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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 circuits. Here are this week’s top stories!
Three days left for 2022 to pass us by, and what a year it has been for poker. But we’ll get to that in our year-end editorial features. For now, let us bring our final ‘This Week In Poker’ edition of 2022!
In the absence of any major online series, this past week felt like the calm before the storm that is all set to hit next year. Nevertheless, there were some big winners on the virtual felts, and topping the list was Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi! The poker coach went on a tear this week, raking in ₹20.79 Lakhs in weekly cashes, including two title wins and four more FT finishes. The Chennai-born player emerged as the week’s top scorer, becoming our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
Anant Purohit, Rising Star Ritwik Khanna, Shagun Jain, Goonjan Mall, Vishal Bajaj, Prashant Pandagre, Harshad Barve, Utkarsh Somaaieyaa, Avimanyu Mittal, and Vaibhav Sharma also bagged big scores through the week.
India’s most trusted online poker site, PokerBaazi, is all geared up to start the new year with the second edition of its ₹5+ Crores GTD 1000X Series (January 1 – 8), but the brand will also be ending the year in style. On December 27, the site launched it’s brand-new PokerBaazi Shuffled feature! Players can now check out their personalized stats and share it on their Instagram stories!
PokerHigh has been creating waves this week. The fast-growing poker site announced that they will design and execute India’s first ever Corporates-only poker league, the Corporate Poker League, which will feature as part of the upcoming Legends Cup 2023.
We have some good news for those who have been waiting for PokerHigh’s The Player Hunt Season 3! The Season 2 winner, rising poker talent Samay Singh Modi will return for Season 3, but this time as a mentor, not a participant.
As we step into a new year, online gamers may likely have to pay up more in terms of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) in their online winnings. The Union Ministry of Finance is reviewing the current tax norms on online gaming, and the Union Budget 2023-24 could expand the current taxation norms for the sector to include the tax on winnings less than ₹10,000.
In another critical update, the Union government issued a gazette notification this week, designating the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as the nodal ministry to oversee the country’s online gaming sector.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently informed the Parliament that it has attached ₹212.91 Crores worth of ‘proceeds of crime’ (PoC) cases where online betting and gambling sites or apps were used for money laundering and hawala transactions.
On the international front, the recent High Stakes Duel III Round 5 winner, Jason Koon, added a big feather to his poker cap this week. Koon stormed past a star-studded final table in the 2022 PokerGO Tour Championship Winner-Takes-All event to grab the title and top prize of $500,000.
Speaking of PokerGO, the brand has announced the first-quarter schedule of the 2023 PokerGO Tour (PGT), unveiling two new series added to the lineup. Taking off first will be the PokerGO Cup (January 11 – 20), followed by PGT Mixed Games (February 4 – 11) and PGT PLO Series (March 11 – 19).
Online Railbird Report
Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi pulled an impressive two title victories and four close finishes, lapping up ₹20.79 Lakhs over the week. Parthasarathi’s weekly scores make him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
His top finishes include:
> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s Sunday Superstack for ₹5,30,606
> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s Thursday High Roller for ₹5,07,268
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s The Elite for ₹4,24,281
> 1st in PokerStars India’s The Colosseum for ₹2,82,750
> 4th in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹1,73,688
> 1st in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for ₹91,954
Anant Purohit put in substantial volume and added seven-figure winnings of ₹11.49 Lakhs to his scorecard.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s Sunday Superstack for ₹6,72,654
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Big Show for ₹1,35,600
> 5th in PokerBaazi’s The Endeavour for ₹1,30,917
> 7th in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) SPRINT for ₹57,000
Rising Star Ritwik Khanna was another top scorer, and he made away with ₹10.74 Lakhs in online winnings.
His top finishes include:
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Endeavour for ₹2,55,945
> 3rd in Adda52’s Mega Suits for ₹2,38,925
> 1st in PokerStars India’s Master Minds for ₹1,24,368
> 2nd in Adda52’s Monster Turbo for ₹1,07,871
> 4th in PokerBaazi’s Daily Value Boost for ₹62,000
Shagun Jain was the Sunday chartbuster, winning two titles and collecting ₹10.19 Lakhs in a single day.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s BSS SuperStack for ₹4,70,448
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s Battlezone for ₹1,30,561
Goonjan Mall won the Adda52 Millions on Sunday, adding to ₹10.02 Lakhs in a week’s haul.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Adda52 Millions for ₹7,37,280
> 4th in PokerBaazi’s (7-MAX) BSS Championship for ₹2,48,115
Vishal Bajaj, Prashant Pandagre, Harshad Barve, Utkarsh Somaaieyaa, Avimanyu Mittal, and Vaibhav Sharma were the other top scorers of the week.
