This Week in Poker: October 19 – 25

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!

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Diwali of 2022 turned out as bright as we could expect, with most domestic sites dishing out firecracker tournaments and promotional giveaways. As we step out of the festive weekend that saw PokerStars India’s Diwali Rush Series wind down, we are heading towards a massive week with Spartan Poker`s biggest-ever Final Table Series and PokerBaazi`s historic ₹7 Crores GTD G.O.A.T coming up.

But before we delve into what the week ahead promises, let’s quickly recap the past week`s top stories.

Gopal Bajaj topped the weekly charts, delivering a power-packed performance for the second week in a row. Coming in hot after a runner-up finish in Spartan Poker’s DCS High Main Event last week, Bajaj championed PokerStars India’s Diwali Rush Main Event for ₹7.81 Lakhs. Complementing his breakout Sunday run, Bajaj scooped runner-up scores in Spartan Poker’s Thursday High Roller and Destiny, raking in a leaderboard-topping ₹17.82 Lakhs, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”

Young Gun Kanchan Sharma, Myron Pereira, Shashank Shekhar, Ashit Sharma, Parag Shah, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja, Himanshu Arora, Young Gun Gaurav Sood, Mohammad Azhar, and Aditya Singh were the week`s other top online scorers.

The week ahead has all the makings to become a historic one for the fifth (and biggest yet) edition of Spartan Poker’s Final Table Series (FTS) is coming up on Thursday, October 27. In addition to the jaw-dropping ₹17-plus Crores in guaranteed value, the winners of all 56 FTS tournaments will receive FTS Diamond/Gold/Silver Medallions and exclusive FTS-branded NFTs.

Complementing the FTS will be PokerBaazi`s ₹7 Crores GTD G.O.A.T – the biggest-ever online poker tournament in the country – that hits the platform on October 30 and will make an eight-day run till November 6.

Value hunters should check out IndiaPlays` ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Multi Flight Depositors Freeroll. Running since October 24, you can still enter the two remaining flights by depositing at least ₹500 on the site.

Gamezy has rolled out a very enticing Diwali Rakeback Dhamaka promotion, offering as much as 80% rakeback worth a whopping ₹12 Lakhs to cash game players from October 23 to November 5.

The Poker Dream Vietnam hosted at the Hoiana Hotel & Suites KHOS in Quảng Nam, Vietnam, grabbed the attention this week with its massive turnouts. The inaugural wrapped up proceedings on Sunday, with local boy Minh A Nguyen taking down the record-smashing Main Event for VN₫ 3.378 Billion.

A small but formidable Indian contingent participated in the series, keeping us on our toes. A bunch of Indians entered the Mani Event, but Dhaval Mudgal was the only one to sail into the final day, where he finished 13th for VN₫ 185.4 Million.

The biggest Indian scorer at the series’ closing week was PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved, who placed 11th in the Super High Roller for VN₫424 Million. Abhinav Iyer, Kunal Patni, Young Guns Shardul Parthasarathi, Neel Joshi, and Sanat Mehrotra also added to the team’s tally.

From the international tournament circuit, Chad Eveslage won the record-setting World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic for his second WPT title and $1.042 Million. He also won a seat in the season-ending WPT World Championship in December.

The European Poker Tour (EPT) (October 18 – 28) is almost on the home stretch at the Hilton Park Lane hotel. One of the exciting events was the £50,000 Super High Roller. Having lost the Mystery Bounty title last week to Juan Pardo Domínguez, Henrik Hecklen exacted revenge on the Spaniard by defeating him in the heads-up battle to win the title for £652,700.

Daniel Dvoress championed the single-day £25,000 Single-Day High Roller II for £196,170 top prize and an alluring PokerStars Spadie trophy. Portuguese top pro Joao Vieira finished second for £123,170.

The ongoing turmoil in the regulation of India’s gaming sector continues. Down South, former Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy has demanded that the N Rangasamy-led state government introduce an emergency ordinance to ban online rummy in the Union Territory, like in Tamil Nadu.

The self-regulatory body E-Gaming Federation filed an intervention appeal in the Karnataka High Court seeking to become a party in GamesKrafts’ legal appeal against the DGGI show cause notice of a record ₹21,000 Crores for alleged GST evasion by the company. The court will likely hear the case on October 27.

Online Railbird Report

Gopal Bajaj was an indomitable force on the virtual felts and raked in a whopping ₹17.82 Lakhs across his weekly run. While winning PokerStars India`s Diwali Rush Main Event brought him his breakthrough score of the week, the upcoming pro fired up runner-up finishes in two Spartan Poker flagships, whisking away the “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title!

His top finishes include:

> 1st in PokerStars India’s Diwali Rush-29 [MAIN EVENT – PKO] for ₹7,81,308

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s Thursday High Roller (6-Max) for ₹4,22,280

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s Destiny for ₹2,91,381

Young Gun Kanchan Sharma emerged as Sunday’s biggest winner, also rallying hot behind Bajaj on the weekly charts with scores worth ₹16.45 Lakhs to brag about.

Her top finishes include:

> 1st in Adda52’s Mega Suits for ₹6,20,000

> 1st in Spartan Poker’s Armageddon for ₹2,94,600

> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller for ₹2,45,887

> 5th in PokerBaazi’s The Summit for ₹1,14,263

Myron Pereira posted two smashing victory runs in Adda52’s Godfather and Spartan Poker’s Ultron, collecting ₹13 Lakhs this week.

