This Week in Poker: February 27 – March 5

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  • Attreyee Khasnabis March 5, 2019
  • 8 Minutes Read

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring 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

As we step into the third month of 2019, the poker world is buzzing with exciting news and updates both on the domestic and international fronts.

India’s first-ever long-run poker league, i.e., Global Poker League (GPL) in association with PokerStars India was inaugurated in June 2018. While the thrilling first season is now over, local railbirds have much to look forward to as from March 9 Colors Infinity and Colors Infinity HD will be premiering GPL India Season 1 every Saturday till April 16 from 7-8pm.

Indian poker players have been making quite a name for themselves on the live felts internationally, but the domestic online poker industry isn’t far behind. This past week saw some of the premier online sites dish out the big bucks starting with PokerBaazi. The site’s main attraction – the Baazi Super Sunday (BSS) SuperStack yet again pulled in a massive field of 643 entries (381 unique and 262 re-entries) and crowned a champion in Mayank aka ‘Maahi13’ who increased his bankroll by ₹5.55 Lakhs in prize money. Mayank is, therefore, our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

PokerGuru Team Ambassadors were also seen making deep runs on the virtual felts. While Ratul ‘MuscariAs’ Steves finished runner-up in PokerStars India’s Sunday Special for ₹2.07 Lakhs, Laksh B00MTilt23 Pal Singh finished eighth for ₹47,722 in the same event. Shashank Desai cashed ₹27,327 in the BSS SuperStack as ‘indianrat’ for placing 16th. In PokerStars India’s The Classic NLHE, he finished sixth for ₹8,944 as ‘GOAT-245’.

Besides the showering of big payouts by premier sites on the online felts, many other exciting things happened this past week as well. Up-and-coming poker site, PokerRaj announced their inaugural international stop – PokerRaj International and their brand ambassador, Bollywood actor Anita Hassanandani spoke on her association with the brand and the upcoming invite-only series coming up in Bally’s Casino, Columbo from March 22-23.

Meanwhile, an Indian poker network called Fair Play Skill Network was recently launched by the gaming software firm Enterra Soft in partnership with the parent company of PokerHigh, i.e., QuantumSkill Gaming & Tech Pvt. Ltd.

PokerStars has always been on the cutting edge of revamping its platform. The latest updates to hit the worldwide audience was the announcement regarding critically acclaimed Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui becoming the first-ever celebrity brand ambassador for PokerStars India. Another big news from the brand this past week was that PokerStars will be making significant changes to its international client, along with making changes to its third-party tools policy in all markets and restricting the use of automated or semi-automated reference materials during online play.

While PokerStars has parted ways with several of its former Team pros who were also popular Twitch streamers, partypoker, on the other hand, has not only a launched a brand-new Team Online but has also recruited several well-known poker streamers starting with Matt Staples, Hristivoje “ALLinPav” Pavlovic, Travis “dramaticdegen” Darroch, Patrick “XxXMLGPROXxX” Tardif, Alan “hotted89” Widmann, Ryan “RSchoonbaert” Schoonbaert and Courtney ‘courtbee’ Gee. In fact, the brand even launched an all-new Twitch channel, partypoker247, to deliver non-stop, exciting poker streaming content to its viewers.

Though the online domain is brimming with action, the live felts to have a lot to offer. Asian Poker Tour (APT) Taiwan that had kicked off on February 20, has now reached a successful conclusion on March 3, while the Triton Poker High Roller Series in Jeju and Manila Megastack 11 are still ongoing. With The Indian Poker Series (TIPS) Winter Edition (March 6-14), DPT Xpress (March 14-17), WSOP International Circuit – Rozvadov (March 14-April 1), WPT Vietnam (March 19-23) and European Poker Tour (EPT) Sochi (March 20-29) yet to take place, poker fans have a lot to look forward to.

We wrap up this week’s recap with tournament action from APT Taiwan, Triton Poker High Roller Series Jeju, WSOP Circuit Rio Las Vegas and 2019 WPT Fallsview Poker Classic.

