This Week in Poker: February 12 – 18

Welcome to the latest edition of ‘This Week in Poker,’ where we bring you 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 highlights!

The live poker action that ignited earlier in February continues with force. Many from the talented Indian contingent who impressed at the APT Manila Poker Classic are now at WPT Championship Cambodia, joined by others who went straight. Internationally, the PokerGO Cup is witnessing a thrilling three-way battle for the series championship!

Back home, there was plenty to report on the virtual felts. Natural8 India and PokerBaazi, as always, hosted some of the biggest tournaments, shaping the weekly leaderboard! Mid-stakes players found plenty to sink their teeth into with A23 Poker’s ₹1 Crore GTD February MTTs, Junglee Poker’s ₹1+ Crore Lakhpati Legends, and Pocket52’s ₹5.50 Crores guaranteed tournament lineup. And the stakes are about to explode! PokerBaazi’s biggest-ever ₹100 Crores GTD National Poker Series India 2025 launches this Sunday. The race for golden tickets to the biggest NPS flagships is already on, with the “Road to NPS” satellite series raging strong, leading to widespread overlays across the board on the other platforms.

APT Manila Poker Classic 2025 Shatters Records!

The Asian Poker Tour‘s 2025 season kicked off with a bang in Manila. This second New Era stop in the country became the largest and most lucrative APT series ever held in the Philippines. Held in partnership with the Metro Card Club at the Grand Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Galleria, the ten-day festival saw incredible participation, drawing 1,268 unique entries from 54 countries and regions. The total entries across 97 trophy events reached 8,406, with ₱350,124,235 (~$6,015,880) in prize money distributed.

The first APT festival of 2025 kicks off with record-breaking numbers as #APTManilaClassic2025 becomes the tour’s largest and richest series ever in the Philippines!🔥
In partnership with @Metro_Card_Club, the ten-day festival welcomed 1,268 unique players from 54 countries and… pic.twitter.com/iw4CF4nnep

— Asian Poker Tour (@AsianPokerTour) February 16, 2025

The ₱60K APT Main Event, the festival’s crown jewel, also etched its name in the record books. With 1,202 total entries (673 unique) from 47 countries, it generated a guarantee-smashing ₱61.60 million (~$1.05 Million) prize pool—the largest APT Main Event ever held in the Philippines. After five days of intense competition, Russia’s Ivan Govorov emerged on top, making an epic comeback to win the 24K Gold Lion APT Main Event Trophy and a career-best ₱11.07 Million (~$190,201), the festival’s third-largest single prize.

Ivan Govorov clinches the #APTManilaClassic2025 Main Event, overcoming a 3-big-blind stack to claim victory. Watch how he made an incredible comeback! #poker #pokertournament pic.twitter.com/T1zm11MWSZ

— Asian Poker Tour (@AsianPokerTour) February 16, 2025

Indian players made their presence felt in a big way, racking up 53 cashes and bringing home an incredible six APT trophies (including one in an India-exclusive event). Leading this Indian invasion was Natural8 India Executive Director & Ambassador Kunal Patni, who continued his amazing run at APT from last year. Patni’s four deep runs yielded two victories, totalling a phenomenal ₱4.29 Million (~₹64.51 Lakhs) in winnings.

Patni wasted no time, conquering a 377-entry field (154 unique) in the ₱20K Mystery Bounty Hunter for ₱1,115,176 (~₹16.78 Lakhs). But he saved his most impressive performance for Valentine’s Day, navigating a tough 85-player field in the ₱150K Single Day High Roller. This victory earned him a whopping ₱3,030,000 (~₹45.52 Lakhs)—his fifth-largest live score ever and the gleaming Golden Lion Silhouette Trophy. With this exceptional showing, Patni now owns six APT titles, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

Other Indian players also contributed to the trophy haul. Raju Jaruplavath got India on the board, winning the series-opener ₱12K Philippines National Cup for ₹12.07 Lakhs. Birangat Singh Gambhir took down ₱12K Hyper Turbo, pocketing ₹3.56 Lakhs. Seasoned live circuit regular Avinash Tauro, after over a decade of trying, finally broke through to win his first live title in the ₱9K Hyper Turbo, earning ₹1.62 Lakhs. And in a dream debut, Jayant Deshmukh won the Natural8 India APT Manila Classic – India Exclusive Tournament, capturing ₹2.13 Lakhs and a free entry (worth ₹90,000) into the APT Main Event. Remarkably, all four players claimed their maiden APT trophies, adding to India’s remarkable showing at this season-opening APT edition.

