This Week in Poker: June 26 – July 2

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

The 50^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) is now in its sixth week and with the much-awaited $10,000 MAIN EVENT – World Championship less than 24 hours away, the nail-biting action of the series is reaching its crescendo. But before we get to talking about what’s to come, let’s take a look back at the week that just passed us by.

This year’s WSOP has the largest-ever Indian contingent in attendance, resulting in the best ever run by Team India at the series. This past week a jaw-dropping 46 scores were logged in by the Indian battalion at the series. However, despite Team India performing spectacularly at the 2019 WSOP, the biggest Indian scores this past week came in non-bracelet events.

Headlining the Indian cashes in Las Vegas was Ankit Ahuja, who overcame a 2,233-strong entry field in Event #75: $1,100 NLH MonsterStack at the Venetian DeepStack Championship to claim the title and top prize of $266,824 (~₹1.84 Crores) following a heads-up chop. For this, he is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week.”

India’s only female bracelet winner, Nikita Luther was another trailblazer last week as she final tabled the Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas Main Event for the second time in three years. This time around, however, she came tantalizingly close to bagging the title, ultimately finishing runner-up for a personal-best $109,300 (~₹75.32 Lakhs).

Topping the list of Indian finishes at the WSOP was series debutant Naresh Veeravalli. The Hyderabad-based player collected his career`s first WSOP score in Event #59: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Championship where he finished 22^nd for $13,658 (~₹9.41 lakhs). The second-highest score of the past week came from two-time bracelet winner Nipun Java who ran the deepest in Event #69: $1,000 Mini Main Event placing 51^st for $11,460 (~₹7.89 Lakhs).

Presently, two Indians have made the cut for Day 2 in Event #71: SALUTE TO WARRIORS – $500 No-Limit Hold’em – Aditya Systla and Sachidananda Sivakumar. Systla will be carrying the 21^st biggest stack of 310,000 (62 big blinds) to Day 2, while Sivakumar will be returning with a below-average stack of 70,000 (14 big blinds).

The attention will soon shift to the most prestigious poker tournament in the world – the 2019 WSOP Main Event – that commences later tonight. Historically, the Main Event has always attracted a large number of Indians, and with the largest-ever contingent in attendance this year, it would be reasonable to expect a few deep runs from Team India.

Heading east to Jeju in South Korea, Indian challenger Sahil Chuttani was seen going hard at the 2019 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Jeju’s ₩6,000,000 buy-in High Roller. He managed to final table the event, finishing fifth for ₩18,794,000 (~₹11.20 Lakhs).

Even the 2019 EPT Open Madrid Main Event featured an Indian contender. After running deep in the side events, Rajat Sharma picked up a 59^th place finish in the Main Event, pocketing €2,870 (~₹2.23 Lakhs) in the process.

On the virtual felts, Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood emerged as the biggest winner after taking down PokerBaazi’s Baazi Super Sunday (BSS) SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.02 Lakhs. Meanwhile, ‘RateDocter’ took down PokerStars India’s Sunday Special – Progressive KO ₹15 Lakhs GTD, collecting ₹2.85 Lakhs in first-place prize money.

In keeping with its trendsetting habits, PokerBaazi recently announced the second edition of the country’s biggest online poker tournament – The GameChanger 2.0. Scheduled to run from August 21-25, the event will feature four starting flights, and the same ₹2 Crore GTD – all with the buy-in reduced by half since last time. This time around, players will only have to cough up ₹5,500 to participate in the ₹2 Crore GTD event.

In other news, Pune-based poker pro Sharad Rao was appointed as PokerStars India’s first-ever live streaming ambassador. Seasoned pro Abhisek Panda announced his retirement from poker and his departure as a Team PokerBaazi pro, while MadOverPoker (MOP) shut shop.

With the WSOP now nearing the home stretch, there is still a lot to look forward to for poker fans, especially as the DPT July edition is coming up from July 31 to August 5. While in the international sphere, the WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS) Germany, Rozvadov (July 11-22), partypoker Grand Prix UK, Nottingham (July 5-7) and WSOP Circuit Russia – Sochi (July 14-28), are all coming up soon.

