This Week in Poker: April 8 – 14

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

Here are this week’s top stories!

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to envelop the world, and even with a strict countrywide lockdown in place, the count of COVID-19 positive cases has risen drastically in India. It seems that the stay-at-home will continue for some more time going ahead now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown to May 3. Despite the overhanging gloom, it was literally a party on the virtual felts this week! Two flagship MTT series, the Adda52 Online Poker Series (AOPS), and the Spartan Super Series (SSS) threw in the thrills, and we saw no less than 15 players banking million-plus scores across the exciting online tournament runs!

The AOPS Main Event Finale offered the biggest slice of tournament action with a mind-boggling prize pool guarantee of ₹2 Crores GTD. One of the most seasoned poker pros in the domestic circuit Sahil Agarwal proved the man of the moment. Agarwal, who plays by the moniker ‘Bhaijiii’ on the site, stormed past a field of 2,271 entries to reach the heads-up finale against Avneesh ‘IamAM’ Munjal. He didn’t let Munjal get the better of the situation and took the event down to capture the title. Agarwal’s stupendous run not only makes him richer by an impressive ₹50 Lakhs, but he is also our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!!” This massive score has also helped Agarwal overtake his former mentor, Aditya Agarwal, to take the number 2 spot on this year`s profit rankings.

As Munjal finished runner-up to add a sizeable ₹28.28 Lakhs to his bankroll, other players who banked seven-figure scores in the event were, Umang ‘umang94’ Kakarania (3^rd for ₹19.61 Lakhs), ‘pokraj’ (4^th for ₹14.10 Lakhs) and ‘rj128’ (5^th for ₹10.13 Lakhs).

This time the SSS features two Millionaire editions and the first of the two – The Millionaire X5 – 1 Million to Top 5 – played out last Sunday with 1,986 entries entering via two starting flights. The tournament halted when only five players were remaining. All five, namely, Abhishek ‘PoeticInjustice’ Gubba, ‘FunkeyFox’, Amit ‘Immortal Killer’ Sur, Vivek ‘Pokerbatman27’ Rughani and ‘Yennnefer’ took home ₹10 Lakhs each!

Three more online crushers stood out for their trailblazing performances. Siddhanth Kripalani went back-to-back to defend The Destiny title and won this flagship tournament for the second consecutive time last Wednesday, collecting ₹12.36 Lakhs. Chirag Bhardwaj was another trailblazer who championed the AOPS Mega Suits to win ₹10.63 Lakhs. Also claiming glory was Nishant Sharma, who after clinching an impressive five titles last week, added title number six to his tally this month by shipping PokerStars India`s Sunday Highroller for ₹3.31 Lakhs.

A special shoutout also to our own gang of PokerGuru Ambassadors who raked in the big bucks this week! While Jayjit Ray (Spartan Poker’s SSS#25 Sunday SuperStack for ₹7.99 Lakhs) tops the team’s tally, Vivek Singh captured no less than three titles (SSS #40 MegaStack ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.23 Lakhs, SSS# 22 Afternoon Showdown for ₹1.72 Lakhs & PokerStars India`s Battle Royale ₹5 Lakhs GTD on Monday for ₹1.35 Lakhs). Kartik Ved (Adda52’s The Inception for ₹3.70 Lakhs), Ratul Steves (SSS #19 DareDevil for ₹2.51 Lakhs) and Ashish Ahuja (Adda52’s Big Daddy for ₹2.30 Lakhs) were the other prominent winners from the team.

If you thought that’s sick, we’re now heading towards a blockbuster weekend! History will be written as the country witnesses its biggest online poker tournament, EndBoss ₹5 Crores GTD crown a champion. The EndBoss promises ₹1 Crores to the winner and has already begun proceedings with the first of its four starting flights slated to run today. As the qualifying players converge for Day 2 on Sunday, also running to culmination will be the SSS The Millionaire ₹2 Crores GTD.

One of the biggest stories of the week was poker pro Kunal Patni announcing his exit from the Adda52 pro team. Patni had joined the brand’s star-studded line-up of Team Pros in 2015 and making the announcement Patni revealed that the site is planning to discontinue its pro program.

