This Week in Poker: December 23 – 29

This Week in Poker
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  • PG News December 29, 2015
  • 5 Minutes Read

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring to you the weekly round up of the biggest 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

2015 has undoubtedly been one of the most happening year for Indian poker and the next year promises to continue the action further with several big tournaments in January alone! Indian players have shone this year and in this last week, Phanindra ‘terabyte11’ Akkina ends 2015 with a huge bang, as he made a whopping $300,069.51 for a fifth place finish in the PokerStars $5 Million Special Sunday Million following a seven-handed deal. ‘terabyte11’ deserves not only our “PokerGuru Star of the Week” crown, but with this week’s score is worthy of getting a “Star of the Year” title!

It was an action-packed week at the virtual felts, with a slowdown of live participation due to the year-end festivities. However, the upcoming weeks will see a slew of live tournaments with the announcements of the India Poker Championship (IPC) 2016 year-opening Feb edition and the inaugural Adda52 – Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) in Goa on the Republic weekend.

January will also have the World Poker Tour (WPT) National Philippines, Macau Millions and the Aussie Millions lining up the international action. The three major stops are expected to draw large Indian contingents.

Besides the above, in this report we also have the latest update about the casino shifting in Goa. From the global scene there are highlights about the Aussie Millions and its new events, changes again at PokerStars and about Amaya’s fight to reverse a 2015 Kentucky Court ruling.

 

Online Railbird Report

It was a crackling Sunday for online enthusiasts with the second biggest Sunday Million of the year after the 9th Anniversary Special $9 Million GTD Sunday Million held on March 15. A volume 149 Indian players played the $5 Million guaranteed event, which also brought down the curtains on the Christmas Festival promotion on PokerStars. A humongous 31,335-strong player field saw the $5 Million expand to a rich $6,267,000! ‘Internett93o’, a Brazilian player finally won the event for a payday of $354,187.08!

Two Indians made the Top 100, with Phanindra ‘terabyte11’ Akkina making fifth place for the highest ever score by an Indian player online after a seven-handed deal for $300,069.51. For this he takes the “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title. Last week, ‘terabyte11’ had taken the same title for his score of $6,578 for a 1st place finish in the PokerStars ‘$1.10+R NL Hold’em [3x-Turbo], $35K GTD’. ‘terabyte11’ deserves a “Star of the Year” award for his consecutive top scores! Proving that he is no one-night fluke, ‘terabyte11’ has seen success in many big field tournaments; the most prominent of them being his fifth place finish in the MicroMillions event for $36,164, amidst a player-field of 65,397 players who joined the $22 buy-in tournament in Nov, 2013.

Phanindra Akkina (Source: Facebook)

The other Indian player making it in the Top 100 of the Sunday Million was “JayCho1” who made an 80th place for $6,755.19.

There were several other online scorers this past week and of these ‘anmols’ claimed two. He made a 2nd place for $1,138.02 at the PokerStars ‘$27 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo,3-Stack], $6K GTD’ and also made a 3rd place for $1,077.03 in the 888 Poker ‘The $5,000 Turbo Swordfish.’

All other scores were at PokerStars, and these included –

Arsh ‘BigggTymer’ Grover won $3,117.93 for 1st place in ‘The Hot $22 [Turbo], $10K GTD’.

Sahil ‘$lim$hady19’ Chutani made 1st place for $2,445.50 in the ‘$13.50 NL Hold’em [Knockout], $15K GTD’.

‘dynamicnag’ finished in 5th place for $2,227.83 in ‘The Hot $16.50 [Turbo], $40K GTD’.

Kunal ‘rajmalhotra’ Patni made $2,170.26 for 327th place in the ‘$215 Sunday Million, $5M GTD’.

Rohit ‘buzzzbeee85’ Mariwalla won $1,338.75 for 2nd place in the ‘$82 NL Hold’em [Turbo], $4K GTD’.

‘vio.vishnu’ who made $1,322.94 for 4th place in the ‘$16.50 NL Hold’em [Turbo], $12K GTD’.

