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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 circuits. Here are this week’s top stories!
As we near the year’s final month, the virtual felts are awakening with exciting action as Spartan Poker’s inaugural Legend Poker Series hit the floor today and will run till December 11. PokerStars India’s Bounty Builder Series November 28 to December 5, will commence next week, while Asian Poker Tour (APT) Online Series – India returns for its fifth edition from December 2 to 11 on PokerBaazi.
With the XXX Poker Series (Spartan Poker) and the Baazi Turbo Series 2.0 (PokerBaazi) culminating on Sunday and no other MTT series commencing, the action on the online felts was relatively slow this past week.
Shashank Shekhar, hunting for his maiden XXX Poker Series title, went on a tear on the final day. He clinched the XXX #75 Main Event for ₹27.35 Lakhs and XXX #74 for ₹4.63 Lakhs, netting a career-best ₹32.56 Lakhs in Sunday winnings. For his remarkable performance, Shashank Shekhar is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
Ashish Munot shipped the BTS#45 Main Event for ₹11.64 Lakhs on Sunday and Spartan Poker’s Mega Stack for ₹3.48 Lakhs, banking ₹18.10 Lakhs in weekly winnings.
Young Gun Neel Joshi, Vishal Bajaj, and Goonjan Mall were the other big scorers this week.
PokerStars India is joining the sites offering mouth-watering MTT action from November to December. The India-facing arm of the online poker giant PokerStars, PokerStars India, will launch its globally popular ₹2.70+ Crores GTD Bounty Builder Series on November 29. Comprising 42 tournaments, the series will run till December 5.
While the Legend Poker Series, Bounty Builder Series, and APT Online Series 5.0 promise high-octane action for December, Gamezy’s #NoFoldNovember will close out the month in style. With 41 thrilling MTTs guaranteeing ₹76.20 Lakhs in prizes, it’s an excellent opportunity for players to build their bankrolls.
While MTT players have much to look forward to in the coming weeks, cash game lovers should not be disappointed. Pocket52’s Cash Leaderboard League promises ₹86 Lakhs in prizes across seven leaderboard races segregated according to stakes and time slots.
Meanwhile, MPL Poker, which just onboarded critically acclaimed Bollywood actor Jim Sarbh as their first celebrity brand ambassador, has been giving away ₹5 Crores in prizes through attractive MTTs and its popular Cash Bash 2.0 promotion!
Speaking of brand ambassadors, renowned poker pros Abhishek Goindi and Muskan Sethi were roped in by PokerBaazi as their latest Team Pros. The dynamic duo has joined Bollywood heartthrob Shahid Kapoor to represent India’s most trusted online poker site and the live and virtual felts.
The lone Indian (that we know of) to score on the South-Asian felts this week was Chirag Shah. He picked up three cashes in the ongoing Asian Poker Tour (APT) 2022 Philippines, namely Event #4: ₱20K Head Hunter (9th for ₱37,100), Event #17: ₱20K NLHE (7th for ₱70,800) and Event #21: ₱15,000 NLH Single Day (9th for ₱39,200).
Local player Moses Saquing championed Event #24: ₱50K Main Event for ₱4,915,100, while Christopher Mateo finished runner-up for ₱3,276,900.
In other news, the GoM, on November 22, finalized their long pending report on taxation of online gaming, casinos, and horse racing. In the meeting, the panel of state finance ministers proposed that the goods and services (GST) tax be hiked by 10% to 28%, which is the highest slab rate.
On November 16, the Madras High Court refused to grant an interim stay on the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance, 2022. The Court directed petitioners All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), PlayGames 24X7 Private Limited, and Head Digital Works Private Limited to withdraw their constitutional petitions, observing that the relief was sought even before the ordinance came into effect.
In an unprecedented move, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame (WiPHoF) inducted four spectacular women, Angelica Hael, Terry King, Vanessa Selbst, and Jennifer Tilly, into the Class of 2022!
Omar Eljach championed over the record-shattering 763-entry field in Event #12: NLHE Main at the 2022 WSOP Europe, clinching his maiden gold bracelet and career-best €1.38 Million payday. Jonathan Pastore finished runner-up for €852,949.
888poker recently announced Spanish poker professional Lucia Navarro as its newest poker ambassador!
