This Week in Poker: October 7 – 13

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!

We are approaching the midway mark in October, and virtual felts just keep on sprouting exciting action week after week.

This past weekend for massive with two ₹1 Crore GTD tourneys playing down to a winner. Spartan Poker’s Grand Poker Series (GPS) concluded with the GPS The Millionaire that crowned mystery user ‘Tokio99’ as the champion for ₹17.29 Lakhs. The other ₹1 Crore GTD tourney, Adda52’s Full House Finale, was also shipped by an anonymous user, ‘dimaria7,’ for ₹17.29 Lakhs, with Ravindra Arikeri finishing second for ₹12.98 Lakhs.

However, walking away with the “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title this time is Young Gun Anuj Yadav, who championed the GPS #34 High Roller on Spartan Poker for ₹15.71 Lakhs.

Sajal Gupta, Young Gun Gaurav Sood, Raman Gujral, PokerGuru Ambassador Ratul Steves, Young Gun Sahil Chutani, and Alok Birewar rounding out the list of the week`s top winners.

PokerStars India`s mega monthly leaderboard race – ‘Star of the Month’ that started on October 5, completed its first week last Sunday. Akshay ‘IamUltron’ Dhingra topped the Week #1 standings with 779 points as the top 25 players made it through to the Finale. The site has next lined up the Twenty20 Rush that’s commencing on October 19. Comprising of at least 11 timed-tourneys daily, the series will run until October 25.

The low-mid stakes MTT players have been spoilt for choice with almost all the major platforms running a budget series this week. Spartan Poker has been hosting the Ultimate Value Series (UVS) ever since the GPS ended. Underway since October 12, the five-day series will run through October 16, promising ₹80 Lakhs in guaranteed prizes across 36 events.

Not to be left out, PokerDangal, has the Dangal Micro Grinder Series (DGMS) running on the site between October 13 to 17. With 11 tournaments on the roster, the five-day-long series offers ₹10 Lakhs in prize pool guarantees and ₹75,000 in leaderboard prizes.

Taking a break from cash games and tournaments, poker lovers can now enjoy poker in a team-based format. Poker Sports League (PSL) has launched the first-ever Virtual Poker League (VPL) from October 14. A precursor to the PSL – V that’s coming up later, the exhibition tournament will feature six teams, competing against each other over four days with the entire proceeds going to charity. The entire action will be live-streamed on Hashtag Poker’s app and YouTube channel.

While action on the domestic sites continues to ride high, Indian players on 888poker were in for a rude shock this week as the international operator officially pulled out of the country, w.e.f October 12. While no particular reason has been cited for this sudden decision, it is being speculated that the operator might be considering launching a ring-fenced India-only client.

At a time when live poker stops across the globe have been suspended for over six months. PokerStars got through with its first EPT live stop of the year with the EPT Sochi. Russia’s Ruslan Bogdanov bested a 637-strong field to win the EPT Sochi Main Event title for RUB 15.98 Million (~$212,914).

Online Railbird Report

The virtual felts saw two ₹1Crore GTD tourneys crown champions on Sunday. The Spartan Poker-hosted GPS #50 The Millionaire was captured by ‘Tokio99’ for ₹17.29 Lakhs, with ‘HerMess’ finishing runner-up for ₹9.69 Lakhs.

Over on Adda52, the Full House Finale saw ‘dimaria7’ beat Ravindra ‘wormhole’ Arikeri (runner-up for ₹12.98 Lakhs) heads-up to claim the bragging rights for ₹17.29 Lakhs.

Grabbing the eyeballs and making a deserving claim to our “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title was Young Gun, Anuj Yadav. Yadav, who plays as ‘TittooTauji’ on Spartan Poker, won the site’s flagship The Millionaire Legends for ₹42.93 Lakhs in April. He raked in another massive score on Thursday night when he captured the ₹55 Lakhs GTD GPS #34 High Roller for ₹15.71 Lakhs after defeating Sajal Gupta (2^nd for ₹10.82 Lakhs) heads-up.

Young Gun and last week’s GPS The Millionaire champion Gaurav Sood was also back to his true-blue beast mode and collected no less than six FT scores worth ₹15.33 Lakhs. Much of Sood’s winnings came in his two title wins. He captured the ₹30 Lakhs GTD GPS#28 Destiny for ₹7.96 Lakhs on Wednesday and just two days later, won the ₹20 Lakhs GTD The Weekly HighRoller on PokerBaazi for ₹5.01 Lakhs. He also came strikingly close to winning PokerBaazi’s ₹15 Lakhs GTD Sunday Highroller, finishing runner-up for ₹2.34 Lakhs.