Team India Scores at APT Manila Poker Classic

APT Manila Poker Classic 2025 List of Winners

WPT Championship Cambodia 2025: An Indian Stampede

With the APT Manila Classic 2025 in the rearview mirror, the spotlight has shifted to the World Poker Tour Championship Cambodia 2025 at the integrated NagaWorld resort in Phnom Penh. This festival, running from February 6 to 24, has attracted the global poker elite, including a strong contingent of Indian players.

Team India, continuing its dominant streak on the Asian live circuit, has already accumulated 67 cashes, including 24 final table appearances, five runner-up finishes, and one title victory.

Arjun Agarwal has been a standout, winning Event #4: $1,650 Single Day Megastack Mini HR last week for a substantial $33,524 (~₹29.12 Lakhs)—his first live poker title. With four other deep runs since, Agarwal is India’s top performer at the festival, with earnings reaching $74,564 (~₹64.78 Lakhs).

Former WPT champion Amit Kaushik, who finished fifth in last year’s WPT Cambodia Championship, is also in the thick of the action. Kaushik has already cashed seven times, including two runner-up and two fourth-place finishes, earning $48,817 (~₹42.41 Lakhs) at the festival. He is also a strong contender for the Player of the Festival title.

The $1,100 WPT Prime Cambodia Championship set a new benchmark, smashing its previous record of 1,050 entries by drawing an incredible 1,484 hopefuls. The $1,429,080 prize pool was distributed among the top 186 finishers, making it one of the largest WPT Prime events ever.

Thailand-based Canadian pro Alexander Puchalski emerged victorious after an intense two-and-a-half-hour heads-up battle against Bangladesh’s Khorshad Sagor. Puchalski’s second title in Asia came with a scorching $233,680 payday, including a $10,400 seat to the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December.

Alexander Puchalski 🇨🇦 takes down the Season 23 WPT Prime Cambodia Championship @NagaWorld! 🇰🇭🏆

Puchalski navigated the 1,483 entry field and battled Khorshad Sagor heads-up to take home the title and $233,680 including a seat to the @WPT World Championship @WynnLasVegas! pic.twitter.com/lQfoZ6ONHK

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) February 19, 2025

Runner-up Khorshad Sagor, one of around a dozen players from Bangladesh at the festival, earned his first recorded live cash, becoming only the fourth Bangladeshi to register a live poker result on The Hendon Mob database. His $150,000 runner-up prize represents a significant achievement for Bangladesh in live poker.

Team India Scores at WPT Championship Cambodia 2025

WPT Championship Cambodia 2025 Winners

The Tarun Goyal Show Continues: ₹3.42 Crores in 2025 and Counting!

It’s been nothing short of “The Tarun Goyal Show” since 2024, and the 2024 Player of the Year champion is looking in good shape to break his tall records this year! After a jaw-dropping ₹3.54 Crores windfall on Natural8 India last Tuesday—fueled by an eighth-place finish in the GG Million$ Main Event and a Royal Flush bonus on an All-in or Fold PLO cash table—Goyal has kept the perennial heater going strong.

This past week, he added another ₹20.74 Lakhs to his tally, with Saturday being yet another blockbuster session. He raked in a stunning ₹18.53 Lakhs, headlined by a top-three finish in the Saturday Knock Out HR 1050, which alone earned him ₹16.82 Lakhs. With his 2025 earnings now soaring past ₹3.42 Crores, Goyal isn’t just leading the POY race—he’s outright dominating it, and another POY crown seems inevitable with each stride this poker legend takes!