Online Railbird Report
The IOPC Jan 2022 – Super High Roller runner-up finisher Shashank Shekhar had one helluva week, netting ₹40.62 Lakhs overall. Shekhar went on a rampage in Spartan Poker’s recently concluded XXX Poker Series, posting four FT finishes this week (including two title wins). He captured two titles on Sunday, Spartan Poker’s XXX #75 Main Event (₹27.35 Lakhs) and XXX #74 (₹4.63 Lakhs). For his breakthrough run, Shekhar is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s XXX #75 Main Event for ₹27,35,240
> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s XXX #45 Thursday Titan (6-Max) for ₹4,79,400
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s XXX #74 for ₹4,63,155
> 6th in Spartan Poker’s XXX #56 Friday Titan (6-Max) for ₹1,80,000
One of the top domestic poker pros, Ashish Munot, was the other trailblazer. He captured PokerBaazi’s BTS#45 Main Event for ₹11.64 Lakhs on Sunday and followed that up by shipping Spartan Poker’s Mega Stack title (₹3.48 Lakhs) on Tuesday. Overall, the poker pro made away with ₹18.10 Lakhs this week.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s BTS#45 Main Event for ₹11,63,563
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s Mega Stack for ₹3,48,068
> 6th in Spartan Poker’s XXX #35 Wednesday Titan for ₹1,29,800
Young Gun Neel Joshi was the other weekly chartbuster. The EndBoss 2020 runner-up finisher took down two flagship titles and FT another, posting ₹17.78 Lakhs in weekly winnings.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) BSS Championship for ₹8,06,680
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s BTS#31 HighRoller for ₹5,49,100
> 5th in Spartan Poker’s XXX #45 Thursday Titan (6-Max) for ₹2,08,116
MTT pro Vishal Bajaj also won two titles this week, cashing out for ₹17.18 Lakhs throughout the week.
His top finishes include:
> 4th in Spartan Poker’s XXX #75 Main Event for ₹8,56,520
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s Tuesday High Roller (6-Max) for ₹4,22,958
> 1st in Adda52’s The Mint for ₹2,58,004
> 8th in Spartan Poker’s XXX #72 Sunday Xperience for ₹1,08,612
Goonjan Mall ran up his scorecard by ₹17.17 Lakhs, ₹15.97 Lakhs of which came from his runner-up finish in Spartan Poker’s XXX #75 Main Event on Sunday.
Man Mohan Singh, Aditya Sushant, Rajat Sharma, Young Gun Anmol Mehta, and Utkarsh Vaish were the other top scorers of the week.
Notable Winners of the Week
Player Prize Amount Event Poker Site
Shashank Shekhar ₹26.98 Lakhs XXX #75 Main Event – ₹1.50 Crores GTD Spartan Poker
Ashish ‘OMG_spew’ Munot ₹11.63 Lakhs BTS#45 Main Event – ₹1 Crore GTD PokerBaazi
Neel ‘Worm33’ Joshi ₹8.07 Lakhs (7-Max) BSS Championship – ₹50 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Rahul ‘JacK`spArrow’ Kumar M Jain ₹7.51 Lakhs XXX #72 Sunday Xperience – ₹40 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Maelwyn ₹7.37 Lakhs Adda52 Millions – ₹25 Lakhs GTD Adda52
C. Dickens ₹5.47 Lakhs XXX #68 ₹25 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
alwaysnutz ₹5.03 Lakhs Mega Suits – ₹25 Lakhs GTD Adda52
Deepankur ‘dp179’ Gupta ₹4.51 Lakhs BSS HighRoller – ₹20 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Shashank ‘Goldfish097’ Shekhar ₹4.63 Lakhs XXX #74 – ₹20 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Vishal ‘SimSlave’ Bajaj ₹4.23 Lakhs Tuesday High Roller (6-Max) – ₹15 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Vaibhav ‘GTO_LIFE_GG’ Sharma ₹3.71 Lakhs Sunday Special (PKO) – ₹20 Lakhs GTD PokerStars India