 

Online Railbird Report

The BSS SuperStack on PokerBaazi drew in a massive field of 643 entries (381 unique and 262 re-entries) which smashed the ₹25 Lakhs guarantee with the prize pool touching ₹32.15 Lakhs. Mayank aka ‘Maahi13’ blew away the competition and grabbed the top seat, along with ₹5.55 Lakhs in prize money, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

Other notable scores of the week include –

Rahul ‘LaughingBoddha’ Sengar won ₹4.51 Lakhs for 1st place in PokerStars India ‘Sunday Special Progressive Knockout ₹20 Lakhs GTD.’

‘BigBetMix’ won ₹3.15 Lakhs for 1st place in 9stacks ‘Sunday Stacks ₹15 Lakhs GTD’

Aditya Agarwal won ₹2.42 Lakhs for 1st in PokerStars India ‘Highroller NLHE ₹12 Lakhs GTD’

Aman ‘ageya’ Gupta won ₹1.27 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi’s ‘The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Prashanth ‘Iveyleague’ Sekar won ₹1.08 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘BSS MegaStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Anik ‘EagleSong’ Ajmera won ₹1.05 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi’ ‘BSS PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Akshay ‘IamUltron’ Dhingra won ₹1.94 Lakhs for 1st place in PokerStars India ‘Battle Royale ₹10 Lakhs GTD’

‘michaelksn1’ won ₹49,925 for 1st place in PokerStars India ‘Sunday Stars ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

‘thesaint’ won ₹39,330 for 1st place in the Khelo 365 ‘BIG Splash ₹75K GTD’

‘rishbi017’ won ₹39,272 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Storm ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

‘tuffcookie777’ won ₹33,536 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘The Classic ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD’

Hemant ‘314admiral’ Sharma won ₹29,060 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Warm-Up ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD’

Arunkumar ‘arun8186’ Anandan won ₹20,559 for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘Sunday ₹1 Lakhs GTD’

‘Ladoo143’ won ₹13,800 for 1st place in the Khelo 365 ‘Deep Stack ₹30K GTD’

‘Kolkata123’ won ₹9,200 for 1st place in the Khelo 365 ‘Bullseye ₹20K GTD’

 

PokerHigh Team Up With Enterra Soft to Launch Fair Play Skill Network

International gaming software firm Enterra Soft announced its partnership with the parent company of PokerHigh, i.e., QuantumSkill Gaming & Tech Pvt. Ltd., to jointly launch and operate a poker network in India. Called Fair Play Skill Network, the new platform will offer to the different domestic poker sites white labels and skins.

Read the complete story here.

 

PokerStars India Announces Nawazuddin Siddiqui As Its First Celebrity Brand Ambassador

International poker giant PokerStars made a deeper foray into India’s poker market by roping in popular Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui as their first celebrity brand ambassador. PokerStars also released several videos featuring Siddiqui in them, asking players to guess if Siddiqui was bluffing.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Read the complete story here.

 

PokerStars Announces Important Changes to Its Third-Party Tools Policy in All Markets

In another big announcement, global poker company PokerStars announced important changes to its international client. In addition to making changes to its third-party tools policy in all markets, PokerStars has also restricted use of automated or semi-automated reference materials during online play.

Read the complete story here.

 

Partypoker Announces Team Online, Adds 10 Members

Taking to poker streaming in a big way, international poker brand partypoker has announced Team Online, an exclusive group of poker players and streamers who will deliver non-stop, exciting poker streaming content on partypoker’s all-new Twitch channel, partypoker247.

Right from February 18 when the brand announced Matt Staples as the first member of Team Online, partypoker has brought on-board, Hristivoje “ALLinPav” Pavlovic, Travis “dramaticdegen” Darroch and Patrick “XxXMLGPROXxX” Tardif. Soon, Alan “hotted89” Widmann, Ryan “RSchoonbaert” Schoonbaert and Courtney ‘courtbee’ Gee also joined the talented group.