Rocking the international news were reports of Hollywood actor-comedian and high-stakes poker pro Kevin Hart joining partypoker as a celebrity brand ambassador.

Indian gaming companies are gearing up to withstand the economic muddle that the ongoing lockdown and cancelation of sporting events have put them in. While fantasy sports portal HalaPlay has raised ₹2.94 Crores from its existing investors to stay afloat in these challenging times, real-money quiz portal Zupee picked up ₹60.38 Crores in a funding round.

The global poker fraternity has been pitching in for COVID-19 relief efforts. Run It Once (RIO) Poker ran a special no buy-in 32-player heads-up tournament to raise funds. The event was eventually won by donator Bob Vance. Another big charity event featuring top celebrities Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Matt Damon, Tobey Maguire, and others played out on America’s Cardroom on Sunday. The tourney managed to raise over $2 Million for charity crowned a champion in poker pro and coach Ebony Kenney.

Online Railbird Report

A busy week on the virtual felts built up to a crescendo for the Sunday run of tournaments. The biggest show was Adda52’s AOPS Main Event ₹2 Crores GTD that garnered 2,271 entries collecting a colossal prize pool of ₹2.27 crores. Only 231 made it to Day 2, and walking away with the title was a well-known force on the domestic circuit – Sahil ‘Bhaijiii’ Agarwal. Agarwal had to lock horns with Avneesh ‘IamAM’ Munjal and was able to swing the tide in his favor to stake claim to the first-place prize of ₹50 Lakhs. Agarwal’s blistering run makes him the top performer of the week and also our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!!”

Even as Munjal picked a hefty ₹28.28 Lakhs paycheque himself, Umang ‘umang94’ Kakarania (3^rd for ₹19.61 Lakhs), ‘pokraj’ (4^th for ₹14.10 Lakhs) and ‘rj128’ (5^th for ₹10.13 Lakhs) also raked in seven-figure scores in the event.

The other big show of the day was SSS The Millionaire X5 – 1 Million to Top 5, where 1,986 entries signed up over two starting flights. Only 235 survivors made it to Day 2. When the dust settled, the top five players – Abhishek ‘PoeticInjustice’ Gubba, ‘FunkeyFox’, Amit ‘Immortal Killer’ Sur, Vivek ‘Pokerbatman27’ Rughani and ‘Yennnefer’, all joined the millionaire club by collecting ₹10 Lakhs each!

The notable scores of the week include –

PokerBaazi to Host India’s Biggest-Ever Online Poker Tournament – EndBoss ₹5 Crores GTD This Week

Industry leader PokerBaazi has upped the stakes by launching India’s biggest online tournament to-date – EndBoss ₹5 Crores GTD. The brand had announced the event at the outset of the Baazi Poker Tour (BPT) January edition. The ₹11,000 buy-in event begins proceedings today with the first of its four starting flights. Day 2 plays out on Sunday, April 19, and there is a life-changing ₹1 Crore up top for the winner.

Read the complete story here

Spartan Poker’s Spartan Super Series Underway

Yet another action-packed, 11-day edition of Spartan Super Series (SSS) is currently underway on the site. The stop began proceedings on April 9 and features 78 tournaments and a ₹10 Lakhs Leaderboard holding a collective prize pool guarantee of ₹11 Crores. There are two Millionaire tourneys on the schedule, and while The Millionaire X5 is already done and dusted, coming up on the final day of the online stop on April 19 is the SSS The Millionaire ₹1.5 Crores GTD.

Read the complete report here

PokerBaazi Announces “Poker Insurance” For Cash Game Players

Running from April 20 to May 19, PokerBaazi is offering all cash game players a chance to claim up to 100% Real Cash Bonus (RCB) of their deposited amount in its new promotion called “Poker Insurance.”

Read the complete story here

Kunal Patni Parts Ways With Adda52

Seasoned pro Kunal Patni has ended his five-year association with online poker site Adda52. Patni revealed that he was parting ways with the site since the latter was dissolving its pro team.

Read the complete report here

Kevin Hart Joins partypoker

The 40-year old actor-comedian and high-stakes poker player Kevin Hart has joined global poker giant partypoker as the site’s new celebrity ambassador. Hart has served as a former poker ambassador for PokerStars.

Read the complete report here

Coronavirus Pandemic – Gaming Sector Takes Measures to Deal With Economic Stress

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has put a brake on revenue for many gaming companies. While several Indian companies like HalaPlay and Zupee have raised funds to stay afloat amidst the crisis, celebs and sites are making their own contributions towards COVID-19 relief measures.

Many international regulators have also clamped down on the gambling operators and put restrictions in place to protect players from indulging in problem gambling during the ongoing crisis.

HalaPlay Raises ₹2.94 Crores in Funding

Bengaluru-based fantasy sports platform HalaPlay has raised ₹2.94 Crores in funding from its existing investors Gaussian Networks and Nazara Technologies to stay afloat at a time when its fund availability has been affected by the cancellation of all major sporting events both in India and abroad, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 Season.

Read the complete report here

UK Doctors and MP’s Demand Gambling Restrictions

A group of doctors and another group of parliamentarians in the UK have demanded severe restrictions on gambling, including a ban on gambling advertising during the ongoing lockdown period.

Read the complete report here

Spain Bans Poker Advertisements

The government of Spain has passed a new law restricting gaming operators to advertise only between 1 am to 5 am each day. Digital communications like emailing & advertising on social media and acquisition or retention campaigns like financial rewards, bonuses, free bets, and discounts have also been banned in the country.

Read the complete report here

Run It Once Poker Runs Charity Event For COVID-19 Relief

Run It Once (RIO) Poker announced a special no buy-in 32-player heads-up tournament to raise funds for COVID-19 relief.

Read the complete report here

The tournament saw 16 popular pros along with the top eight donators, and eight randomly selected contributors take part. In the end, it was an amateur player and donator, Bob Vance, who claimed the trophy after defeating poker vlogger Marle Cordeiro in the final round of the tournament. In all, RIO Poker raised more than $32,500 for the cause.

Read the complete report here

Celebs & Sporting Icons Play Poker to Raise Funds For COVID-19 Relief

Popular celebs like Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Matt Damon, Tobey Maguire, Bryan Cranston, Maroon 5’s lead singer Adam Levine, comedian Sarah Silverman, NFL superstar Tom Brady got together virtually on America’s Cardroom on April 11 to play an online poker tournament for charity.

Read the complete report here

The tournament took place as scheduled, and a total of 65 entries, including 58 unique players and seven re-entries, helped generate a $650K prize pool. Poker pro and coach Ebony Kenney stormed past the likes of Matt Damon, Phil Hellmuth, and her heads-up rival, actor-comedian Kevin Pollak, to win the title.

The tournament helped generate almost $2 Million that was donated to the hunger-relief charity organization “Feeding America.”

Read the complete report here

Zupee Raises ₹60.38 Crores in Series A Funding Round

Real money quiz and trivia portal, Zupee recently raised ₹60.38 Crores in a Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India. The company plans to invest these funds in technology, marketing, and team-building.

Read the complete report here

Triton Poker Strikes Distribution Deal With Protocol Sports

High stakes organizer, Triton Poker, has entered an exclusive partnership deal with Protocol Sports Marketing, granting the latter worldwide distribution rights for Triton shows.

Read the complete report here

Pablo Silva Wins Irish Open Online Main Event

The 22-event Irish Open Online ran on partypoker from April 6 to 12. The highlight of the stop was the €1,100 Main Event €1,000,000 GTD that drew 2,945 runners across four starting flights. The tournament collected a €2,945,000 prize pool, almost 3X the advertised guarantee, and it was Brazil’s Pablo Silva, who came out on top to win €462,100 (~$494,447) after defeating Andras Nemeth heads-up.

Read the complete report here

And with this, we conclude this week’s roundup of the latest news updates and developments from the world of poker. We will return next week with our weekly report, till then stay indoors and stay safe!