Notable Winners of the Week
Player Prize Amount Event Poker Site
Goonjan Mall
₹7.37 Lakhs Adda52 Millions ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Anant Purohit
₹6.73 Lakhs Sunday Superstack ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Utkarsh Somaaieyaa
₹6.12 Lakhs Godfather ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Pranav Bang ₹6.08 Lakhs (7-Max) BSS Championship – ₹35 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Shahid Hassan ₹6.04 Lakhs Mega Suits ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Nitin Rawat
₹5.60 Lakhs BSS HighRoller ₹20 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Saransh Garg ₹5.56 Lakhs Thursday High Roller (6-Max) ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Karan Radia ₹5.28 Lakhs Wednesday High Roller (6-Max) ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Rajat Sharma
₹4.91 Lakhs The Elite (6-Max) ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Laksh Pal Singh
₹4.70 Lakhs The Summit ₹20 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Shagun Jain ₹4.70 Lakhs BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Vishal Singh
₹4.52 Lakhs Ultron ₹18 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Rachit Soni
₹4.43 Lakhs The Ballers ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Tarush Gupta ₹4.21 Lakhs Destiny 25.0 ₹21 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Dhiraj Lakhotia
₹3.87 Lakhs The Weekly HighRoller ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Suneeth Kalmady
₹3.86 Lakhs The Endeavour ₹20 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Vikram Mishra ₹3.82 Lakhs Maverick ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Vishal Bajaj ₹3.78 Lakhs Tuesday High Roller (6-Max) ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Sanat Mehrotra ₹3.09 Lakhs Sunday Special [8-Max] PKO ₹15 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Saurabh Rohila
₹3.07 Lakhs Mechanical Bull ₹12 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Suraj N Yadav
₹2.94 Lakhs Mega Stack ₹16 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Shardul Parthasarathi ₹2.83 Lakhs The Colosseum ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
“Komkom16”
₹2.82 Lakhs The Pride ₹15 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Harshad Barve
₹2.47 Lakhs Armageddon ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Allen Romeo
₹2.24 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“Cryptanosaurus”
₹2.05 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“Pratap42”
₹2.04 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Sanat Mehrotra
₹2.04 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Pranav Khandalkar ₹2.04 Lakhs The Big Show ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Kunal Patni
₹2.02 Lakhs The Big Bash [6-Max] ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
“ashwath12593”
₹1.84 Lakhs Devil’s Wheel ₹7 Lakhs GTD Adda52
“Sanky525”
₹1.69 Lakhs The Rainmaker ₹8 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Anmol Mehta
₹1.44 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Maddhav Kohli ₹1.43 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Suresh Kolli
₹1.43 Lakhs BSS Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Neel Haria ₹1.43 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Sumit Sapra ₹1.42 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Abhishek Agarwal
₹1.40 Lakhs Futuristic ₹7 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Ritwik Khanna ₹1.24 Lakhs Master Minds [8-Max] ₹6 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Vinay B ₹1.18 Lakhs Money Heist ₹8 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Anurag Srivastava
₹1.08 Lakhs Monster Turbo ₹5 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Jitendra Chordia
₹1.05 Lakhs Eliminator [8-Max] ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
“44706625”
₹1.04 Lakhs Turbo Master [8-Max] ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Satyam Verma
₹99K (7-Max) Afternoon Boost ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Tarsh Mehrotra
₹94K (7-Max) Afternoon Boost ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Neelakantan Murali
₹90K (7-Max) SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“Aceee11”
₹89K (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Hemant Meena
₹82K (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“blazin666”
₹79K (7-Max) Afternoon Boost ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Sanjay Kumar
₹75K (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Harsh Sehrawat
₹75K Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Prashant Pandagre
₹74K (7-Max) Afternoon Boost ₹5 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
PokerBaazi Launches New Feature – PokerBaazi Shuffled, Allowing Players to Check & Share Their 2022 Poker Stats
PokerBaazi has launched a brand-new feature, PokerBaazi Shuffled, allowing players to access a range of personalized stats that provide an insight into their gameplay, and also check out how PokerBaazi has raised the bar for online poker. And the best part is that they can share their 2022 poker stats on their social media handles!
Read the complete report here
PokerHigh to Design & Execute India’s 1st Corporate Poker League Featured as Part of Legends Cup 2023
Legends Cup 2023, the emblem of Corporate Football in India, has announced that its upcoming edition will feature Poker as a corporate tournament. Called “Corporate Poker League,” India’s first-ever Corporate-centric poker league.
Read the complete report here
PokerHigh’s The Player Hunt Season 2 Winner Samay Singh Modi to Mentor Season 3 Participants
PokerHigh has unveiled another exciting news. Samay Singh Modi, winner of the brand’s The Player Hunt Season 2, will return as a mentor for participants of Season 3 of the show.
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 next week with our weekly report. Stay tuned.