Moreover, the second edition of Asian Poker Tour (APT) is well underway at the Pro Poker Club in Ho Chi Minh City since July 3 and has several Indian players in attendance.

Online Railbird Report

PokerBaazi’s signature Sunday tournament – BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD attracted 468 entries (includes 181 re-entries) last Sunday and taking the top honors for a ₹5.02 Lakhs payday was online reg Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood.

Other notable scores of the week include –

Rahul ‘Clearsky’ Gupta won ₹3.62 Lakhs for 1^st place in the PokerBaazi ‘The Summit ₹10 Lakhs GTD’

‘RateDocter’ won ₹2.85 Lakhs for 1^st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Special – Progressive KO ₹15 Lakhs GTD’

‘Amit1Sur’ won ₹2.35 Lakhs for 1^st place in the PokerBaazi ‘The Bout ₹10 Lakh GTD’

‘Kalibaba’ won ₹1.34 Lakhs for 1^st place in the PokerBaazi ‘BSS PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD (RE)’

Aditya ‘eatingseeds’ Degala won ₹1.24 Lakhs for 1^st place in the PokerBaazi ‘The Monster 6 Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Anmol ‘anzzzzz’ Mehta won ₹1.24 Lakhs for 1^st place in the PokerBaazi ‘BSS Megastack ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

‘ashking1996’ won ₹80,000 for 1^st place in the Khelo 365 ‘Twister ₹2 Lakhs GTD Deepstack NLHE (Max 5 Rebuys)’

‘Incognito’ won ₹77,950 for 1^st place in the PokerBaazi ‘Weekly Super 5 ₹5 Lakhs GTD (RE)’

‘GutshotHaiBro’ won ₹66,718 for 1^st place in the PokerStars India ‘The Classic ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD’

Yash ‘hasyY@$#116’ Shrivastava won ₹43,687 for 1^st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Stars ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

‘shanishsj’ won ₹32,250 for 1^st place in the Khelo 365 ‘Big Splash ₹75K GTD NLHE (Max 5 Rebuys)’

‘bunts12’ won ₹24,341 for 1^st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Supersonic ₹1 Lakh GTD’

‘thumkhi’ won ₹18,100 for 1^st place in the PokerBaazi ‘Sunday ₹1 Lakh GTD (RE)’

‘Madfoodie99’ won ₹17,200 for 1^st place in the Khelo 365 ‘Deep Stack ₹40K GTD NLHE (Max 5 Rebuys)’

PokerBaazi Announces 2^nd Edition of Game Changer With Halved Buy-in

Four months after its record-breaking debut, the country’s biggest multi-day online poker tournament – GameChanger – is returning on PokerBaazi once again for a second outing. The GameChanger 2.0 will be held from August 21-25 and will run four starting flights – an additional flight from last time and that too in turbo format.

At the announcement, PokerBaazi had hinted at a surprise and turns out the same was worth the wait! The site has reduced the buy-in of the tournament by half, bringing it down from the earlier ₹11,000 to ₹5,500, indicating that the site will have to do better than the 3,777 entries last time to avoid an overlay.

GameChanger 2.0 will allow players to enter multiple flights and advance with the healthiest stack. Satellites for as low as ₹275 are running on the site. While two flights are running from Monday to Saturday, four satellites are on tap for Sundays

The first edition of the GameChanger that took place from February 21-24, was famously taken down by the Bengaluru-based Prashanth Sekar.

Sharad Rao Joins PokerStars India as Live Streaming Ambassador

24-year-old Sharad Rao has been roped in by PokerStars India as its first dedicated live streamer.

Read the complete story here

Abhisek Panda Quits Poker

Seasoned pro Abhisek Panda announcing his retirement from poker said that he was parting ways with PokerBaazi as the site`s brand ambassador. Panda stated that he hasn’t decided what he will pursue next but will be exploring a few options.

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MadOverPoker Suspends Operations

Online poker site MadOverPoker (MOP) has suspended operations since June 21.