Over the weekend, Steven ‘DWstevie’ Kok and Monika ‘HeyMonia’ Zukowicz were declared as Team Online members. The latest to join the team is Jeff Gross. Gross who is the 10th member, was signed up on March 1, the same day partypoker launched its new Twitch chanel partypoker247.

Jeff Gross & Monika ‘HeyMonia’ Zukowicz
Jeff Gross & Monika ‘HeyMonia’ Zukowicz

While Team Online has been a major focal area for the brand, it has also tied up with poker playing billionaire Bill Perkins’ revamped streaming channel, ‘The Thirst Lounge’ as an official sponsor. partypoker has also announced that its team pros Fedor Holz, Patrick Leonard and Ludovic Geilich will be seen hosting partypoker Twitch streaming sessions focusing on different poker topics.

Read the complete story here.

 

GPL India Season 1 to Premiere on Colors Infinity & Colors Infinity HD on March 9

In 2018, India welcomed its first-ever long-run poker league, i.e., Global Poker League (GPL) in association with PokerStars India. Starting June-end, GPL India ran its online qualifiers for six city-based teams and what followed was the exciting live competition on the felts. A boot camp in Delhi led to finalisation of these teams and the Regular Season then played out to declare a champion team that won five Platinum Passes to the PokerStars Players NLHE Championship (PSPC) in the Bahamas.

Bringing the thrills and spills of the league’s inaugural run, GPL India has now announced that its first season would be premiering on Colors Infinity and Colors Infinity HD, on March 9. Starting then, two episodes would be telecast on these channels from 7-8 PM every Saturday till the show`s finale on April 6.

GPL India TWIP

Read the complete story here.

 

Dream11 Eyeing to Become India`s 1st Gaming Unicorn

Leading fantasy sports portal Dream11 is likely to see London-based whopping alternative asset manager, Steadview Capital make a secondary transaction in the company to the tune of $100 Million (₹710 Crores). Talks between Steadview and Dream11 are reportedly underway, and if the deal goes through, it could make Dream11 India`s first gaming unicorn.

Read the complete story here.

 

Delta Corp Invests 15.50 Crores in HalaPlay, Divests LeagueAdda

India’s only BSE-listed gaming and hospitality firm Delta Corp has invested ₹15.50 Crores in fantasy gaming portal HalaPlay. Delta has also divested its in-house fantasy sports venture LeagueAdda to the Mumbai-based company.

Read the complete story here.

 

Turf Authorities Seek Reduction of GST in Horse Racing Bets

The Turf Authorities of India (TAI) that represents six racing clubs has submitted a request to the Union government seeking a GST reduction on bets taken by race clubs and bookmakers.

Read the complete story here.

 

Kerala HC Says Playing Rummy For Stakes is Gambling

In a recent judgement given by the Kerala High Court (HC) in a case between the Kerala police and secretary of Sopanam Arts and Sports Club, K Ramachandran, a two-judge division of Kerala High Court has ruled that rummy is a game of skill but playing it for stakes amounts to gambling and is thus an offence under the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960.

Read the complete story here.

 

Poker & Sports Betting Discussed in 2019 SPiCE Hosted In Goa

The SPiCE aka Strategic Platform for iGaming Conference and Exhibition was hosted in Goa from February 25-27. SPiCE was organized at the Goa Marriott Resort and Spa from and saw a range of topics discussed by select entities and stakeholders of the gaming and casino industry.

Read the complete story here.

 

WSOP Announces Bigger Starting Stacks & Big Blind Ante For 50th Anniversary Series

The global poker brand World Series of Poker (WSOP) recently announced that it will be introducing bigger starting stacks and the Big Blind Ante format in the upcoming 50th anniversary series.

Read the complete story here.

 

2019 APT Taiwan

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) stepped into Taiwan for the first time, with the inaugural stop playing out at the Chinese Texas Hold ‘em Association (CTP) Club in Taipei from February 20 to March 3. Featuring 23 tournaments, the series attracted 700 unique players that made a total 3,251 entries across the various events. The smashing success of the series has prompted CTP’s David Tai to sign a contract for extending the collaboration with APT for another two years.

