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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 along with the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit.
Here are this week’s top stories!
It has been a busy start to the year with January witnessing two back-to-back live stops taking place in Goa, setting just the right undertone for the year. Spartan Poker`s IOPC and a few other international stops promise to keep the action in top gear for the rest of the month!
There were some deep runs made by the small group of Indian pros present at the 2020 Aussie Millions. The series recently closed out another successful edition at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. The star attraction at this marquee series, the A$10,600 Main Event saw three Indians finishing in the money from a massive 820-entry field. The former DPT Main Event champion, Rishabh Vekaria delivered the best performance of them all. On his first international outing, Vekaria stormed into Day 4, placed second in chips, eventually finishing 18th. Vekaria’s outstanding run earned him an A$82,000 (~₹39.94 Lakhs) paycheque, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
Giving Vekaria company on Day 4 was Paawan Bansal. The super talented pro has a runner-up finish at the 2018 WSOP The Closer to his name. Bansal ran up a good score at the Main Event, collecting a 32nd place finish, good for A$36,080 (~₹17.58 Lakhs). Rahul Melwani (81st for A$15,580 – ₹7.58 Lakhs) was the third Indian who earned a payout.
Local pro Vincent ‘Wonky’ Wan eventually came put on top to win the Main Event title and the top prize of A$1,318,000 following a three-way deal.
Now, if you’d think that’s intense, Spartan Poker sounded off yet another edition of its flagship India Online Poker Championship (IOPC) with a bang. The series features three Millionaires, and the first of them – IOPC #17 The Millionaire X5 ₹15 Lakhs to Top 5 – brought in a massive 1,882 entries over the weekend. The event awarded a mouth-watering ₹15.05 Lakhs to the top five finishers namely, Kunal ‘kunal’ Kubba, Nikhil ‘Crazy_coyote’ Ramesh, ‘Iceiceice,’ PokerGuru Ambassador Gokul ‘Super Kings’ Raj and Aditya ‘Adiwankenobi’ Wadhwani!
Live-action has exploded in Goa, but there came some worrying news for casino operators this week. The Goa government has set up a special team to inspect and look into the alleged under-reporting of carrying capacity by the offshore casinos. Amid an ongoing mining sector crisis, the government has decided to put the casino policy on hold until the mining issue is resolved.
But there’s been a slew of other developments that get our thumbs-up. Industry leader PokerBaazi is readying up for a ‘Fab February.’ The site has a wide array of attractive promotions lined up next month like the PLO 4-Card Cash Drive, the start of the EndBoss satellites, along with the return of popular MTT series like the PokerBaazi Premier League (PPL), PokerBaazi Monthly Value Series, Grinders Series, and the PokerBaazi Bankroll Builder Series!
After a rocking 2019, fantasy gaming giant Dream11 is gearing up for a successful IPL 2020 season. In preparation, the brand is reportedly about to close a $500 Million (₹3,572 Crores) funding round led by New York-based Hedge Fund, Tiger Global Management.
The international circuit saw several significant announcements. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) confirmed 17 new events for its 51st annual run later this year. The offerings include six new freezeout events, five Value Menu events, a Mystery Bounty event, and a $250K Super High Roller.
WPT anchor Lynn Gilmartin and two-time WSOP Europe bracelet winner Kahle Burns were inducted in the Australian Poker Hall of Fame. At the same time, PokerStars co-founder Isai Scheinberg voluntarily surrend
There was more than enough tournament action to go around. Tournament action continues to flourish Down Under with the first-ever Australian Poker Open presently underway. We also have reports from WPT Russia and WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open. The Australian Poker Open will continue its run till February 2 and will be immediately followed by the Super High Roller Bowl Australia (Feb 2 – 4). We’ll be seeing an equally action-packed month ahead in Asia, with WPT Philippines (Feb 6 – 17), Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju (Feb 10 – 22), and APL Da Nang (Feb 19 – 28) roaring to take off.
The first of the three Millionaire editions lined up as part of the ongoing India Online Poker Championship (IOPC), the IOPC #17 The Millionaire X5, guaranteed the top five finishers ₹15 Lakhs each. The turnout was massive, with 1,882 entries (Day 1A – 665, Day 1B – 464, Day 1C – 753) joining the action across the three starting flights. With a ₹1.50 Crores prize pool collected, the event made millionaires in Kunal ‘kunal’ Kubba, Nikhil ‘Crazy_coyote’ Ramesh, ‘Iceiceice,’ PokerGuru Ambassador Gokul ‘Super Kings’ Raj and Aditya ‘Adiwankenobi’ Wadhwani!
