS#46 Mega Rally ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Mohak Kapoor₹2.19 LakhsThe Big Bash [8-Max] PKO ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerStars India
“John_wick1399”₹2.16 LakhsPocket Kings ₹12 Lakhs GTDPocket52
“ManiakGod”₹2.15 LakhsNPS#50 D eepDive ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Vinayak Bajaj₹2.13 LakhsSunday Showdown ₹10 Lakhs GTDAdda52
Vikram Mishra₹2.12 LakhsNPS#47 SlamDunk ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Siddharth Pandey₹2.04 LakhsThe Cashmaker - Triple Chance ₹8.50 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Mayank Maruka₹2.03 LakhsNPS#44 Hyper SPRINT ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Gurpal Singh₹2 LakhsIron Man ₹8 Lakhs GTDAdda52
“kohal23”₹1.99 LakhsNPS#63 (PLO-6) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Satyam Verma₹1.91 LakhsITM #110 Triple Chance Turbo ₹10 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Ankit Jajodia₹1.88 LakhsNPS#52 (PLO-5) Slam Dunk ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
“anuragbamba”₹1.73 LakhsNPS#71 SlamDunk ₹12 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Hemant Meena₹1.69 LakhsITM #99 Trilpe Chance DST ₹10 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Siddharth Pandey₹1.68 LakhsITM #82 DST ₹7 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Karan Radia₹1.63 LakhsMonster Stack PKO ₹7.5 Lakhs GTDPokerStars India
“AllwaysTilting”₹1.35 LakhsITM #88 DST 7 Max ₹7 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Bibhu Agarwal₹1.32 LakhsNPS#70 SPRINT ₹10 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Aryan Singh₹1.30 LakhsITM #91 Turbo ₹6.50 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Vikranth Varma₹1.20 LakhsNPS#66 SPRINT ₹8 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Buhr Advirkar₹1.19 LakhsITM #114 Turbo ₹7 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
“Kalli420”₹1.11 LakhsPocket Bullets ₹6 Lakhs GTDPocket52
Areyann Gurbaxani₹1.10 LakhsFriday Bounty ₹4 Lakhs GTDAdda52
Manish Jangid₹1.09 LakhsITM #109 ₹6 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
“Pay2Win”₹1.08 LakhsPocket Rockets 6 Lakhs GTDPocket52
Kriti Kuksal₹1.07 LakhsITM #87 ₹6 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Samay Singh Modi₹1.05 LakhsNPS#40 (PLO-6) SPRINT ₹7 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
“sonju”₹1.05 LakhsITM #100 Turbo ₹4.50 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
“@k@shikrecords”₹98KEliminator [8-Max] ₹4 Lakhs GTDPokerStars India
“magician2799”₹96KNPS#67 DeepDive ₹5 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Mayank Maruka₹95KPocket Jacks ₹5 Lakhs GTDPocket52
Laxmi Narayan Meena₹92KNPS #65 Knockout ₹6 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Praveen Rana₹85KNPS#45 (4-Max) Hyper SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTDPokerBaazi
Vivek Rawat₹77KITM #96 ₹4 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker
Mahima Walia Das₹74KITM #92 Turbo DeepStack ₹4 Lakhs GTDSpartan Poker

 

PokerSaint’s April Cash Game Festival Has 20 Lakhs in Daily Rewards

PokerSaint is hosting an exciting April Cash Game Festival, where you can win from a daily prize pool of 20 Lakhs. To participate, simply play on any cash table and accumulate VIP points to qualify for the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond leaderboards. You can win superb rewards every 6 hours by reaching specific VIP point milestones.

PokerSaint - April Cash Game Festival

Read the complete report here.

 

MPL Poker’s April Promotions Guarantee 8 Crores in Winnings

MPL Poker is offering players a chance to win big in April with a guaranteed 8 Crores in winnings across cash games, tournaments, and more. The player-favorite Cash Bash promotion is back, offering up to 66% rakeback on cash tables, with a potential 5 Crores in total winnings. Additionally, new users who register in April can claim a massive 30,000 Welcome Bonus.

MPL Poker is Guaranteeing ₹8 Crores in Winnings in April

Read the complete report here.

 

PokerBaazi’s PLO Championship 2.0 Returns With 5+ Crores in Guaranteed Prizes

India’s first PLO-only tournament series, PokerBaazi’s PLO Championship, is returning for a second edition from April 20 to 30. With over 5 Crores in guaranteed prizes, the tournament series offers non-stop PLO-4, PLO-5, and PLO-6 action, with buy-ins starting from just 825. The series features 13 listed tournaments as trophy events, with players ranked on the series’ leaderboard getting a share 10 Lakhs in real cash bonus.

PokerBaazi PLO Championship April 2023

Read the complete report here.

 

Deposit on IndiaPlays to Win Free Tickets to the IndiaPlays Bounty Championship

IndiaPlays`s budget bounty tournament series, the 26+ Lakhs GTD IndiaPlays Bounty Championship, has kept the micro and small-stakes tournament players busy since April 7. The three-week-long tournament series has 96 bounty tournaments on offer and guaranteed prize pools of 26 Lakhs with bounty rewards on top. The buy-ins start at 55, and you can win a free ticket to the IBC marquees through nine attractive Deposit Offers.

IndiaPlays Bounty Championship

Read the complete report here.

 

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

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru