This Week in Poker: March 9 – 15

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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It was an explosive week for online MTTs with the Final Table Series and the National Poker Series running together. While the FTS wrapped up on Monday, the NPS is still going strong. However, once the NPS gets done on Sunday, the attention will shift to the sunny shores of Goa, where the final tables of three NPS flagships and the Baazi Poker Tour take place at the PokerBaazi LIVE poker room onboard Casino Majestic Pride next week. But first, let’s take a look at the week that was!

FTS 4.0 concluded things in style with Young Gun Arsh Grover shipping the showstopper FTS #41 – Main Event for a career-best ₹40.23 Lakhs. The MTT phenom from New Delhi ended the week with ₹58.17 Lakhs in cumulative winnings, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

Mohammad Azhar, Sajal Gupta, Sumit Sapra, PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh, Aditya Kesharwani, and Ankit Bajaj were the other top weekly scorers.

While the online action is expected to temper down next week, it will roar back towards the start of April with Spartan Poker’s The Millionaire Series. The eight-day-long series runs from April 3 – 10 and guarantees a whopping ₹8.50 Crores across 28 tournaments.

But before we get to The Millionaire Series, poker lovers should watch out for PokerBaazi’s #BaaziBillion promotion. India’s most trusted online poker site recently dealt its 1 billionth hand, and it’s celebrating the momentous occasion with cash game and MTT offerings worth ₹22 Crores (March 25 to May 23)!

The #BaaziBillion will welcome back two of PokerBaazi’s most iconic MTTs – ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker, and the ₹5 Crores GTD EndBoss, along with India`s biggest-ever cash game promotion – ₹10 Crores GTD Cash Royale!

While the MTT regs and cash game crushers will enjoy these promotions, Pocket52’s 300% welcome bonus is geared to entice the newbies.

In other news, with the 2022 IPL just around the corner, online gaming sites have yet again begun doling out sponsorship deals. Rising cricketing talents Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad are the latest sports personalities to be signed on by My11Circle (owned by Game24x7) as brand ambassadors.

PokerStars’ EPT Prague is another stop that`s been making headlines. PokerStars Ambassador Alejandro Lococo (Won Eureka Main Event for €417,820), Timothy Adams (Won EPT Prague Super High Roller for €742,200), Rodrigo Selouan (Won Single-Day High Roller IV for €318,370), and Andras Nemeth (Won Single Day High Roller II for €211,760) were some standout winners at the series recently.

Meanwhile, Tony Sinishtaj won the Wynn Millions Main Event for $1,655,952.

Just days after PokerStars exited Russia in the wake of the rising escalations in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, 888poker has also suspended operations in the country.

Online Railbird Report

Young Gun Arsh Grover dominated the show in a week that saw big tournament series like the Final Table Series and the National Poker Series play out. Grover had a career-defining Sunday when he captured Spartan Poker’s FTS #41 – Main Event for a personal-best ₹40.23 Lakhs, climbing to #2 in the annual leaderboard rankings. Fireworks apart, the young go-getter pulled in a consistent show this past week to add a whopping ₹58.17 Lakhs to his poker bankroll, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

His top finishes include:

> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #41 – Main Event for ₹40.24 Lakhs

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s FTS #24 – Big Game for ₹10.75 Lakhs

The defending NPS Main Event champion Mohammad Azhar finished runner-up in the FTS #41 – Main Event for ₹24.84 Lakhs. Azhar won three titles over the week, adding ₹40.08 in weekly earnings.

His top finishes include:

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s FTS #41 – Main Event for ₹24.84 Lakhs

> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #29 for ₹5.36 Lakhs

> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#51 Evening Slam Dunk for ₹2.77 Lakhs

> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#21 PLO5 Slam Dunk for ₹1.42 Lakhs

Former IIT-ian Sajal Gupta racked up a career-best ₹33.21 Lakhs last Friday, after he won the most expensive event on the FTS 4.0 schedule, FTS #32 – High Roller. Gupta’s weekly tally touched ₹36.91 Lakhs, making him the third-biggest scorer of the week.

His top finishes include:

> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #32 – High Roller for ₹33.21 Lakhs

> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s FTS – The Masters Table for ₹2 Lakhs

Veteran player Sumit Sapra added a massive ₹33.80 Lakhs on the back of two standout scores and a litany of deep runs. Sapra most prominently took down NPS#20 Highroller for ₹16.86 Lakhs.

His top finishes include:

> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#30 NPS Highroller for ₹16.86 Lakhs

> 4th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #41 – Main Event for ₹13.60 Lakhs

PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh lapped up ₹27.52 Lakhs over the week.

His top finishes include:

>2nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#30 Highroller for ₹16.77 Lakhs

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s FTS #39 for ₹9.36 Lakhs

Aditya Kesharwani was another player who picked up over ₹20 Lakhs this week and won most of it through his runner-up finish in FTS #32 – High Roller. Kesharwani’s weekly scorecard touched ₹23.19 Lakhs.

His top finishes include:

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s FTS #32 – High Roller for ₹22.44 Lakhs

Ankit Bajaj won the FTS #36 -Head Hunter and FT-ed several flagships, making away with ₹22.89 Lakhs.

His top finishes include:

> 1st in Spartan Poker’s FTS #36 – Head Hunter for ₹8.58 Lakhs

> 5th in Adda52’s Full House Finale for ₹4.73 Lakhs

> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#37 Saturday Slam for ₹1.97 Lakhs

> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#20 Freezeout for ₹1.88 Lakhs

> 27th in Spartan Poker’s FTS #41 – Main Event for ₹1.04 Lakhs

Sanat Mehrotra, Manish Lakhotia, Siddarth Singhvi, Arun Sriram, Aman Parakh, Shardul Parthasarathi, Punya Behera, Rubin Labroo, Kunal Patni, Dhiraj Lakhotia, and Rohit Begwani were the week`s other top scorers.

Notable Winners of the Week

Spartan Poker’s ₹8.50 Crores GTD The Millionaire Runs From April 3 – 10

Spartan Poker has announced the fourth installment of its flagship The Millionaire Series, which comes in a bigger and better avatar. The upcoming series has ₹8.50 Crores in guaranteed prizes spread across 28 tournaments and promises to make 11 millionaires in 10 marquee tournaments.

Read the complete report here

PokerBaazi is Celebrating “One Billion Hands” Milestone With #BaaziBillion Promotions Worth ₹22 Crores (March 25 – May 23)

PokerBaazi dealt its first real money hand in October 2014, and this week, the site dealt its one billionth hand. Marking the momentous occasion, the site has announced a 60-day #BaaziBillions campaign from March 25 to May 23, as part of which it will host cash game and MTT offerings, handing out a ginormous ₹22 Crores in prizes.

The attractions include India`s biggest-ever cash game promotion, ₹10 Crores GTD Cash Royale, and the return of MTT flagships like the ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker, and the ₹5 Crores GTD EndBoss.

Read the complete report here

Pocket52 Offers a 300% Welcome Bonus For First-Time Depositors

Online poker site Pocket52 is offering a 300% welcome bonus for first-time depositors, with the bonus capped at ₹30,000.

Depositing players will instantly get 15% of their deposit amount as cash in their Pocket52 wallets, with the remaining 285% bonus to be released as they play real-money games on the site.

Read the complete report here

My11Circle Onboards Rising Cricket Stars Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad as Brand Ambassadors

Game24x7’s fantasy arm, My11Circle, has onboarded young cricketing talents Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad as brand ambassadors. The duo will be seen in My11Circle ad campaigns across TV, digital and social media platforms.

Read the complete report here

EPT Prague

The 2022 PokerStars EPT Prague visited King’s Casino Prague, Hilton Prague Hotel from March 5 to 16, returning after almost three years. The first major PokerStars live event of 2022 saw several flagship tournaments crowning champions in its final stretch.

Canadian poker pro Timothy Adams won the EPT Prague Super High Roller for the second time, collecting €742,200.

The Single-Day High Roller IV was captured by Brazil’s Rodrigo Selouan for €318,370 (~$350,127), while Hungary’s Andras Nemeth took down the Single Day High Roller II for €211,760 (~$232,883).

Read the complete report here

The Eureka Main Event drew 3,155 entries across four starting flights. PokerStars Ambassador Alejandro Lococo proved the eventual champion and won the Spadie Trophy for €417,820.

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.