Ashish ‘0mg_spew’ Munot ₹3.48 Lakhs Mega Stack – ₹16 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Siddharth ‘Sidash21’ Ojha ₹3.24 Lakhs BTS#43 Sunday Prime – ₹20 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
fartonuraces ₹2.58 Lakhs BSS#41 – ₹10 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Satyam ‘satyamverma25’ Verma ₹1.85 Lakhs BTS#44 After Party – ₹10 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Anurag ‘NormanBates’ Srivastava ₹1.78 Lakhs Sunday Showdown – ₹10 Lakhs GTD Adda52
SSAHisoka ₹1.75 Lakhs Pocket Kings – ₹15 Lakhs GTD Pocket52
Devang ‘THENERDGUY’ Yadav ₹1.70 Lakhs XXX #71 Sunday Xtreme – Triple Chance – ₹10 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Akshay ‘akdolos’ Joshi ₹1.41 Lakhs BTS#42 (6-Max) – ₹8 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Vivekk ‘Vivek25’ Dube ₹1.18 Lakhs BSS Value Boost – ₹10 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
merlion30 ₹99,727 Sunday Storm – ₹5 Lakhs GTD PokerStars India
Vinay ‘Aapka Apna’ Choudhry ₹90,019 XXX #76 ₹5 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Anshu ‘nope11’ Pandey ₹10,500 Sunday PLO6 – ₹50K GTD PokerDangal
Reverse88 ₹37,000 Big Bang - ₹1 Lakh GTD Khelo365
Spartan Poker’s ₹25+ Crores GTD Legend Poker Series Starts on November 24
Spartan Poker’s ₹25+ Crores GTD in value Legend Poker Series runs from November 24 to December 11. The series highlights include 114 top-notch tournaments for players across stakes boasting ₹21.33 Crores in guarantees, 6 Leaderboards with ₹75 Lakhs in total prizes, Round-the-clock satellites guaranteeing ₹1.94 Crores worth of tickets, ₹70 Lakhs in tournament tickets through the Game of Tickets (GOT) – Legend Edition, ₹20 Lakhs worth of trophies, ₹15 Lakhs in freerolls & much more.
Read the complete report here
Pocket52’s Cash Leaderboard League Offers ₹86 Lakhs in Leaderboard Prizes (November 21 – 30)
Cash game players are in for a blast on Pocket52, with the Cash Leaderboard League running from November 21 to 30. A part of the “Super-Charged November,” the Cash Leaderboard League features 7 exciting Leaderboard races, promising a whopping ₹86 Lakhs in leaderboard prizes!
Read the complete report here
MPL Poker Announced Bollywood Actor Jim Sarbh as Its Brand Ambassador
India’s biggest poker platform with over 25 Lakh registered players, MPL Poker, is back in a new avatar & a new band ambassador. Acclaimed Bollywood actor Jim Sarbh has been signed as the online poker portal’s first-ever celebrity brand ambassador.
For over a week, the site has been giving away ₹5 Crores in prizes through exciting MTTs and lucrative cash game promotions!
Read the complete report here
PokerBaazi Signs Abhishek Goindi & Muskan Sethi As It’s Latest Team Pros
PokerBaazi’s newest Team Pros, Abhishek Goindi & Muskan Sethi, will join celebrity Brand Ambassador & Bollywood superstar Shahid Kapoor in representing India’s most trusted online poker site!
Read the complete report here
PokerStars India’s ₹2.70 Crore GTD Bounty Builder Series To Make Its Grand Debut (Nov 29 – Dec 5)
Gear up for PokerStars India’s debut launch of the globally popular Bounty Builder Series from November 29 – December 5. The series highlights include ₹2.70+ Crores GTD across 42 MTTs, BBS Main Event Ticket Challenge (Nov 23 – Dec 5) offers player’s a chance to win a free seat to the Main Event, the ₹3.5 Lakhs GTD Leaderboard (Nov 29 – Dec 5), and much more.
Read the complete report here
Seven Days Left to Join Gamezy’s No Fold November MTT Action
Last seven days left to join Gamezy’s ₹3.60 Crores #NoFoldNovember MTT action. There are 41 action-packed yet to play out, guaranteeing ₹76.20 Lakhs in prizes.