Another standout performer this week was Raman Gujral, who added two titles to his online resume – Adda52’s ₹22.5 Lakhs GTD The Ballers (₹5.95 Lakhs) and PokerBaazi’s BSS SuperStack ₹20 Lakhs GTD (₹4.20 Lakhs). He also placed sixth in Spartan Poker’s ₹20 Lakhs GTD GPS #33 Ultron for ₹97,994 to accumulate well over ₹11.13 Lakhs in online winnings.

PokerGuru Ambassador Ratul ‘riverking021’ Steves (3rd in Full House Finale for ₹8 Lakhs), Sahil ‘$lim$hady19’ Chutani (GPS #40 The Elite ₹35 Lakhs GTD for ₹7.40 Lakhs) and Alok ‘APB1989’ Birewar (fourth in Full House Finale for ₹6 Lakhs) also made stellar runs.

Additionally, Birewar also placed runner-up in the ₹20 Lakhs GTD The Summit on PokerBaazi for ₹3.83 Lakhs. With two more min-cashes, he pocketed over ₹10 Lakhs through the week.

The notable scores of the week include –

Spartan Poker’s ₹80 Lakhs GTD Ultimate Value Series Underway Since October 12

After a smashing GPS for the circuit regs, Spartan Poker has immediately shifted its focus towards the low-mid stakes players with the launch of another edition of its popular Ultimate Value Series (UVS). Running from October 12-16, the series features 36 tourneys offering ₹80 Lakhs in guaranteed prizes between them. On top, there are ₹3 Lakhs in leaderboard prizes to be won.

Read the complete report here

Akshay Dhingra Tops Week #1 Leaderboard Standing in ‘PokerStars India Star of the Month’ Race

The all-new PokerStars India ‘Star of the Month’ leaderboard race completed its first week on October 11. The leaderboard takes into account ITM finishes by players across two specified daily tournaments on PokerStars India. The top 25 places – only players registered on PokerGuru made it through to the end-of-month Leaderboard finale scheduled for 9 PM on November 4.

Delhi-based Akshay ‘IamUltron’ Dhingra accrued 779 points from ITM finishes in qualifying tourneys to top the Week #1 Leaderboard standings. Much of Dhingra’s points came with him winning the ₹10 Lakhs GTD Uppercut MAGIC Edition for ₹1.68 Lakhs. He also placed third in the ₹5 Lakhs GTD Night on Stars for ₹51,061.

Read the complete report here

Indian Residents No Longer Allowed to Play on 888poker

Global online poker site 888poker has stopped accepting Indian players on its international client, w.e.f. Monday, October 12. While the site has given no particular reason for this move, the Indian poker sector is an unregulated market, and 888poker’s exit gives rise to speculation that, like PokerStars, the brand may return with a ring-fenced site for Indian players.

Read the complete report here

PokerStars India Announces 2^nd Edition of Twenty20 Rush

PokerStars India has announced the second edition of its Twenty20 Rush from October 19 to 25. The series comprises of at least 11 timed-tourneys (13 tourneys on weekends) daily that replicate the thrill of T20 cricket by bringing the same fast action on the virtual felts.

Read the complete report here

PokerDangal’s ₹10 Lakhs GTD Dangal Micro Grinder Series Underway

PokerDangal has rolled out a five-day-long Dangal Micro Grinder Series (DGMS) from October 13, with 11 tournaments on the lineup to run until October 17. There is a generous ₹10 Lakhs in prize pool guarantees and ₹75,000 in leaderboard prizes to be won.

Read the complete report here

PSL Going Online With PSL – V, to Host Virtual Poker League (October 14-17)

The first-ever poker league to be hosted in India, Poker Sports League (PSL), is now coming up on the virtual felts with the first-ever PSL – Virtual (or PSL-V) that boasts a whopping ₹1.80 Crore prize pool. As a precursor to the upcoming extravaganza, PSL is running an exhibition charity tournament called the Virtual Poker League (VPL) on its Hashtag Poker app. The league will run from October 14 to 17, with the country`s top 30 players representing six teams! The entire proceeds worth ₹10 Lakhs contributed by Hashtag Poker and PSL will go to charity.

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.