The other notable scores of the week include –
Player | Prize Money | Event | Poker Site |
---|---|---|---|
Kunal ‘kunal’ Kubba | ₹15.05 Lakhs | IOPC #17 The Millionaire X5 – ₹15 Lakhs to Top 5 | Spartan Poker |
Bheem Singh ‘TymTravel’ Meena | ₹8.22 Lakhs | IOPC #6 The Elite ₹30 Lakhs GTD ₹11,000 RE | Spartan Poker |
Dr House | ₹8.13 Lakhs | Destiny 13.0 ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Akash ‘NIKI LAUDA F1’ Shekhar | ₹8.03 Lakhs | Winter Series – 44 Main Event ₹50 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
‘2cards1guy’ | ₹7.82 Lakhs | IOPC #18 Sunday SuperStack ₹40 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Conclusion1100 | ₹6.46 Lakhs | IOPC#29 Mega Stack ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
sneakysani | ₹6.46 Lakhs | Winter Series-24 Highroller SE ₹30 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Nik989 | ₹6.44 Lakhs | Godfather ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Anurag ‘NormanBates’ Srivastava | ₹5.00 Lakhs | Adda52 Millions AF ₹20 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Nadeem ‘SpadeHunter’ Basha | ₹4.85 Lakhs | BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD ₹5,500 RE | PokerBaazi |
Yennefer | ₹4.60 Lakhs | Ultron ₹20 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
tyrogambit | ₹4.60 Lakhs | The Summit ₹15 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Vidwath ‘phoenix66990’ Shetty | ₹4.36 Lakhs | The Ballers ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Bhavvye ‘noobpro’ Mittal | ₹4.20 Lakhs | Thalaiva ₹20 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 | 9stacks |
Priyank ‘Piko1432’ Kothari | ₹4.15 Lakhs | G.O.A ₹20 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Parminder ‘Bounceez’ Randhava | ₹3.86 Lakhs | IOPC #24 Recharge ₹14 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Sanket ‘aslipapaji’ Jain | ₹3.10 Lakhs | The Endeavour ₹15 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
lol this guy | ₹2.95 Lakhs | IOPC #20 Big Daddy ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Aniket ‘Sandystorm’ Pradhan | ₹2.76 Lakhs | Big Slick AF ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
rashpr | ₹2.74 Lakhs | Maverick ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Mayank ‘desithug007’ Gupta | ₹2.69 Lakhs | IOPC#5 TGIF ₹12 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Sriharsha ‘Fish2050’ Doddapaneni | ₹2.68 Lakhs | IOPC #12 Mega Freeze ₹10 Lakhs GTD ₹5,500 RE | Spartan Poker |
Rony ‘bisadip176’ Chowdhury | ₹2.65 Lakhs | The Bout ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Anmol ‘Anzzzzz’ Mehta | ₹2.64 Lakhs | IOPC #25 Daily Hi-Fi ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Raghav ‘thatssosick’ Bansal | ₹2.63 Lakhs | IOPC#7 Daily Hi-Fi ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Suckoonist | ₹2.60 Lakhs | IOPC #13 Daily Hi-Fi ₹10 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
Harshit ‘hashstack’ Chopra | ₹2.56 Lakhs | Inception ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Ryan ‘OTB_X_REDBACON’ Cardoso | ₹2.53 Lakhs | Winter Series-45 The Big Crunch ₹15 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
tyche | ₹2.40 Lakhs | Hitman ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
1ll|1ll1|ll1| | ₹2.35 Lakhs | Winter Series 31 Uppercut Progressive KO ₹15 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Laksh ‘B00MTilt23’ Pal Singh | ₹1.91 Lakhs | Winter Series-17 Night on Stars ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Arjanveer Singh ‘bazzingaa’ Chadha | ₹1.83 Lakhs | IOPC #9 ₹5 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
Jayjit ‘england’ Ray | ₹1.82 Lakhs | Fri-Yay ₹6 Lakhs GTD ₹4,400 RE | PokerBaazi |
teraflop | ₹1.45 Lakhs | Omaha AF ₹5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Anuj ‘brockLesnar95’ Yadav | ₹1.42 Lakhs | The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Elixir | ₹1.41 Lakhs | Thunder @7:30 PM ₹5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
bootsicles | ₹1.38 Lakhs | Grinders #19 Thursday MonsterStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Srihari ‘bangbang999’ Bang | ₹1.30 Lakhs | Grinders #33 Main Event ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Avinash ‘spacecadet’ Tauro | ₹1.22 Lakhs | Hi-Fi ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Amaterastu | ₹1.19 Lakhs | IOPC #10 Afternoon Hi-Fi ₹4 Lakhs GTD ₹1,100 RE | Spartan Poker |
PepperChicken | ₹1.18 Lakhs | Winter Series-26 The Classic Progressive KO ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
