This Week in Poker: June 15 – 21

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!

It’s season time for all of us working in poker media as live-action rages on at the richest poker spectacle in the world, the 53rd annual WSOP. Closer to home, the inaugural Asian Poker Tour Vietnam Hanoi culminated on Sunday, marking the end of arguably Team India`s most spectacular run in an Asian series to date!

It was a BIG Sunday for online MTT players back home with two mega stops – Spartan Poker’s biggest-ever IOPC and PokerBaazi’s 1100 THC winding-up proceedings. And it’s hardly surprising that most of the week`s chartbusters are players who either won or ran deep in the flagships at these two stops.

Ruling the digital felts this week was Saurabh Rohila, who wrote his name into the history books as the winner of the biggest-ever IOPC – The Crown. The IIT Delhi alumnus ran past a guarantee-crushing 4,721 entries in Spartan Poker`s ₹4 Crores GTD IOPC #130 – The Crown, banking a career-best ₹53.78 Lakhs. But wait, he incredibly carried two stacks to the FT and made another four ITM finishes in The Crown, cumulatively adding a whopping ₹55.55 Lakhs and the diamond-studded gold IOPC crown. He chopped the title heads-up with ‘washerman’ (2nd for ₹48.97 Lakhs).

The Crown victory was a fitting end to a breakout run by the 29-year-old poker reg who had been on a three-day heater at the IOPC entering the Sunday grind. He had already won two IOPC titles, made another runner-up finish before the Sunday win, and raked in a life-changing ₹1.04 Crores throughout the week. Rohila is a handful of players to have won an eight-figure sum in a week, making him an easy choice as our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

The THC #99 Main Event champion Abhimanyu Mittal, Neeraj Sattawat, Young Gun Sanat Mehrotra, PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan, and Adithya Ng were the week`s other top scorers.

The 53rd annual WSOP is running full throttle and is now around the halfway mark. Fourteen bracelets were awarded this past week, and driving up the excitement was Event #42: $100K High Roller, where Aleksejs Ponakovs faced the formidable Phil Ivey heads-up. Latvia’s Ponakovs eventually prevailed and grabbed his career-second WSOP bracelet, denying Ivey his 11th and winning $1.89 Million. Ivey secured a runner-up payday of $1.17 Million.

While a relatively uneventful week for Team India in Las Vegas, we had several Indian players making ITM finishes. The biggest contributor to the team`s tally was poker stalwart Aditya Agarwal, who placed 58th in Event #33: $3K 6-Handed NLHE for $8,950 (~₹6.99 Lakhs). Agarwal’s run secured him his third in the series and his 51st WSOP cash overall. Manan Bhandari, Aditya Sushant, Paawan Bansal, and Young Gun Neel Joshi added to the team’s tally.

Back in Asia, the inaugural APT Vietnam Hanoi stop went down the history books on Sunday. Local pro Nguyen Van Sang clinched the prestigious Championships Event title for VND 1.82 Billion (~$78,481). Two Indians crossed the money line in the event, Ankit Jajodia, and Sumit Sapra, with Jajodia finishing fifth for VND 456.49 Million (~₹15.31 Lakhs) – making his fourth final table appearance in the series.

Earlier in the week, Alok Birewar won Event #13: NLHE 2 for VND 191.84 Million, adding a second APT Trophy. Zarvan Tumboli did even better, lifting APT Trophies in back-to-back events. He took down Event #17: Deep Stack Hyper Turbo for VND 73.06 Million (~₹2.46 Lakhs) and Event 18: Pot-Limit Omaha for VND 70.90 Million (~₹2.38 Lakhs)! The APT Vietnam Hanoi Main Event winner, Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi, added another FT score to his name, finishing third in Event #20: High Rollers for VND 412.07 Million (~₹13.83 Lakhs).

The Pocket52 network is currently hosting the fourth edition of the Pocket Poker Championship (PPC) (June 20 – 26) and sports a busy schedule of 50 events and an appetizing ₹1.30 Crores in guaranteed prizes. Also up and running is PokerHigh’s Cash Fiesta and Cash Week (June 23 – 29), which has ₹1.50 Lakhs in prizes and extra rakeback on offer for cash game players.

Asia’s top online poker room, Natural8, is playing host to the brand-new microMILLION$ Series (June 19 – July 3) with micro buy-ins and an eye-popping $5 Million in guarantees!

There has been rising political unrest in Tamil Nadu over online gaming in the state. In the wake of the mounting pressure, the MK Stalin-led state government has set up a committee to evaluate and provide a framework for bringing in an ordinance to regulate online rummy. Retired Madras High Court judge Justice K Chandru leads the committee that is expected to submit its report this week.

