This Week in Poker: August 19 – 29

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!

As we make our way to the end of yet another month, let’s take a quick recap of the top news this past week.

Starting off with the domestic felts, the biggest winner of the week was the former Millionaire champion Dhinesh ‘dinzy009’ Kumar who traversed 1,810 entries in the Full House Finale to take down a personal-best ₹25 Lakhs! For his phenomenal run, Kumar is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!!”

Seasoned pro Jasven ‘bajateraho’ Saigal finished runner-up in the AOPS Full House Finale for ₹13 Lakhs.

Bringing the curtains down on the second edition of Spartan Poker’s Freezeout Master Series was the FMS Main Event. APL Ambassador Sumit ‘Sands Myth’ Sapra championed the tourney on Sunday to win ₹9.67 Lakhs.

After hosting several back-to-back online series, Spartan Poker has announced that it will be wrapping up August with a standalone Millionaire tourney. The ₹5,500 multi-flight event is to return with its usual ₹1 Crore prize pool guarantee from August 28 to 30.

The site has also unveiled the “Mission Cash”- Reloaded campaign aimed specifically for cash game players. The promotion commenced on August 24 and will run until August 31, offering instant cash up to ₹4 Lakhs.

Lighting up last weekend was Blitz Poker’s ₹10 Lakhs GTD Dan Bilzerian Freeroll. Delhi-based former BPO employee Gourav Saini powered his way through a record-smashing field of 9,503 entries to pocket a top prize of ₹1.5 Lakhs. If that was not enough, the 29-year-old also won a brand-new Harley Davidson bike and an all-paid trip to Los Angeles to party with none other than Dan Bilzerian himself!

Poker Dangal, one of India’s fastest growing online poker sites, recently launched a new app packed with high-end features like portrait mode, an improved UI/UX, and support for multi-flight/ multi-day tournament structures.

Moving on to the international sphere, the inaugural 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online series has reached its business end. The magnum opus $25 Million GTD Main Event has successfully hosted 14 of its 22 starting flights. The starting flights have brought in a little over 2,200 entries so far, which means that GGPoker needs to fill in almost 2,800 entries in the Main Event from the 8 remaining flights to meet the $25 Million prize pool guarantee. Given the current turnouts, organizers could be staring at an over 1,000 entry ($5+ Million) shortfall.

Australian high roller Kahle Burns (1,387,282), who had bagged the end of Day 1L chip lead, holds the overall chip lead.

Meanwhile, India`s “bemyfriend”, who had finished third in Event #67: $500 Limit Hold ’em for $30,680 (~₹23 Lakhs), had also made it to Day 2 of the Main Event. They qualified through Day 1G with a stack of 649,699. Fellow Indians “NastyMinder” (620,747) and “Neel” (178,468) had bagged sizable stacks on Day 1G.

Online Railbird Report

Headlining the online action on the domestic felts was the Full House Finale. This time it was former Millionaire champion Dhinesh ‘dinzy009’ Kumar who came out on top. Kumar defeated the more experienced Jasven ‘bajateraho’ Saigal heads-up to help himself to a ₹25 Lakhs paycheque. In addition to being Singh’s best online score to date, the winnings have catapulted his annual winnings past the ₹1.16 Crore-mark. As the most headline scorer of the week, Kumar is also our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!!”

Runner-up Saigal also picked up a seven-figure score of ₹13 Lakhs. That, along with his victory in PokerBaazi’s ₹10 Lakhs GTD The Ridge over the weekend for ₹2.20 Lakhs, has boosted Saigal’s online record to ₹91.96 Lakhs.

The piece de’ resistance of Spartan Poker’s Freezeout Master Series (FMS), the ₹50 Lakhs GTD FMS Main Event, saw Sumit ‘Sands Myth’ Sapra outlasting a 469-strong field to win ₹9.67 Lakhs.

The notable scores of the week include –

Big Announcements by Spartan Poker

1. a) ₹1 Crore GTD Millionaire (August 28 – 30)

Spartan Poker has announced the return of its popular ₹1 Crore GTD Millionaire. The standalone tourney will feature a buy-in of ₹5,500 and permit entries via four starting flights starting August 28. Day 2 is scheduled to start at 10 PM on August 30. Satellites for the tournament are already underway on the site.

Read the complete report here

1. b) “Mission Cash” – Reloaded (August 24 – 31)

Spartan Poker has rolled out a weeklong campaign exclusively for cash game players offering them instant cash up to ₹4 Lakhs. The promotion runs from August 24 to 31.

Read the complete report here

Poker Dangal Launches New App

Online poker site Poker Dangal making its most significant technological update since launch has rolled out a new app replete with best-in-industry features like portrait mode, an improved UI/UX, and support for multi-flight/ multi-day tournament structures.

Read the complete report here

WSOP Online 2020

The 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online saw some of the series’ most flagship tourneys going down the history books this past week.

Grabbing the eyeballs was Event #71: Big 50 that created a WSOP record by attracting 44,576 entries – the biggest-ever field recorded at the series. The $1 Million prize pool guarantee was blown to smithereens as the event collected a whopping $2.050 Million prize pool. Only 4,140 found their way into Day 2 where after some delay, the event eventually crowned a champion in China’s Huahuan Feng, who, alongside winning a bracelet, pocketed a whopping $211,282.

Read the complete report here

A bracelet sweat developed for Team India in Event #67: $500 Limit Hold ‘em, where “bemyfriend” stormed into the final table, eventually walking away with a third-place finish worth $30,680 (~₹23 Lakhs). Austria’s Gregor Muller ultimately claimed the title for $45,102.

Read the complete report here

The player also placed 98^th in Event #68: $500 Deepstack for $1,645 (~₹1.23 Lakhs) that ended with Hong Kong’s Yan Shing Anson Tsang’s clinching the title for $150,460.

Read the complete report here

While Indian players actively posted scores, “bemyfriend” (649,699) was again on the forefront in the $25 Million GTD Main Event. The Main Event has completed 14 of its 22 starting flights, and the player bagged the end of day chip lead on Day 1G. They also lead the four Indian players who have qualified for Day 2 so far.

Australian High Roller Kahle Burns (1,387,282), who had topped Day 1L, continues to remain the top stack among the advancing players.

Read the complete report here

The most recent addition to the bracelet club was Indo-American pro Ajay Chabra. Chabra had cashed 11 times at the ongoing series – a top 10 finish 4 times – before entering Event #72: $1,500 Limit Hold ‘em Championship. He finally got hold of the prized WSOP bracelet – his career-first and a $77,475 payday.

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.