kilpauk | ₹1.12 Lakhs | Holdem High ₹7 Lakhs GTD ₹2,750 RE | Adda52 |
Neel ‘Worm236’ Joshi | ₹1.07 Lakhs | Monday Hustle ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
takingcuntrol | ₹1.06 Lakhs | Sixth Sense ₹6 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Apocalypto | ₹1.01 Lakhs | Grinders #24 Friday SuperStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | PokerBaazi |
Sriharsha ‘ivey2’ Doddapaneni | ₹94.668 | Grinders #14 6-Max Wednesday SuperStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Siddharth ‘schemer77’ Karia | ₹90.823 | IOPC #3 Afternoon Hi-Fi 4 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Vinay ‘Contemporist’ BK | ₹89.899 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Devvrat 'flopCheck' Arya | ₹78,795 | Tuesday MonsterStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Rajat ‘Garammasala’ Sharma | ₹76.242 | IOPC #21 ₹3 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Prashant ‘$$$OUL$$$UTRA’ Jain Bhutoria | ₹74.967 | Winter Series-33 Progressive KO ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
moneymagnet | ₹73.009 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Rajat ‘oshoswami’ Sharma | ₹73.009 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Harsh ‘harsh1327’ Bubna | ₹72.924 | Winter Series-43 Final Day Warm Up ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Parky90 | ₹71.467 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD ₹2,000 RE | Adda52 |
Parky90 | ₹71.124 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Tokio999 | ₹67.628 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja | ₹66.029 | Grinders #29 Saturday MonsterStack ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹1,650 RE | PokerBaazi |
Rishabh2005 | ₹65,775 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Luxcozii | ₹65.656 | Hercules @ 8 PM ₹2 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
space ace | ₹64.350 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Pratik ‘Pratikp’ Kayal | ₹60.000 | BSS PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | PokerBaazi |
noelpais | ₹59.752 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Junior-KK | ₹58.300 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Sanjay ‘Floppednuts’ Kumar | ₹57.051 | Holdem AF ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
StillDrawing | ₹52.664 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
sandyn39 | ₹52,454 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
kattappa2 | ₹50.139 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Infic11 | ₹47.589 | Winter Series-19 Deepstack ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Wabi-$abi | ₹41,187 | Deepstack ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
VUTUARU | ₹36.000 | Warrior Arena ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
Nikhil ‘Igotyouu’ Sahani | ₹31,500 | Battlefield Tuesday ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
Rainik Swarup ‘Destr0ys’ Das | ₹30.312 | Winter Series-46 Winter Storm NLHM 6-Max ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
jaypy | ₹24.000 | Dangal Friday ₹1 Lakh GTD | Poker Dangal |
Jyotigupta | ₹22.000 | Monday Texas ₹1 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
cbs786" | ₹21.000 | Sunday Bonanza ₹1 Lakh GTD ₹770 RE | Poker Dangal |
Sadanala ‘daredevils’ Swami | ₹16.500 | Wow Wednesday ₹75K GTD | Poker Dangal |
mecktro | ₹14.075 | Saturday Hustle ₹50K GTD ₹550 RE | Poker Dangal |
After announcing its most ambitious tournament to-date – EndBoss, PokerBaazi has unveiled its February promotion calendar that will see the launch of the PLO 4-Card Cash Drive, the start of the EndBoss satellites, along with the return of crowd favorites like the PokerBaazi Premier League (PPL), PokerBaazi Monthly Value Series, Grinders Series, and the PokerBaazi Bankroll Builder Series.
Read the complete report here
After a landmark year for India’s fantasy gaming giant Dream11 in 2019, the brand is reportedly close to raising $500 Million (₹3,572 Crores) in a funding round led by Tiger Global Management ahead of the VIVO IPL 2020.
Read the complete report here
Concerned at the alleged under-reporting of capacity by the offshore casinos, the Goa government has constituted a special Inspection Authority for inspection of Goa’s casinos. Ports Minister Michael Lobo has also indicated the draft casino policy will be put on hold till the government resolves the ongoing crisis in the mining sector.
