This Week in Poker: July 31 – August 6

In the PokerGuru feature, ‘This Week in Poker,’ we bring you the weekly round-up of 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 top stories!

The spotlight has swung back to the vibrant virtual felts in India, sparking a surge in online poker action. Junglee Poker launched its ₹12 Crores GTD Azadi Series on August 1. Close on its heels, PokerBaazi rolled out the Indian Poker Masters on August 4, unveiling an expansive slate of 158 tournaments with a whopping ₹60 Crores in total guarantees. This shift to the digital domain follows a thrilling stretch of live poker dominance, notably marked by the wrap-up of the 2024 APPT Manila in the bustling Asian live poker circuit.

Saransh Garg stood out as the top performer this week in the Indian poker scene, amassing an impressive ₹27.78 Lakhs through several cashes, including two major tournament victories. His standout achievement came on Sunday when he clinched his first IPM title by winning the ₹1.50 Crores GTD IPM#4 Inaugural, where he secured a top prize of ₹19.47 Lakhs following a strategic heads-up deal. Additionally, Garg won The Pride for the second time, adding another ₹5.83 Lakhs to his earnings. These remarkable victories have earned him the title of “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

The other top online winners of the week included Young Gun Arsh Grover, Sriharsha Doddapaneni, Rubin Labroo, Debayan Das, Rajneesh Thakur, Saurabh Rohila, Aniket Waghmare, Pradip Ghosh, and Kamlesh Raul.

Top Online Winners of the Week

On the live front, the 2024 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila, held at the lavish Okada Manila, concluded this week after an exciting run of 67 trophy events. The festival witnessed robust participation and success from Indian players who had previously excelled at the 2024 Won Poker Cup and the 2024 WPT Cambodia, accumulating 30 cashes, three titles, and five additional final table appearances.

The series was highlighted by the ₱55 Million GTD Event #49: ₱80K APPT Main Event, where Xiong Cheng emerged victorious from a field of 1,304 entries, claiming the top prize of ₱15 Million. The runner-up, John Matsuda, also made a significant impact with a ₱9.32 Million payout. Both players received a ₱200,000 package for the upcoming APPT Championship in October.

Among the Indian contingent, four players scored in the Main Event. Veteran pro Dhaval Mudgal went the deepest, finishing 93rd and earning ₱200,000 (~₹2.91 Lakhs), bringing his total series earnings to ₱601,000 (~₹8.76 Lakhs) from six scores. He was followed by Nikhil Kedia, who placed 103rd for ₱175,000 (~₹2.55 Lakhs); Pratik Modi, the Event #36: ₱15K Super Deep champion, who finished 149th for ₱134,000 (~₹1.95 Lakhs); and Dilip Menon, who also finished for ₱134,000 (~₹1.95 Lakhs) in 173rd place.

APPT Manila – Title Winners

Noteworthy performances also came from Rishi Mehra and Raju Jaruplavath, the recent WPT Cambodia Event #36: 3K High Roller runner-up, who both reached the final table of Event #57: ₱165K Single Day High Roller this week. Mehra secured fifth place and bagged ₱833,000 (~~₹12.08 Lakhs), marking the most significant single score by an Indian in the series. Jaruplavath also made a notable series debut, finishing ninth and earning ₱295,000 (~₹4.28 Lakhs).

Team India Scores at APPT Manila

In a serendipitous twist, Abhishek Goindi, fresh off a victory in Las Vegas, continued his winning streak in Hanoi, Vietnam. During a PokerBaazi video shoot, Goindi took his skills to the felt at the prestigious Crown Poker Club, emerging victorious in the VND 1 Billion GTD Hot Saturday tournament and adding another trophy with a $7,200 win (~₹6.06 Lakhs).

The ₹60 Crore GTD Indian Poker Masters is underway on PokerBaazi from August 4 to 25. The series includes 158 tournaments with key attractions like a ₹6 Crore GTD Masters Main Event, a ₹4 Crore GTD Big Value event, and a new ₹2 Crore GTD Micro Main Event. The event features a range of buy-ins and offers ₹1.25 Crore in leaderboard prizes. An exclusive Poker Masterclass in Goa also forms part of this extensive series, providing mentorship to 24 aspirants.

Eight of Natural8 India’s finest poker players have qualified for the APT Taipei Poker Classic, scheduled to stream live from Taipei on September 28. They’ll be participating in the APT Taipei event from September 27 to October 7, which features a massive prize pool of TWD 150 Million (~ $4.60 Million) and includes 114 tournaments. The top three finalists from the Natural8 India X APT Taipei – India Exclusive Tournament will win ₹2.42 Lakhs, ₹1.81 Lakhs, and ₹1.36 Lakhs respectively, along with entry to the APT Taipei Main Event. Those placing 4th to 8th will receive entry into the Mini Main Event. The chip counts for the final table are led by Saransh Garg, with 104 BBs.

The WSOP Paradise 2024 is set to dazzle in the Bahamas, featuring a staggering $68.50 Million in guaranteed prize pools over 15 bracelet events. This festival, powered by GGPoker and Triton Poker, features top tournaments like the $100K Triton Main Event and a $50M Super Main Event. Buy-ins range from $2,500 to $100,000. The WSOP Online Series also starts on August 18, offering 33 Gold Bracelet events.

In a landmark development, GGPoker has inked a staggering $500 Million deal to acquire the WSOP from Caesars Entertainment Inc., ensuring the continuation of this illustrious series in Las Vegas for the next two decades.

With this, we conclude this week’s round-up of the latest news updates and developments from the world of poker. We will return next week with another weekly report. Stay tuned!