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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 circuit. Here are this week’s top stories!
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The end of January saw two mega MTT stops dominating the online action, i.e., IOPC and the APT India Online Series. No surprises then; the week’s biggest scorers are players who either won or ran deep in the flagships at these series.
Young Gun Sahil Chutani grabs the “PokerGuru Star of the Week!” title for winning the IOPC #49 – High Roller and IOPC #69 – Legends three days apart from each other, filling in a jaw-dropping ₹69.40 Lakhs to his weekly tally!
The week’s other top scorers were Raghav Bansal, Young Gun Anuj Yadav, Vinay B, Rising Star Ritwik Khanna, and Amit Gehani.
With the IOPC now on its final week, things are going to sizzle up as three more marquees, including the stop`s star attraction, IOPC The Crown, play down to a champion.
Besides hosting the APT India Online Series, PokerBaazi has brought back the popular Loss Insurance Cover (LIC) Leaderboard. The cash game promotion runs from February 1 to 7 and has over ₹70 Lakhs in cash prizes.
MPL Poker`s Steal Deal Series returns from February 6 to 13, with over ₹26 Lakhs in guaranteed prizes.
PokerStars India has lined up qualifiers with all-expenses-paid packages to European Poker Tour (EPT) Sochi up for grabs. The first of the three qualifiers played out on January 30, with the next two coming up on February 6 & 13.
BLITZPOKER also has a thrilling February planned for its users with its ‘Fabulous February’ and ‘Valentine’s Week With Blitz’ promotions!
The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has derailed the schedule for Season 4 of the Poker Sports League, with the live Finale postponed to April.
In other news, Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan was roped in by Games24x7 as the brand ambassador for its rummy arm, RummyCircle.
The Caesars Entertainment-owned Bally’s Las Vegas is being rebranded as the Horseshoe Las Vegas, ahead of the 53rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) that is to be held at the property for the first time from May 31 to July 19, 2022.
Nevada-based casino giant Wynn Resorts has confirmed a multibillion-dollar deal with Ras al Khaimah, UAE, to open a 1,000-room luxury hotel in the country.
World Poker Tour has entered a new distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, allowing poker watchers in the U.S. and Canada the ease of accessing WPT tournament coverage from almost any device.
Online Railbird Report
This past week saw electrifying MTT action with the IOPC heading into its final week just as the APT India Online Series kicked off on Sunday.
Headlining the blockbuster week was the BTR Staking owner Young Gun Sahil Chutani. The cash game specialist made heads turn by winning two IOPC flagships in three days, netting a whopping ₹69.40 Lakhs overall. Chutani got his scorecard ticking after taking down the ₹1 Crore GTD IOPC #49 – High Roller for a career-best ₹23.20 Lakhs (via a heads-up chop). Not done just yet, he went on to champion the Sunday flagship, ₹2 Crores GTD IOPC #69 – Legends, for a new career-best ₹44.06 Lakhs (again via a heads-up chop). The #1 ranked player in the annual standings, Chutani’s stupendous run makes him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #69 – Legends for ₹44.06 Lakhs
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #49 – High Roller for ₹23.20 Lakhs
> 4th in PokerStars India’s Sunday Special PKO for ₹1.14 Lakhs
The seasoned MTT pro Raghav Bansal chopped the IOPC #69 – Legends title with Sahil Chutani, netting a career-best ₹43.12 Lakhs (₹43.70 Lakhs cumulatively) in second place. Bansal closed out the week with ₹45.37 Lakhs in total winnings.