Read the complete story here

WSOP 2019

Team India continuing its onward march at the 50^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) posted an astounding 36 cashes in bracelet events last week. The deepest run in these was by WSOP debutant Naresh Veeravalli who banked a career-best $13,658 (~₹9.41 Lakhs) for placing 22^nd in Event #59: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Championship.

Read the complete story here

Trailing Veeravalli in the weeks cashes is Nipun Java who netted $11,460 (~₹7.89 Lakhs) for his 51^st place finish in Event #69: $1,000 Mini Main Event.

Read the complete story here

The other Indian scores for this past week are as follows:

Team India Scores (Braceket Events – Last Week)

Two Indian contenders are presently going strong in Event #71: SALUTE TO WARRIORS – $500 No-Limit Hold’em, namely, Aditya S and Sachidananda Sivakumar. Systla bagged the 21^st biggest stack of the day with 310,000 chips (62 big blinds), while Sivakumar amassed a below-average stack of 70,000 (14 big blinds).

Read the complete story here

With the first starting flight of the Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em MAIN EVENT – World Championship just hours away, there is still a lot of electrifying poker action to watch out for at the 2019 WSOP.

WSOP 2019 Winners

The bracelet winners this past week were as follows:

WSOP Honors Poker Players & Commemorates Moments in it’s ‘First Fifty Honors’ Gala

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) hosted it’s ‘First Fifty Honors’ Gala and dinner on June 30. Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moneymaker, and Doyle Brunson won the honor of ‘4 Most Important Players In WSOP History’, while Moneymaker walked away with two more honors for ‘Most Impressive WSOP Main Event Win’ and ‘Most Memorable TV Hand.’ Daniel Negreanu was another poker superstar who snagged two more awards, being voted the ‘Fan Favourite’ and ‘Best Overall WSOP Performance (Single Year). Phil Hellmuth was the unanimous ‘WSOP’s Favourite Bad Boy,’ while Justin Bonomo was voted as the ‘Most Like to Succeed (Most Bracelets 2020-2070)’ player.

Read the complete story here

Ankit Ahuja Wins Venetian DeepStack Championship $1.1K MonsterStack

In what turned out to become the breakout story last week, Ankit Ahuja topped the 2,233 entry field in the Venetian DeepStack Championship series’ $1,100 NLH MonsterStack event. Ahuja pocketed a career-best score of $266,824 (~₹1.84 Crores) after an even heads-up chop with Jesse Cohen. Ahuja is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week.”

Read the complete story here

Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas

The Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas that took place at the ARIA Resort and Casino last week turned out to be yet another special event for the Indian camp in Las Vegas. India’s only female bracelet winner Nikita Luther found herself at a WPT500 final table for the second time in three years and was looking in great shape to bring the title home. Unfortunately, Luther got unlucky in the heads-up match against Ben Farrell and settled for the runner up spot for her career-best score of $109,300 (₹75.32 Lakhs). Farrell claimed the title and banked $155,000 (~₹1.06 Crores) in prize money.

Read the complete story here

APPT Jeju 2019

Stirring up action in the Asian circuit last week was the inaugural 2019 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Jeju. Winning the Main Event at the stop was 76-year old businessman Huidong Gu who collected a sum of ₩183,695,000 (~$159,100) for his finish.

Team India’s Sahil Chuttani was one of two Indians present at the series, and he posted two scores. He placed 36^th place in the Main Event for 4,740,000 KRW (~₹2.82 Lakhs) and followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the ₩6,000,000 buy-in High Roller for ₩18,794,000 (₹11.20 Lakhs).

Read the complete story here

EPT Open Madrid

24-year-old Poland native Jakub Grzegorzek took down the 2019 EPT Open Madrid Main Event for €176,357. Grzegorzek had entered the event after winning a €162 satellite and booked a 1,100X profit on his investment!

India’s Rajat Sharma who had won a small Las Vegas package online decided to use the funds to play EPT Madrid. The trip was not bad for Sharma, who along with a few deep runs in side events, finished 59th in the Main Event for €2,870 (~₹2.23 Lakhs).

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.