In another industry development, Deltatech Gaming Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of India’s hospitality and casino giant Delta Corp that runs the poker platform Adda52, filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regular Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)last Thursday.

The international poker circuit is buzzing with the news of the veteran poker player, Doyle Brunson, the “Godfather of Poker,” signing up as World Poker Tour`s (WPT) latest brand ambassador.

The ten finalists for the 2022 class of the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame (PHoF) have been unveiled. The list includes new entrants Josh Arieh, Kathy Liebert, and Brian Rast, who join the seven returning nominees from last year. All the living Hall of Famers will vote on them, and one will be inducted into the PHoF in a grand ceremony on July 10 at the Bally’s Las Vegas.

Online Railbird Report

IIT Delhi alumni Saurabh Rohila had one helluva week, netting a career-defining ₹1.04 Crores overall. Rohila went on a rampage in Spartan Poker`s IOPC June 2022 series, winning three titles over the week, and making a runner-up finish – all across four consecutive days. He shipped the IOPC #107 – Super High Roller and IOPC #123 – Saturday Spotlight before taking down the series’ showstopper – ₹4 Crores GTD IOPC #130 – The Crown! Sidestepping a sea of 4,721 entries, Rohila eventually struck a heads-up deal with ‘washerman’ to earn the diamond-studded gold IOPC crown and a career-best ₹53.78 Lakhs (₹55.55 Lakhs cumulatively)! And for his breakthrough run, Rohila is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

His top finishes include:

– 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #130 – The Crown for ₹53.78 Lakhs

– 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #107 – Super High Roller (6-Max) for ₹34.97 Lakhs

– 2nd in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #115 – Friday Spotlight for ₹7.21 Lakhs

– 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #123 – Saturday Spotlight for ₹2.70 Lakhs

Abhimanyu Mittal was the other trailblazer. He captured the IOPC #115 – Friday Spotlight and followed that up by shipping PokerBaazi“s THC#99 Main Event for ₹13.04 Lakhs. Overall, the 27-year-old poker pro made away with ₹33.57 Lakhs this week.

His top finishes include:

– 1st in PokerBaazi’s THC#99 – Main Event (Finale) for ₹13.04 Lakhs

– 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #115 – Friday Spotlight for ₹11.44 Lakhs

– 4th in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #114 – Friday Prime for ₹1.18 Lakhs

The IOPC #130 – The Crown third-place finisher Neeraj Sattawat follows Saurabh Rohila and Abhimanyu Mittal, with ₹24.54 Lakhs earned over the week.

His top finishes include:

– 3rd in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #130 – The Crown for ₹23.88 Lakhs

Young Gun Sanat Mehrotra lapped up ₹20.72 Lakhs in weekly earnings. He won the Adda52`s Godfather and both the weekly High Rollers on PokerStars India.

His top finishes include:

– 1st in Adda52’s Godfather for ₹6.12 Lakhs

– 7th in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #127 – Sunday Prime for ₹2.50 Lakhs

– 1st in PokerStars India’s Sunday Highroller (On-time Rake Refund) for ₹2.10 Lakhs

– 1st in PokerStars India’s Highroller (On-time Rake Refund) for ₹2.10 Lakhs

PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan collectively added ₹18.49 Lakhs throughout the week.

His top finishes include:

– 1st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #127 – Sunday Prime for ₹13.17 Lakhs

– 51st in Spartan Poker’s IOPC #130 – The Crown for ₹1.62 Lakhs

– 4th in PokerBaazi’s The Pride for ₹92,120

Adithya N G (Weekly Cashes – ₹18 Lakhs), Harshit Sanghi (Weekly Cashes – ₹17.58 Lakhs), Rahul Kumar (Weekly Cashes – ₹16.77 Lakhs), PokerGuru Ambassador Arjanveer Singh Chadha (Weekly Cashes – ₹15.49 Lakhs), and Shrey Baj (Weekly Cashes – ₹15.34 Lakhs) were the week’s other top scorers.

Notable Winners of the Week

Pocket52’s ₹1.30 Crores GTD Pocket Poker Championship (June 20 to 26)

The Pocket52 network (includes Gamezy and Calling Station) is back with the fourth edition of the Pocket Poker Championship! The weeklong series got underway on June 20 and runs through June 26, with a packed schedule of 50 events and ₹1.30 Crores in prize pool guaranteed.

