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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!
The past week was the perfect prelude before the curtains fall in 2022. While Spartan Poker’s inaugural Legend Poker Series has been dominating the online action since November 24, PokerStars India’s Bounty Builder Series (November 29 to December 11) and PokerBaazi’s APT Online India Series 5.0 (December 2 to 11) is sure to create a frenzy on the digital felts in the coming weeks! But we’ll talk more about that later.
Speaking of frenzy, Gursimran Brar created quite the stir on Sunday after taking down Spartan Poker`s ₹1.50 Crores GTD LEGEND #25 Esteem, collecting a personal-best ₹26.06 Lakhs. Brar added a leaderboard topping ₹26.75 Lakhs over the week, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”.
Young Guns Siddhanth Kripalani, Ujjwal Narwal, Ashutosh Balodhi, and Mohammad Azhar were the week`s other top online winners.
PokerStars’ globally popular Bounty Builder Series made a grand debut on the poker giant`s India-facing site, PokerStars India. Though a crisper version featuring 42 events of progressive knockout format, the online festival guarantees ₹2.70 Crores in cash prizes and will make a seven-day run till December 5.
Cranking up the heat later this week will be the Asian Poker Tour (APT) India Online Series. PokerBaazi is gearing up to host the fifth edition of the flagship series over a 10-day schedule from December 2 to 11, with players getting ₹8 Crores in prize pool guarantees and 11 APT trophies to chase.
Pocket52 is completing four years of operations on December 13, and a grand Birthday bash is coming your way. The poker network will be dishing out ₹6.10 Crores in cash prizes throughout December for cash game and tournament players, giving out ₹4.10+ Crores in MTT guarantees and ₹2+ Crores in cash game promotions.
Gamezy Poker has unveiled a mouth-watering lineup of December MTTs, promising ₹4.10+ Crores in prizes. The ₹80 Lakhs GTD Royale Gold Series (December 1 – 7) and the ₹1.40 Crores GTD Royale Platinum Series (December 14 – 20) headline the action, and the rest of the month has an attractive lineup of tournaments.
We’ve been tracking two crucial developments concerning the gaming industry.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) on online gaming, casinos and horse racing, chaired by Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, conducted a virtual meeting to review their long pending report on GST for these three gaming sectors. The GoM has confirmed that it would table its final recommendations in the first week of December. The 48th GST Council meeting will be held virtually on December 17, and the Council will likely make its final decision during the session.
The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance, 2022, passed by the Governor, RN Ravi, expired on November 27. The lapse happened after the Governor failed to approve the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill, 2022, within the stipulated six weeks. Earlier, state Law Minister S Regupathy clarified that the ordinance did not propose a blanket ban on all online games but only online gambling.
Online Railbird Report
Sunday’s LEGEND #25 Esteem champion Gursimran Brar topped the online charts this week, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week.” While Brar’s victory in the Sunday flagship earned him a career-best ₹26.06 Lakhs, he collectively added an impressive ₹26.75 Lakhs throughout the week.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #25 Esteem – Main Event for ₹26,06,349
Young Gun Siddhanth Kripalani grabbed four titles and made another two FT finishes this week, reeling in a commendable ₹25.40 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #23 Sunday Magnate (6-Max) for ₹9,72,554
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s BSS HighRoller for ₹4,65,800
> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #24 Deepstack Turbo for ₹3,17,547
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s (7-MAX) SPRINT for ₹2,30,769
> 1st in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #6 – Turbo for ₹2,11,272
> 6th in PokerBaazi’s The Summit for ₹1,33,875
Young Gun Ujjwal Narwal was a competitive force across several of the week’s biggest flagship tourneys, starting with the LEGEND #25 Esteem, where he placed third. Narwal lapped up a whopping ₹19.76 Lakhs over the week.
His top finishes include:
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #25 Esteem for ₹10,66,898
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #23 Sunday Magnate (6-Max) for ₹5,16,285
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #5 -Thursday Magnate (6-Max) for ₹3,05,610
Ashutosh Balodhi rounded off the week with ₹19 Lakhs in winnings. Most importantly, he won marquee tournaments like Adda52`s Big Game and PokerBaazi`s Daily Value Boost.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in Adda52’s Big Game for ₹14,07,700
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s Daily Value Boost for ₹1,42,500
> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s (7-Max) Daily SPRINT for ₹57,427
Among the Gen-X of poker players in India, Mohammad Azhar pulled off an impressive third-place finish in Spartan Poker`s LEGEND #25 Esteem, adding to a week’s haul of ₹17.65 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 3rd in Spartan Poker’s LEGEND #25 Esteem – Main Event for ₹14,52,370
> 8th in PokerBaazi’s 7-MAX) BSS Championship for ₹1 Lakh
Himanshu Arora, Ankit Wadhanwan, Young Guns Sanat Mehrotra, Shardul Parthasarthi, Neel Joshi, and Shravan Chhabria were the week`s other top online scorers.
Notable Winners of the Week
Player Prize Amount Event Poker Site
Gursimrann Brar ₹26.06 Lakhs LEGEND #25 Multi Flight LBD ₹1.5 Crores GTD Spartan Poker
Ashutosh Balodhi
₹14.08 Lakhs Adda52 Big Game ₹50 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Siddhanth Kripalani
₹9.73 Lakhs LEGEND #23 Sunday Magnate (6 Max) ₹40 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
“mansoon”
₹8.58 Lakhs LEGEND #21 Sunday Showdown ₹35 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Himanshu Arora ₹8.40 Lakhs Legend #5 Thursday Magnate (6-Max) ₹30 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Areyann Gurbaxani
₹8 Lakhs (7-Max) BSS Championship ₹50 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Vikaash Shah ₹7.97 Lakhs LEGEND #9 Friday Showdown ₹35 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Anujkumar Kodam
₹6.42 Lakhs LEGEND #36 Tuesday Magnate (6-Max) ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Aditya Sushant
₹6.30 Lakhs Wednesday High Roller (6-Max) ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Abhinav Iyer ₹5.46 Lakhs Legend #3 Thursday Showdown ₹30 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Anuj Yadav ₹5.29 Lakhs Godfather ₹25 Lakhs GTD Adda52
Aditya Sushant
₹5.27 Lakhs The Ballers ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Ashit Sharma
₹4.88 Lakhs The Weekly HighRoller ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Rishabh Gupta
₹4.81 Lakhs LEGEND #30 Monday Magnate (6-Max) ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Siddhanth Kripalani
₹4.66 Lakhs BSS HighRoller ₹20 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Gautam Kaul
₹4.51 Lakhs BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Samit Mehta ₹4.47 Lakhs Destiny 25.0 ₹21 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Ashish Munot ₹4.46 Lakhs The Summit ₹20 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Armaan Kochhar
₹4.15 Lakhs LEGEND #34 Tuesday Showdown ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Rishabh Gupta ₹3.90 Lakhs Maverick ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
“Chizzale”
₹3.89 Lakhs The Endeavour ₹20 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“KAKAROT98$”
₹3.53 Lakhs LEGEND #18 Mix Hold’em LBD ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Karan Radia ₹3.48 Lakhs Sunday Special (PKO) ₹20 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Anubhav Ray
₹3.45 Lakhs LEGEND #28 Monday Showdown ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Avinash Koneru ₹3.24 Lakhs Nano ME Finale ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Ravi Kumar ₹3.16 Lakhs The Colosseum [6-Max] ₹15 Lakhs GTD PokerStars India
Yash Chitre ₹2.98 Lakhs Legend #1 Genesis ₹20 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Saransh Garg
₹2.97 Lakhs The Mint ₹14 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Anmol Mehta ₹2.78 Lakhs Nano Highroller ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Sahil Nair ₹2.69 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Shardul Parthasarathi
₹2.56 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Abhijeet Kumar
₹2.47 Lakhs The Big Bash [6-Max, PKO] ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Siddhanth Kripalani
₹2.31 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Siddhanth Kripalani ₹2.11 Lakhs Legend #6 ₹8 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
“kenpachipoker”
₹2.10 Lakhs BBS-03 [6-Max, Deep] ₹12 Lakhs GTD PokerStars India
Ganesh Kamat ₹2.09 Lakhs LEGEND #22 Mix Hold’em LBD ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Gautam Kaul
₹2.05 Lakhs The Pride ₹15 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Bharat Vasan
₹2 Lakhs Iron Man ₹8 Lakhs GTD
Adda52
Harsh Karanpuria ₹1.98 Lakhs LEGEND #37 Monster Stack ₹8 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Manish Jangid
₹1.73 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Pradip Ghosh ₹1.70 Lakhs (7-Max) SPRINT ₹12 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Vikranth Varma
₹1.60 Lakhs LEGEND #12 PKO ₹6 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
“irhs”
₹1.59 Lakhs Master Minds ₹8 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Roshan Gurbuxani
₹1.58 Lakhs The Big Show ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Dipak Kumar
₹1.48 Lakhs LEGEND #10 Multi Entry ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Faiz Alam
₹1.45 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“one7up”
₹1.45 Lakhs BSS Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“ayushrathour”
₹1.33 Lakhs (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“ninjustice” ₹1.31 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Mandar Madaye
₹1.25 Lakhs LEGEND #31 ₹6 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Vaibhav Arora ₹1.20 Lakhs Daily Value Boost ₹10 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Mithun Mahesh ₹1.16 Lakhs Eliminator [8-Max] ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Karan Kapur ₹1.09 Lakhs (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD PokerBaazi
Lavesh Meena
₹1.05 Lakhs BSS–05 [The Classic] ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerStars India
Karan Kapur ₹1.05 Lakhs (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
“Pokemoon”
₹97K (7-Max) Afternoon Boost ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Vikas KN
₹95K (7-Max) Afternoon Boost ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Ambika Chowdhury ₹82K (7-Max) SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Adarsh Jha
₹77K (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Jason Fernandes ₹76K LEGEND #33 Thunder ₹5 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Ramandeep Singh Bedi ₹71K Legend #2 Thunder ₹6 Lakhs GTD Spartan Poker
Vinay Verma ₹67K (7-Max) Daily SPRINT ₹5 Lakhs GTD
PokerBaazi
Hari Jonnalagadda
₹54K LEGEND #7 PKO ₹5 Lakhs GTD
Spartan Poker
Fifth Edition of PokerBaazi`s APT India Online Series Has ₹8 Crores in Guaranteed Prizes and 11 APT Trophies Up For Grabs (December 2-11)
PokerBaazi has announced the fifth edition of the prestigious Asian Poker Tour (APT) India Online Series. The flagship series will run from December 2 to 11, featuring ₹8 Crores in prize pool guarantees, and will award 11 APT Trophies and two Championship Rings.
PokerStars India’s ₹2.70 Crores GTD Bounty Builder Series is Up & Running (November 29 – December 5)
PokerStars India’s inaugural launch, the Bounty Builder Series is up and running from November 29. The seven-day festival features 42 events with a progressive knockout format, all in all carrying a prize pool guarantee of ₹2.70 Crores.
Read the complete report here.
Pocket52 Announces ₹6.10 Crores in Promotional Giveaways As Part of It`s 4-Year Birthday Celebrations
Pocket52 is turning four on December 13, and commemorating the occasion, the poker network has announced a grand Birthday celebration, guaranteeing ₹6.10 Crores throughout December across cash game and tournament promotions. The brand will give away ₹4.10+ Crores in MTT guarantees and over ₹2 Crores in cash game leaderboards.
Read the complete report here.
Gamezy Poker’s Will Award ₹4.10+ Crores in MTT Prizes in December (December 1 – 31)
This December, Gamezy Poker will dish out cash prizes worth ₹4.10+ Crores in MTTs. The line-up of events includes two tournament series, the 80 Lakhs GTD Royale Gold Series (December 1 – 7) followed by the ₹1.40 Crores GTD Royale Platinum Series (December 14 – 20). The poker app has packed the remaining month with a well-rounded MTT calendar, catering to different budgets and format preferences.
On top of this, the site will run micro buy-in tourneys and freerolls, with over ₹30 Lakhs in guaranteed prizes.
Read the complete report here.
APT 2022 Philippines
Week #2 of the Asian Poker Tour (APT) 2022 Philippines had an equally exciting palate of tournaments. The tournament festival began on November 15 at the Grand Wing Casino, Newport World Resorts, with a schedule of 42 events that culminated on November 26.
Headlining the action in the closing week was the Championships Event that brought in 236 entries from two starting flights and late registrations on Day 2. The event collected ₱17,169,000, and walking away as the biggest winner was American player Paul Kiem who took down the Main Event for ₱4,196,300 (~$74,004). Having come into the final table as the chip leader, Kiem played only one hand against Malaysia’s William Teoh before defeating the latter to claim his maiden live tournament title.
Indian player Chirag Shah made two deep runs in the final week of the series, bringing his ITM tally at the series to four, worth a collective ₱214,600.
His ITM finishes include:
> 9th in Event #4: ₱20K Head Hunter for ₱37,100
> 7th in Event #17: ₱20K NLHE for ₱70,800
> 9th in Event #21: ₱15,000 NLH Single Day for ₱39,200
> 14th in Event 37 ₱25,000 Monster Stack for ₱67,500
Former bracelet champion Mike Takayama shipped Event 36: ₱150K 2-Day High Rollers for ₱1,708,000 – his fourth title at the stop. Takayama collected 1,572.27 points to win the APT Player of the Series (POS) title – his third time winning the APT POS! Takayama bagged the POS Ring of Honor and a free seat to the APT 2022 Vietnam Main Event, scheduled in Danang in December.
Read the complete report here.
Complete List of Winners
Player Event Prize Amount (PHP)
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
Tanaka Masatoshi Event 29 Php 15,000 Super Deep Stack Turbo PHP 195,600
Mike Takayama Event 30 Php 40,000 High Rollers 6 Max Hyper Turbo PHP 287,500
Sho Sakui Event 31 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo PHP 104,000
Tim Frazin Event 32 Php 20,000 Pot Limit Omaha PHP 265,700
Kosei Fujiwara Event 33 Php 40,000 High Rollers 6 Max Hyper Turbo PHP 309,600
Sanehira Yosuke Event 34 Php 9,000 Deep Stack Turbo PHP 179,100
Fukagawa Takayuki Event 35 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo PHP 112,100
Mike Takayama Event 36 Php 150,000 High Rollers PHP 1,708,000
Czar Ian Marcos Event 37 Php 25,000 Monster Stack PHP 932,700
Sanehira Yosuke Event 38 Php 9,000 Deep Stack Turbo PHP 102,900
Suya Lee Event 39 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo PHP 91,600
Michl Joris Event 40 Php 8,000 Hyper Deep Stack Turbo PHP 112,100
Kim Donghyun Event 41 Php 80,000 High Rollers Single Day PHP 465,600
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.