The year-end action continues unabated on Spartan Poker, so do make sure to log on and claim the 100% Bankroll Booster bonus in these last two days. Simply deposit any amount between INR 5K – 100K for an instant 100% deposit bonus. (T&C Apply)

The site will also host the New Year special Mega Freeroll on Jan 3. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity! Cumulative deposits of INR 2,016 before 5pm on Jan 3 get you a ticket to play the INR 2,016,000 Freeroll! With INR 200K in weekly cash bombs to the Crazy-4-Omaha cash game promotions, there is something for everyone at Spartan Poker!

 

Adda52 Presents Deltin Poker Tournament

Players can look forward to another holiday-weekend filled with live excitement at the luxurious Deltin poker room in Goa, with one of the largest-ever INR 1 Crore GTD Main Event, presented by Adda52! This new Deltin Poker Tournament will have six days with as many varied poker tournaments to suit all tastes running from January 21 to 26. The event will be preceded by a series of online satellites at Adda52, besides live satellites at the Deltin and at the Rockets poker room in Bengaluru.

 

Confusion In Goa Over Casino Shifting

The ruckus over the shifting of the offshore casinos in Goa continues with a new confusion among the various departments of the state govt. The latest development has the Captain of Ports (CoP) stating that several objections have been received from casino operators, employees and native fishermen over the four viable locations chosen. The CoP has put the onus of decision on the govt and further stated that if these four locations were rejected, it would be difficult to find suitable alternatives.

Read the complete story here.

 

Schedule For IPC 2016 Feb Edition Announced

Setting up the mood for a fresh year of festivities, the IPC released its year-opening schedule slated for Feb 24 to 28 at the Deltin Poker Lounge in Goa. The event will revert back to its typical five-day avatar, with two events changed. The Mega Satellite will be replaced by an INR 10 Lakh GTD 10K Kickoff Event, while the 5K Warm Up will be replaced with a 15K Bounty Event. The 60K Highroller will also be included, along with the signature 30K Big Game Main Event.

Spartan Poker will soon host online satellites to the IPC Feb; so do log on to win your way to Goa on a pittance of the cost.

Read the complete story here.

 

Aussie Millions Adds Three New Events, Ties Up With Twitch & Jason Somerville

The Crown Melbourne will see the Aussie Millions begin their 2016 sojourn on January 13. There will be a full 24 events, with three of these new additions to its regular schedule.

Additionally, the prestigious brand series has also tied up with Twitch.Tv and Jason Somerville for an exclusive coverage of the tournament. The AU$10,600 buy-in Main Event will be streamed through the Twitch.Tv channel and a record 100 million viewers are expected to watch it. Several top poker celebrities have been confirmed to attending the event.

 

PokerStars Rolls Back VIP Program Changes Made To Select High Stakes Limit and Mixed Games

After announcing on November 1 that players would not receive VPPs on certain games, due to high transaction costs, PokerStars has now rolled back those changes. The site emailed players stating that it would now award VPPs to those who played limit and mixed games. This rollback applies only to certain stakes, while the rest would continue to be affected by the changes made in November.

 

Amaya Plans To Fight Kentucky Court Ruling

Amaya has stated that it intends to vigorously appeal against the December 23, 2015, ruling by a state judge in Kentucky, who increased damages to be paid by the company from $290 million to a huge $870 million. The case was filed by Kentucky resident players seeking money lost at PokerStars between 2006 and 2011, after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) came into effect.

Judge Thomas Wingate further ordered that Amaya would have to pay $104 Million a year until the matter was settled. The money however, is not to go to the players, but will be taken by the State govt.

Amaya has declared this ruling as frivolous and stated that should its appeal fail, it would recover the money from the earlier owners of PokerStars.

 

That wraps up this last edition of our weekly report for 2015! We will back next week, same time in 2016 with all the latest news from poker world. Till then, wishing all our readers a wonderful New Year ahead!

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