His top finishes include:
> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #69 – Legends for ₹43.70 Lakhs*
> 5th in PokerBaazi’s APT#9 Monday Major for ₹1.10 Lakhs
The three-time The Millionaire champion Young Gun Anuj Yadav had another smashing week and makes the featured list for the third time this year. Yadav’s weekly exploits include winning three flagship titles and placing third in IOPC #49 – High Roller for ₹12.30 Lakhs, altogether worth ₹29.46 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s ₹1 Crore GTD IOPC #49 – High Roller for ₹12.30 Lakhs
> 1st in Adda52’s ₹25 Lakhs GTD Adda52 Millions for ₹6.30 Lakhs
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s ₹12 Lakhs GTD IOPC #57 – All Rounder 6-Max for ₹2.52 Lakhs
> 1st in PokerStars India’s ₹10 Lakhs GTD Sunday Highroller for ₹2.13 Lakhs
This past week, the two-time BSS SuperStack champion Vinay B raked in ₹23.62 Lakhs. He most prominently placed third in IOPC #69 – Legends for a career-best ₹20.25 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #69 – Legends for ₹20.25 Lakhs
> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #47 – Monster Stack for ₹99,989
Rising Star Ritwik Khanna won two IOPC titles this past week, alongside a host of deep finishes, lapping up ₹22.93 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #66 – Sunday Prime for ₹13.58 Lakhs
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #75 – Monday Spotlight for ₹2.95 Lakhs
The former IOPC – Legends champion Amit Gehani piled in a whopping ₹22.42 Lakhs, most of that, i.e., ₹21.13 Lakhs coming from his second-place finish in IOPC #49 – High Roller (via a heads-up chop).
PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja, Mohammad Azhar, Ritwik Khanna, Young Guns Gaurav Sood, and Devang Yadav were the other top scorers of the week.
Notable Winners of the Week
Player Prize Amount Event Poker Site
Sahil Chutani ₹44.05 Lakhs IOPC#69 Legends ₹2 Crores GTD Spartan Poker
Sahil Chutani ₹23.20 Lakhs IOPC #49 – High Roller ₹1 Crore GTD Spartan Poker
Ritwik Khanna ₹13.58 Lakhs IOPC #66 – Sunday Prime ₹50 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Sumeet Modi ₹10 Lakhs IOPC #56 – Friday Spotlight ₹50 Lakhs Spartan Poker
Sami5 ₹7.71 Lakhs IOPC #48 – Thursday Prime Spartan Poker
Anurag Srivastava ₹7.08 Lakhs APT#4 Sunday Major ₹35 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Vijay Pandit ₹6.71 Lakhs The Ballers ₹22.50 Lakhs Adda52
Anuj Yadav ₹6.30 Lakhs Adda52 Millions ₹25 Lakhs Adda52
Vishal Singh ₹6.07 Lakhs Mega Suits ₹25 Lakhs Adda52
Sagar C ₹5.60 Lakhs Godfather ₹25 Lakhs GTD Adda52
Armaan Kochhar ₹5.29 Lakhs The Summit ₹15 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Bhanu Prakash KC ₹5.15 Lakhs IOPC #67 – Sunday Spotlight Spartan Poker
Bharat Vasan ₹5.04 Lakhs The Weekly HighRoller ₹12 Lakhs PokerBaazi
Chandan Das ₹3.57 Lakhs IOPC #55 – Friday Prime Spartan Poker
Laksh Pal Singh ₹3.50 Lakhs IOPC #50 – Thursday Spotlight Spartan Poker
Amit Tejura ₹3.11 Lakhs APT#2 Monsterstack PokerBaazi
Nishaanth Shanmughasundaram ₹3.09 Lakhs APT#1 Kickoff PokerBaazi
Ashish Ahuja ₹2.96 Lakhs Super Highroller ₹12 Lakhs GTD PokerStars India
Monkey D. Wolfy ₹2.57 Lakhs Highroller ₹10 Lakhs GTD PokerStars India
Anuj Yadav ₹2.52 Lakhs IOPC #57 – All Rounder 6-Max ₹12 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Md Zeeshan ₹2.42 Lakhs Sunday Special – Progressive KO ₹15 Lakhs GTD PokerStars India
Madhab Pal ₹2.34 Lakhs IOPC #51 – All Rounder Monster Stack ₹12 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Saahib Bawa ₹1.61 Lakhs IOPC #47 – Monster Stack Spartan Poker
Tanmay Benara ₹1.46 Lakhs Sprint (7-Max) ₹5 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Chirag Sodha ₹1.43 Lakhs Monster Turbo ₹5 Lakhs GTD Adda52
Nitin Rawat ₹1.22 Lakhs APT#6 Turbo 6-Max PokerBaazi
Himanshu Aggrawal ₹1.17 Lakhs IOPC#54 Spartan Poker
Himanshu Chhikara ₹1.03 Lakhs IOPC #46 Spartan Poker
Rishab Malik ₹92,831 APT#3 Turbo 6-Max PokerBaazi
TT ₹58,750 Thursday Smash ₹2.50 Lakhs GTD MPL Poker
Radiation ₹58,750 Friday Supreme ₹2.50 Lakhs GTD MPL Poker
Manali007 ₹11,100 Hitman PLO ₹30K GTD Khelo365
Deliyal123 ₹10,500 Prime Time PLO ₹30K GTD Khelo365
Spartan Poker’s IOPC ‘Week of Legends’ Brings a Rocking Finale With 4 Marquees
The 12th edition of the IOPC is on the home stretch now. The Finale week has a set of four legendary marquees lined up, namely the IOPC Legends, IOPC Super High Roller, IOPC PLO High Roller, and IOPC The Crown – in all guaranteeing a whopping ₹7.25 Crores.
Read the complete report here
PokerBaazi is Back With the Third Edition of the Loss Insurance Cover (LIC) Leaderboard With ₹70 Lakhs GTD (February 1 – 7)
Cash game players have reasons to celebrate with PokerBaazi bringing back its Loss Insurance Cover Leaderboard promotion from February 1 to 7, offering over ₹70 Lakhs in rewards.
PokerStars India Qualifiers Offer an All-Expenses Paid Package to EPT Sochi
PokerStars India ran a ₹5,500 buy-in qualifiers at 9:30 PM on January 30, with two more to be held on subsequent Sundays on February 6 and 13, each offering an all-expenses-paid package worth ₹4 Lakhs to the EPT Sochi Main Event.
The site will also be running a 15 seats GTD Freebuy satellite to each qualifier every Sunday, offering players a chance to win the EPT Sochi package for free.
Read the complete report here
MPL Poker’s Steal Deal Series Returns From February 6 – 13
MPL Poker’s low-to-mid stakes bonanza, Steal Deal Series, is returning for its fourth edition from February 6 to 13. The site has over ₹26 Lakhs in guaranteed prizes across 72 events.
Read the complete report here
BLITZPOKER’s ‘Fabulous February’ Offer Has Exciting Valentine’s Week Giveaways For February
BLITZPOKER has announced its Fabulous February promotions offering users a chance to win over ₹4.40 Lakhs in bonuses! The site will also be hosting the ‘Valentine’s Week With Blitz,’ where players can win amazing prizes such as an Apple iPad, a gaming chair, or travel vouchers worth ₹20,000.
Read the complete report here
PSL Season 4 Dates Tweaked, Live Finale Postponed to April
The Poker Sports League Season 4 schedule has been changed. The brand has opted to delay the Qualifier Finals, Selection Ceremony, Virtual League matches, and the Finale due to the fresh wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Already, 180 players have qualified through the Online Qualifiers held on the Hashtag Poker app. Following this, Qualifier Finales (February 15, 17, and 19) will be held on a yet-to-be-announced online platform. Thirty-six of the 180 shortlisted players will be selected, and the virtual League Matches will be held after that. Resultantly, the Finale has been also been postponed to April 20 – 24 at a yet undisclosed live venue in Goa.
Read the complete report here
Games24x7 Onboards Hrithik Roshan as Brand Ambassador For RummyCircle
Mumbai-based online gaming giant Games24x7 has signed up famous Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan as the brand ambassador for its rummy site, RummyCircle. Roshan will endorse the rummy site across various promotional campaigns for the TV, digital and social media platforms.
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 again next week with our weekly report. Stay tuned.