Read the complete report here
APT 2022 Philippines
The Asian Poker Tour (APT) 2022 Philippines made a 13-day run at the Grand Wing Casino, Newport World Resorts, from November 15 to 27, with 24 events on the tap. Running to the culmination, in the end, was Event #24: ₱50K Main Event. Drawing 480 entries from three starting flights and late registrations on Day 2, the event obliterated its ₱15 Million guarantee by a huge margin, generating a ₱23,280,000 prize pool and paid out the top 48 finishers at least ₱99,200.
Local boy Moses Saquing eventually triumphed over the competition to grab the top honors for ₱4,915,100. The filipino-American Saquing had entered the final table as the chip leader, and his final clash over the title was against his decorated compatriot Christopher Mateo. Mateo, who holds four APT trophies, including the 2019 APT Philippines Main Event, banked ₱3,276,900 in second place.
Chirag Shah was the lone Indian who cashed the series, crossing the money line in three events. Shah, who was last reported by us picking cashes in the Road to PSPC Manila back in September, opened his scorecard for the series in Event #4: ₱20K Head Hunter, where he placed ninth for ₱37,100.
Subsequently, he sailed into the final table of Event #17: ₱20K NLHE, eventually placing seventh for ₱70,800. Shah picked his third cash at the stop in Event #21: ₱15,000 NLH Single Day, where he placed ninth for ₱39,200.
The Day 1A of the Asian Poker Tour (APT) 2022 Philippines Championships Event, running at the Grand Wing Casino, Newport World Resorts, saw 68 hopefuls vying for a spot on Day 2. While thirteen-time APT champion Lester Edoc of the Philippines amassed a massive stack of 348,000 ad leads the Day 1A survivors.
Australia’s Li Lok Ching (272,000) and Filipino Joseph Talamayan (189,000) were the other two big stacks preceding the Baguio City native, Edoc.
APT 2022 Philippines Winners
Player | Event | Prize Amount (PHP) |
---|---|---|
Joseroy Jeremias | Event 1 Php 15,000 Mystery Bounty | PHP 407,600 |
Yoshimura Taiki | Event 2 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 103,300 |
Budai Dzimitry | Event 4 Php 20,000 Head Hunter | PHP 355,800 |
Katsuhito Kawai | Event 5 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 117,900 |
Lester Timonera | Event 6 Php 10,000 Women's Event | PHP 107,700 |
Ek Jordan | Event 7 Php 15,000 Pot Limit Omaha | PHP 169,400 |
Mike Takayama | Event 8 Php 60,000 High Rollers Single Day | PHP 366,700 |
Jung Seung Mook | Event 9 Php 40,000 High Rollers 6 Max Hyper Turbo | PHP 190,100 |
Noel Llamedo | Event 10 Php 15,000 Super Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 298,100 |
Yoo Sunho | Event 11 Php 60,000 High Rollers Single Day | PHP 378,400 |
Katsuhito Kawai | Event 12 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 151,400 |
Rothholz Hal | Event 13 Php 15,000 No Limit Hold'em Single Day | PHP 348,200 |
Emmanuel Segismundo | Event 14 Php 9,000 Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 181,600 |
Yuta Izumi | Event 15 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 114,500 |
Mike Takayama | Event 16 Php 60,000 Hyper Single Day High Roller | PHP 671,300 |
Baimendinov AlibeK | Event 17 Php 20,000 No Limit Hold'em | PHP 461,200 |
Raqueno Patrick | Event 18 Php 9,000 Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 126,100 |
Sakurai Buyu | Event 19 Php 40,000 High Rollers 6 Max Hyper Turb | PHP 331,700 |
Constanzo Christopher | Event 21 Php 15000 No Limit Hold'em Single Day | PHP 270,000 |
Orunov Azim | Event 22 Php 9,000 Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 158,800 |
Kurakami Daisuke | Event 23 Php 40,000 High Rollers 6 Max Hyper Turbo | PHP 379,600 |
Holley Matthew | Event 24 Php 20,000 No Limit Hold'em | PHP 431,900 |
Jayden Zalac | Event 25 Php 70,000 High Rollers Single Day | PHP 631,000 |
Lester Edoc | Event 26 Php 40,000 High Rollers 6 Max Hyper Turbo | PHP 398,600 |
Okuda Akitoshi | Event 27 Php 15,000 No Limit Hold'em Single Day | PHP 314,500 |
Richard Nakila | Event 28 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo | PHP 133,200 |
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. Stay tuned.