His top finishes include:

> 1st in Adda52’s Godfather for ₹6,12,500

> 1st in Spartan Poker’s Ultron for ₹3,19,250

> 4th in Adda52’s Iron Man for ₹68,000

Shashank Shekhar padded his online poker wallet ₹10.10 Lakhs, much of which came through his Sunday run, where he ITM-ed five tournaments, including three FT finishes.

His top finishes include:

> 2nd in Spartan Poker’s Sunday Superstack for ₹4,27,570

> 3rd in Adda52 Millions for ₹3,08,750

> 4th in PokerBaazi’s BSS HighRoller for ₹1,68,204

Ashit Sharma was another standout winner, adding ₹9.91 Lakhs in weekly winnings.

His top finishes include:

> 1st in PokerBaazi’s BSS HighRoller for ₹5,03,542

> 4th in Spartan Poker’s Thursday High Roller (6-Max) for ₹2,12,760

> 5th in Spartan Poker’s Ultron for ₹1,08,836

Parag Shah, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja, Himanshu Arora, Young Gun Gaurav Sood, Mohammad Azhar, and Aditya Singh were the other top scorers of the week.

Notable Winners of the Week

Spartan Poker’s ₹17+ Crores GTD Final Table Series Run From October 27 – November 6

India Poker Championship’s most premium Final Table Series is returning in its grandest avatar yet! FTS 5.0 hits the Spartan Poker client (and other Quadnet partner sites) from October 27 to November 6 and promises a jaw-dropping ₹17+ Crores in value.

Read the complete report here.

Over and above the massive value on offer, the winner of all FTS tournaments will receive FTS Diamond/Gold/Silver Medallions and exclusive FTS-branded NFTs.

Read the complete report here.

PokerBaazi`s ₹7 Crores GTD G.O.A.T – India’s Biggest Online Poker Tournament – Runs From October 30 – November 6

PokerBaazi will be hosting India’s biggest online poker tournament – the 7 Crores GTS G.O.A.T, aka the “Greatest of All Tournaments,” as part of its 8th-anniversary celebrations from October 30 to November 6.

Read the complete report here.

IndiaPlays’s ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Multi Flight Depositors Freeroll Runs From October 24 -29

If you are looking for soft fields and good value, IndiaPlays’ ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Multi-Flight Depositors Freeroll is an excellent option. Deposit at least ₹500 using the specific deposit code to grab a FREE ticket to any of the two remaining flights.

Read the complete report here.

Gamezy’s Diwali Rakeback Dhamaka Offers Upto ₹12 Lakhs in Rakeback (October 23 – November 5)

Gamezy has rolled out a very enticing Diwali Rakeback Dhamaka promotion, offering as much as 80% rakeback worth a whopping ₹12 Lakhs to cash game players from October 23 to November 5.

Poker Dream Vietnam

Poker Dream Vietnam made quite the debut at the Hoiana Hotel & Suites KHOS in Quảng Nam, Vietnam. The 28-tournament-long series ran from October 14 to 23 and wrapped up proceedings with local player Minh Anh Nguyen winning the Main Event! Nguyen defeated Malaysia’s Brandon Koh to clinch the custom-designed trophy and take home the whopping VN₫ 3.378 Billion. Koh settled for a runner-up payout worth VN₫ 2.055 Billion.

The first-ever WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal was the only Indian to reach the final day of the Main Event. He held the sixth most giant stack among 18 survivors but fell out relatively early in the day, netting VN₫ 185.4 Million in 13th place.

Read the complete report here.

Kunal Patni (55th for VN₫ 62.90 Million), Young Guns Shardul Parthasarathi (57th for VN₫ 54.80 Million), Neel Joshi (90th for VN₫ 46.80 Million), and Abhinav Iyer (105th for VN₫ 40.40 Million), also crossed the money line but were dismissed on Day 2.

Read the complete report here.

PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved was among the Indian pros who picked up a score this week at the series. He placed 11th in the Super High Roller, banking VN₫ 424 Million. Malaysia’s Ewe Eng Soon won his maiden live tournament title in the event, along with a hefty VN₫ 5.23 Billion up top!

Read the complete report here.

Poker coach Shardul Parthasarathi finished 11th in the High Roller Single Day for VN₫ 180 Million, posting his second cash of the series. Hong Kong’s Vincent Kwun Ngai Li shipped the High Roller Single Day for VN₫ 1.971 Billion, reeling in his most significant score on the Asian circuit.

Read the complete report here.

Young Gun Abhinav Iyer ran deep in the VN₫ 3 Billion GTD High Roller, finishing seventh for VN₫ 380 Million. Taiwan’s Chen Sin-Ren took down the event for VN₫ 2.234 Billion.

Team India Scores

Poker Dream Vietnam Winners

EPT London

The 2022 European Poker Tour (EPT) London has been the hub of activity at the Hilton Park Lane hotel since October 18 and will continue until October 28.

Daniel Dvoress topped the 19-player field in the single-day £25,000 Single-Day High Roller II and walked away with a £196,170 cash prize and an alluring PokerStars Spadie trophy. Portuguese top pro Joao Vieira cashed £123,170 in second place.

Read the complete report here

One of the week’s highlights was the £50,000 Super High Roller, where Henrik Hecklen topped the 39-player field, doing one better against eventual runner-up Juan Pardo Domínguez to grab the title and the top prize of £652,700.

Read the complete report here.

The victory was retribution for Hecklen against Domínguez, who had denied him the Mystery Bounty title. The latter had won the event for £80,280 (£160,000 in bounties).

Read the complete report here.

Jeremy Routier (Won UKIPT High Roller for £249,460) and Martin Jacobson (Won UKIPT Main Event for £232,300) were the other standout winners.

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.