This Week in Poker: March 25 – 31

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!

The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has taken on dangerously high proportions across the world, posing a considerable risk to human life while crippling the world economy. When we came out with our weekly recap last week, the pandemic had infected 434,568 people. In just the last seven days alone, this count has near doubled to 860,170. While around 42,344 people have died across the world so far, the death toll has climbed up to 38 in India, with over 1,637 Indians afflicted by the deadly virus. The country has entered its ninth day of lockdown, and with all movement restricted, it was the virtual felts that bustled with activity this week.

We have been talking to many of the domestic regs recently, and it was a relief to hear that all of them are staying indoors during this lockdown, and most of them are using this opportunity to spend quality time with family. For many online regs, the lockdown has given them a reason to play more online, given the massive guarantees that the major platforms are offering!

Headlining the week`s action was Spartan Poker’s Millionaire United. The ₹1 Crore GTD tourney played out last Sunday. Despite being a daylong affair, the tourney managed to log in a massive 1,764 entries (833 unique, 368 re-entries and 563 re-buys) to stride past the break-even mark and collect a ₹1.23 Crore prize pool. There’s a growing pool of women now taking on the felts and donning the Millionaire hat this week was none other than one such upcoming player Mahima Walia ‘mambojojo’ Das. Bengaluru-based Das is a recreational player who has been learning the game from her spouse and well-known reg, Anirban ‘pokernoob’ Das. In The Millionaire United, Das defeated ‘lazylad’ (runner-up for ₹12.72 Lakhs) heads-up to win a personal best ₹21.93 Lakhs. Being the top performer of the week, and the first woman to win a Millionaire title, Das is deservedly our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

Four other players, namely, Anurag ‘Norman Bates’ Srivastava, Devang ‘equity_hunter’ Yadav, Goonjan ‘gmtesting’ Mall, and Gagandeep ‘gaganhyd’ Singh collected seven-figure scores this week. Another standout performer this week was PokerGuru Ambassador Rohit ‘ShippingYard’ Mishra, who won an incredible three titles on Tuesday, including Spartan Poker’s Mega Stack ₹30 Lakhs GTD taking his total tally to ₹10.48 Lakhs!

There is plenty more online action to look forward to as the PokerBaazi Monthly Value Series (PMVS) Special Edition kicks off today. The five-day series boasts of over ₹2.1 Crores in prize pool guarantees!

While the COVID-19 crisis kept the nation locked, the big story doing the rounds was the Dream11 case that has once again come into the spotlight after the Supreme Court stayed the Bombay High Court order from April 30, 2019. The Supreme Court gave this order while hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Maharashtra government. It will require Dream11 to defend once again its position on the legality of its business and the manner of GST payments.

Meanwhile, the country’s only BSE-listed gaming firm, Delta Corp, approved the buyback of the company`s shares for up to ₹125 Crores in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak that had sent the Delta Corp share price plummeting. The share price recovered strongly after the news of the buyback was made public.

In other reports, the ongoing pandemic has not affected The Stars Group (TSG) – Flutter Entertainment merger, and the same seems to be on track with both the U.K and Australian market regulators giving the go-ahead to the deal. Meanwhile, the unprecedented situation has prompted Nevada regulators to approve betting on eSports.

In other reports, Poker Central premiered two new shows to satiate the growing demand for content in the ongoing lockdown. Meanwhile, live tours continue to be moved online with WPT announcing a lineup of WPTDeepStacks events that will now take place on partypoker.fr and partypoker.es. Asia-centric brand, Asian Poker Tour (APT), will also be hosting an online series from April to May 10 on Natural 8.

Online Railbird Report

With the Coronavirus outbreak forcing a nation-wide lockdown, online sites are having a field day hosting massive guaranteed tournament all day long.