His top finishes include:

> 3rd in Natural8 India’s Saturday Knock Out HR 1050 for ₹16,82,114

> 40th in Natural8 India’s Bounty Hunters HR 525 for ₹1,70,487

> 35th in Natural8 India’s Thursday Throwdown HR 1050 for ₹1,40,332

> 24th in Natural8 India’s Thursday Throwdown 150 for ₹81,176

While Goyal commanded the spotlight, other players, including 2024 POY #2 Anant Purohit, 2024 POY #4 Nishaanth S, Saransh Garg, Saurabh Rohila, Thepfulhoutuo Keditsu, Kanishk Upreti, and Abhimanyu Mittal, also achieved impressive results online.

Notable Online Winners of the Week

Income Tax Bill 2025: Potential Game-Changer For Online Gaming

In a week that brought some welcome news for the gaming industry, the Income Tax Bill 2025, introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, promises significant changes to the taxation of winnings from online gaming. Key highlights include a formal distinction between online gaming and gambling, finally granting the sector much-needed recognition. However, the most impactful change is a clarification of taxes only on net winnings, allowing players to offset losses against winnings in a financial year. This could potentially lead to players being able to file for TDS refunds on taxes deducted by platforms.

The ₹10,000 TDS threshold remains unchanged, and the bill aims to simplify outdated tax codes. If passed, it will take effect from April 1, 2026. However, potential regulations from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) suggest that tighter oversight of online gaming may be on the horizon.

WSOP 2025: Get Ready For the Biggest One Yet!

The WSOP recently unveiled the complete schedule for its 56th annual series, taking place from May 27 to July 16 at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. With a record-breaking 100 live bracelet events, this year’s series is the biggest ever, catering to all bankrolls, from the $300 Gladiators of Poker to the $250K Super High Roller and the new $100K High Roller PLO. The $10K Main Event remains the ultimate prize, ready to crown poker’s next world champion.

Under the new ownership of GGPoker but with the same experienced team at the helm, WSOP 2025 promises expanded global reach while preserving its rich legacy. Team India, coming off an outstanding run in 2024 with 219 cashes and two bracelets, will be looking to make an even bigger splash this year.

PokerGO Cup 2025: A Tight Race at the Top

The 2025 PokerGO Cup is in full swing, drawing a record-breaking crowd to the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. This fifth edition of the high-stakes series, the second stop on the 2025 PokerGO Tour season, features eight events from February 11 to 20.

The race for the PokerGO Cup championship is tight and Eric Blair has thrown his hat into the ring by picking up two titles. Blair first conquered Event #4: $10,100 NLHE for $254,800. He followed it up with his biggest career score, winning Event #6: $15,100 NLHE for $352,350. With a combined $607,150 in winnings, Blair currently sits second on the PokerGO Cup leaderboard with 537 points (and is likely to improve after a 10th-place finish in the ongoing Event #7).

Joey Weissman has been the picture of consistency, delivering one dominant performance after another. He started with a runner-up finish in Event #1: $5,100 NLHE for $123,900. He quickly rebounded to win his fourth PGT title in Event #2: $10,100 NLHE, earning $295,000. Weissman again came close in Event #4, taking second place behind Blair for $161,700. With a win and two runner-up finishes, his total earnings have climbed to $580,600, placing him atop the PokerGO Cup leaderboard with 581 points.

Other winners in the series include Michael ‘Texas Mike’ Moncek (Won Event #1: $5,100 NLHE for $185,850), Adam Hendrix (Won Event #3: $10,100 NLHE ($316,050), and Sergio Aido (Won Event #5: $10,100 NLHE for $255,000).

Maurice Hawkins Nears WSOP Circuit Ring Record

Maurice Hawkins edged closer to reclaiming his position as the all-time winningest WSOP Circuit ring winner by capturing his 17th ring at Harrah’s Pompano Beach, putting him just one ring behind Ari Engel‘s record of 18. Hawkins won the $400 Grand Master 40/40/40 with a nine-high straight flush, earning $16,137 and moving into second place on the all-time WSOPC rings leaderboard.

The Harrah’s Pompano Beach series also saw Arthur Peacock triumph in the Main Event, pocketing $230,794 from a 914-entry field, while Cindy Spier, Janet Fitzgerald, and Jacquelyn Scott claimed WSOPC gold rings in side events.

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.