Read the complete report here

PokerHigh is Running Cash Fiesta and OFC Cash Week, ₹1.50 Lakhs in Prizes and Extra Rakeback on Offer (June 23 – 29)

PokerHigh is running two mouth-watering promotions for cash game players – Cash Fiesta and OFC Cash Week – from June 23 to 29.

Cash game lovers can claim up to 25% rakeback and win from ₹1.50 Lakhs in prizes in the Cash Fiesta, while OFC enthusiasts have a chance to claim up to 20% extra rakeback in the OFC Cash Week.

Natural8 Rolls Out Brand-New $5 Million GTD microMILLION$ Series (June 19 – July 3)

The brand-new microMILLION$ Series (June 19 – July 3) is currently underway on Natural8, with a whopping $5 Million guaranteed across a schedule of micro buy-in tournaments.

Read the complete report here

2022 WSOP Updates

The 53rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in its third week running, and the series has already hit the halfway mark.

Among the 14-odd bracelet events that played down to a champion this past week, no other generated as much interest as Event #42: $100K High Roller, for it had poker legend Phil Ivey on the cusp of winning his 11th bracelet. Denying Ivey the bragging rights was Latvia’s Aleksejs Ponakovs, who won the event for his second bracelet and $1.89 Million in prize money. Ivey collected $1.17 Million as the runner-up.

Read the complete report here

Brian Hastings entered the 10-handed final day field of Event #31: $10K Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship as the chip leader and rode his stack to the finish line, adding bracelet #6 to his name and the $292,146 cash prize that accompanied it.

Read the complete report here

Nino Ullmann, Fabian Brandes, Pedro Bromfman, Daniel Weinman, Ramsey Stovall, Lok Chan, Matt “PmpknHead” Szymaszek, and Ali Eslami grabbed their career-first bracelets this week.

On the other hand, Justin Pechie and Steven Albini added a second bracelet to their name.

Team India had a lukewarm week, and grabbing the biggest cash prize from the team was Aditya Agarwal, who placed 58th in Event #33: $3K 6-Handed NLHE for $8,950 (~₹6.99 Lakhs), picking his 51st WSOP cash, also his third at the ongoing series.

Read the complete report here

In Event #30: $1K PLO 8-Handed, Manan Bhandari finished 32nd for $6,585 (~₹5.13 Lakhs).

Read the complete report here

A total of 11 Indians headlined by Aditya Sushant (316th for $5,816 ~ ₹4.54 Lakhs scored in Event #37: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLHE.

Read the complete report here

Young Gun Siddharth Karia (209th for $1,552 ~ ₹1.21 Lakhs), Tarun Goyal (595th for $876 ~ ₹68,441), and Himmat Singh (671st for $801 ~ ₹62,581) posted ITM finishes in Event #43: $500 Freezeout NLHE.

Read the complete report here

WSOP 2022 Winners

APT Vietnam Hanoi 2022 Updates

The inaugural Asian Poker Tour (APT) Vietnam Hanoi wound up on June 19. The series was a roaring success for Team India, which brought back four APT Trophies, and multiple FT finishes through the series’ 13-day run.

The closing week saw Alok Birewar add another title to the team tally. Birewar captured Event #13: NLHE 2 for VND 191.84 Million.

Read the complete report here

The WPT Vietnam Prime Main Event champion Zarvan Tumboli went back-to-back in the series. He took down Event #17: Deep Stack Hyper Turbo for VND 73.06 Million (~₹2.46 Lakhs) and followed it up by shipping Event 18: Pot-Limit Omaha for VND 70.90 Million (~₹2.38 Lakhs).

Read the complete report here

The star attraction of the closing weekend was the VND 4 Billion GTD Championships Event, where India’s Ankit Jajodia placed fifth for VND 456.49 Million (~₹15.31 Lakhs), posting his fourth final table finish of the series.

Another Indian pro Sumit Sapra also cashed the event, placing 12th for VND 131.91 Million (~₹4.43 Lakhs).

Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Sang topped the 216-player field to claim the coveted APT Trophy for VND 1.82 Billion (~$78,481).

On the sidelines, the APT Vietnam Hanoi Main Event winner, Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi, finished third in the VND 86 Million buy-in Event #20: High Rollers for VND 412,070,000 (~₹13.83 Lakhs). Hong Kong’s Dennis Ng took down the title for VND 1,033,390,000 (~$44,476).

Read the complete report here

APT Vietnam Hanoi – Team India ITM Finishes

And with this, we conclude this week’s roundup of the latest news updates and developments from poker. We will return next week with our weekly report. Stay tuned.