The showstopper tourney this week was Spartan Poker’s Millionaire United ₹1 Crore GTD that played out last Sunday. Registering 1,764 entries (833 unique, 368 re-entries and 563 re-buys) across two starting flights, the new Millionaire variant collected ₹1.23 Crores in prize pool on its debut run. While several bigwigs and former Millionaire champions were in the reckoning on the FT, it the end, it was Mahima Walia ‘mambojojo’ Das from Bengaluru who clinched the title and the top prize of ₹21.93 Lakhs. Das`s blistering win makes her our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!!”

While The Millionaire runner-up ‘lazylad’ earned a hefty ₹12.72 Lakhs, four others, Anurag ‘Norman Bates’ Srivastava (The Destiny ₹35 Lakhs GTD for ₹12.26 Lakhs), Devang ‘equity_hunter’ Yadav (Sunday SuperStack ₹50 Lakhs GTD for ₹11.42 Lakhs), Goonjan ‘gmtesting’ Mall (The Elite ₹40 Lakhs GTD for ₹10.51 Lakhs) and Gagandeep ‘gaganhyd’ Singh (Adda52 Mega Suits ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹10.38 Lakhs) collected seven-figure scores this week.

Another name that deserves special mention here is PokerGuru Ambassador Rohit Mishra for winning an impressive three online titles on Tuesday – Spartan Poker’s Mega Stack ₹30 Lakhs GTD (₹6.87 Lakhs), Afternoon Showdown – Monster Stack ₹8 Lakhs GTD (₹1.82 Lakhs) and PokerBaazi’s Endeavour Mini ₹5 Lakhs GTD (₹1.77 Lakhs). In total, he added a whopping ₹10.48 Lakhs to his bankroll yesterday.

The notable scores of the week include –

Supreme Court Issues Notice to Dream11 in GST Evasion & Skill-Game Issue

Early in March, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Chief Justice DA Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant heard out the Special Leave Petition filed by the Maharashtra government against the Bombay High Court order dated April 30, 2019, in the Dream11 case. Expressing reservation at how the Bombay High Court had ruled that Dream11 was hosting games of skill and was correct in the manner of GST payment, the Supreme Court stayed the order.

Read the complete story here

Coronavirus Outbreak Affects Gaming Sector

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the gaming sector. In a recent development, India’s only BSE-listed hospitality and gaming company, Delta Corp, decided to buy back its shares worth up to ₹125 Crores. The company’s board approved the decision given the falling share price of the company that owns and runs casinos in Goa, Sikkim & Nepal.

However, all is on track for the planned merger between the UK-list gambling giant Flutter Entertainment and The Stars Group (TSG). Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said that the merger would go ahead despite “challenging times.” One significant change is that TSG CEO Rafi Ashkenazi will not be part of the executive team, nor will he be taking up the post of COO at the merged entity. Instead, Ashkenazi will provide consultation to Jackson and join the board in a non-executive capacity.

Meanwhile, in Nevada, where casinos and gambling venues have shut for a month, gaming regulators have rushed to give the go-ahead for legalized betting on eSports. With this, Nevada has become the first U.S. state to approve sports betting on eSports.

Read the complete story here

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has forced casinos to shut doors worldwide, poker brand Poker Central has launched entertaining content for poker audiences forced to stay indoors. The brand premiered two new shows on the PokerGO app.

Read the complete story here

Despite the bad news coming in, it’s not all gloom and doom for the poker sector. While the live tournaments are on a standstill, several top brands have moved their series online. On March 31, the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced new WPTDeepStacks events that will take place on partypoker.fr and partypoker.es. Moreover, the Asian Poker Tour (APT) will also be hosting an online series from April to May 10 on the Natural 8 platform.

PokerStars Founder Isai Scheinberg Pleads Guilty to Black Friday Charges

Co-founder of online poker company PokerStars, Isai Scheinberg has changed his plea to guilty in the U.S Federal Court over illegal gambling charges related to the Black Friday saga. The 73-year old had surrendered to the authorities back in January and had pleaded ‘not guilty’ earlier. A date for his sentencing has not been scheduled yet, but given the charges, Scheinberg is looking at spending a maximum of five years in prison.

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 next week with our weekly report, till then stay indoors and stay safe!