After the Main Event was won by Hong Kong’s Chow Cliff following a heads-up deal with Alan King Lun Lau, Lau went on to claim another runner-up finish in the High Rollers Single Day 1. Together with a deep run in the Championships Event, he surged to the top of the APT Player of the Series race and claimed the title.

Alan King Lun Lau
Alan King Lun Lau

Read the complete story here.

The Championships Event was taken down by China’s Chen Dong for TWD 2,955,000 (₹67,90,677) while a number of side events crowned champions.

Chen Dong
Chen Dong

2019 APT Taiwan Winners

Event Name Player Name Prize Money
Super High Rollers Jack Nai Yuan HuTWD 1,570,000
Dream MakerCheung Chung ChingTWD 2,65,200
Kitty Kuo High Rollers InvitationalAdrian AttenboroughTWD 2,073,400
Head HunterHwang Sang YeonTWD 150,300
PLO Hi Chen HaoTWD 121,600
High Rollers Single DayGuo DongTWD 699,700
NLH Single DaySebastian WongTWD 221,900
Main Event Chow Cliff TWD 2,443,800
Short Deck Mark Reyes TWD 158,800
High Rollers 1Ian Angrew Modder TWD 18,45,700
NLHE 1Azusa Maeda TWD 316,300
PLO HiAzusa MaedaTWD 149,200
Short Deck High Rollers Single Day 2Joo Hyen Park TWD 521,900
NLH Single Day 2 Shot ClockAlexsei VerashevTWD 202,300
Super Deep Stack Turbo Dong Guo TWD 218,900
Welovesports Deep Stack Hyper Turbo Lok GinoTWD 134,300
High Rollers 2Zhang ChangjieTWD 859,500
NLHE 2Hui Wei KwokTWD 269,300
Monster StackJames JaggerTWD 530,200
Deep Stack Turbo 1Sho FurutaniTWD 99,400
Deep Stack Turbo 2Liang Chih YingTWD 102,000
High Rollers Single Day 2Jennette TanTWD 795,800
Deep Stack Hyper Turbo Hiroyuki NodaTWD 106,800

 

Triton Poker High Roller Series Jeju

The 2019 Triton Poker High Roller Series Jeju kicked off on March 2 with the series opener Event #1 HK$250,000 Short-Deck Ante-Only tournament which attracted a total of 65 entries (including 28 re-entries). The event crowned a winner in American champion Justin Bonomo who bagged a handsome payday of HK$4.6 million (US$586,000) having only played in his fourth-ever short-deck tournament.

Justin Bonomo
Justin Bonomo

Read the complete story here.

Event #2 HK$500K Short Deck Ante-Only was a two-day long tournament which was taken down by Hong Kong-based pro Devan Tang for a colossal payout of HK$9.7 Million (US$1.24 Million). This was Tang’s first-ever Triton title win and following this victory he is now placed second on the China All-Time Money List with total live earnings of US$6,259,809.

Devan Tang
Devan Tang

Read the complete story here.

 

Viet Vo & Ali Imsirovic Claim Titles at WSOP Circuit Rio Las Vegas

The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Rio Las Vegas came to a close on February 26 with the $1,700 buy-in Main Event title going to Viet Vo who pocketed $274,030 in first place prize money. Additionally, Ali Imsirovic won the $2,200 buy-in NLHE High Roller and collected $96,569 for his win.

Viet Vo & Ali Imsirovic
Viet Vo & Ali Imsirovic

Read the complete story here.

 

Demo Kiriopoulos Wins 2019 WPT Fallsview Poker Classic For CAD 517,424 ($382,894)

Canada’s Demo Kiriopoulos outlasted a record field of 602 entries at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Fallsview Poker Classic CAD 5,000 buy-in NLHE Main Event and bagged CAD 517,424 (US$382,894) in prize money along with his maiden WPT title.

Demo Kiriopoulos
Demo Kiriopoulos

Read the complete story 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 again next week with our weekly report, stay tuned.

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