Read the complete report here
The last of the 11 individuals accused of charges related to Black Friday who has yet to resolve his criminal charges, PokerStars co-founder Isai Scheinberg voluntarily surrendered to U.S. Government earlier this month. He was released from police custody on posting a $1 million bail.
Read the complete report here
The 51st World Series of Poker (WSOP) slated to run from May 26 to July 15, 2020, announced the addition of 17 new events on the schedule including six freezeout events, five Value Menu events, a $1.5K Mystery Bounty event & a $250K Super High Roller.
Read the complete report here
WPT anchor Lynn Gilmartin and two-time WSOP Europe bracelet winner Kahle Burns have been inducted in the Australian Poker Hall of Fame.
Read the complete report here
The 2020 Aussie Millions ran through a packed schedule of 21 days at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. The stop featured 23 championship events, and the biggest draw was the A$10,600 Main Event that attracted 820 entries across over three starting flights.
Former DPT Main Event champion Rishabh Vekaria was among a group of three Indians who made it to Day 2 of the Main Event. Vekaria, who was chasing his first international title, worked his way up the stacks and stormed into Day 4 second in chips. He sailed his way into the top 20 to eventually collect an 18th place payout of A$82,000 (~₹39.94 Lakhs). Vekaria’s unbeaten run makes him the top earner this week and also our “PokerGuru Star of the Week.”
Paawan Bansal (32nd for A$36,080 – ₹17.58 Lakhs) was the second Indian who posted a score on Day 4, while Rahul Melwani (81st for A$15,580 – ₹7.58 Lakhs) also added to the team`s scorecard.
The event eventually crowned a champion in local pro Vincent ‘Wonky’ Wan, who struck a three-way deal with Ngoc Tai Hoang (runner-up) and Gareth Pepper (3rd) to pocket the winner’s cheque of A$1,318,000.
Read the complete report here
Kahle Burns (A$100,000 Challenge for A$1,746,360), Daniel Mayoh (A$1,150 PLO High/Lo for A$35,445), and Ari Engel (A$2,500 NLHM for A$141,775) were the other prominent winners at the series this past week.
Read the complete report here
The inaugural Australian Poker Open kicked off at The Star Gold Coast on January 25. Battling through a field of 59 entries, Canada’s Mike ‘SirWatts’ Watson won the series-opener, A$10,500 NLHE for A$177,000.
Read the complete report here
The World Poker Tour (WPT) Russia Festival visited Casino Sochi from January 21 to 26. Headlining the nine-tournament stop was the RUB 210,000 buy-in Main Event RUB 95,500,000 GTD that drew 489 players across five starting flights. Aleksey Badulin bested the field and defeated Vlada Stojanovic heads-up to win RUB 11,550,000 ($261,572).
Read the complete report here
The Borgata Winter Poker Open (BWPO) is presently on the home stretch on its packed schedule of twenty-five featured events. The most prominent winners at the series so far are Zarko Mandic (Event #1 $600 Deepstack Kick-Off $2 Million GTD) and Kareem Marshall (Event #13: $400 Almighty Stack $1 Million GTD) who won $342,967 and $195,903 respectively.
The series-headliner, the $3,500 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship Event, has logged in a field of 1,065 entries so far. Francis Anderson leads the 595 hopefuls at the start of Day 2.
Read the complete report here
Indian-origin player Jasthi Kumar won his fourth World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring after winning Event#9 $400 NLHE at the WSOPC Thunder Valley, besting a field of 214 entries to bank $16,976 (~₹12.09 Lakhs) for the title.
Read the complete report here
Part of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Season XVIII, the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open (LHPO), was hosted at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Besting a field of 843 entries, Brian Altman took down the $2 Million GTD $3,500 Main Event for $482,636.
Read the complete report here
Topping a field of 611 entries, Pat Steele took down the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Season 11 $1,100 Main Event for $124,461. Along with the title win, Steele also became the fifth MSPT Hall of Fame entry for his twenty-fifth MSPT Main Event cash.
Read the complete report here
The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Season XVI $1,650 Main Event attracted 520 contenders from three starting flights. Former World Champion, Greg ‘FossilMan’ Raymer climbed to the top of the field to clinch his career-fifth HPT title. Raymer pocketed $171,411 in prize money and a $3,500 Championship package for the season-ending HPT Season XVI Championship.
Read the complete report 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.