TIPS 2018: Series Makes A Smashing Debut With Strong Indian Participation, Petr Hora & Mikhail Ivanov Win Side Events

The first of its kind poker extravaganza conceived by Jaydeep Dawer and Manish Goenka, The Indian Poker Series (TIPS) has made a grand debut at the Kings Casino in Rovadov, Czech Republic.

Taking on a patriotic flavour, the series kicked off on India’s Independence Day, August 15 with the mission to offer small and medium stakes players in India an opportunity to experience a low-budget international series.

The series got off to a rocking start with the TIPS Welcome Event that saw four Indian players posting scores, starting with Ankit Saxena (8^th for €420 – ₹33,492), Anuj Sharma (10^th for €257 – ₹20,494), Zarvan Tumboli (11^th for €257 – ₹20,494) and Varun Ganjoo (17^th for €197 – ₹15,709), while Manish Goenka (3^rd for €365 – ₹29,106) was the only Indian to finish in the money in the Turbo Noon Freezeout.

However, the opening flight i.e. Day 1A of the TIPS Main Event witnessed a bigger Indian turnout with 11 among them making it to Day 2 led by Roshan Romeo Rodrigues (347,000).

Welcome Event

The event had a buy-in of €80 (₹6,379) and a guaranteed prize pool of €10,000 (₹7,97,450). 120 players entered the tournament and the total prize pool crossed €12,000 with the top 17 places were assured a min-cash of at least €197 (₹15,709).

Local player Petr Hora outlasted the field to claim the top prize of €3,153 (₹2,51,435), while four Indian players finished in the money including Zarvan Tumboli (11^th for €257 – ₹20,494) and Varun Ganjoo (17^th for €197 – ₹15,709).

Anuj Sharma (10^th for €257 – ₹20,494) bubbled the final table, while Ankit Saxena finished 8^th for €420 (₹33,492).

Final Table Results (EURO)

1. Petr Hora – €3,153

2. Ion Tabacaru – €2,132

3. Soufiane Jardi – €1,386

4. Marcel Naethe – €1,147

5. Gyula Karasz – €925

6. Ali Eghbalzad – €730

7. Michael Krautheim – €558

8. Ankit Saxena – €420

9. Eugen Strobel – €314

Turbo Noon Freezeout

The second event on the schedule was the Turbo Noon Freezeout which also had a buy-in of €80 and attracted a player pool of 24 runners, collecting €1,824 (₹1,45,454) in prize money.

The fast-paced event was shipped by Russian pro Mikhail Ivanov, who banked the first-place prize money of €912 (₹72,727), while Germany’s Markus Sebastian Borel finished runner-up for €547 (₹43,620).

Indian challenger Manish Goenka played exceptionally well to sneak in a min-cash at third place for €365 (₹29,106).

Final Table Results (EURO)

1. Mikhail Ivanov – €912

2. Markus Sebastian Borel – €547

3. Manish Goenka – €365

Main Event

The star attraction at the series, the €200 buy-in Main Event with a €100,000 (₹79,74,500) guarantee played out the first of four starting flights. With two re-entries allowed per player, Day 1A drew in 67 unique entries and 18 re-entries.

Only 25 runners survived till the end of the day’s play, with 11 Indians making the cut for Day 2. Headlining the Indian campaign was Roshan Romeo Rodrigues with a big stack of 347,000, that places him second in chips among the survivors. The other frontrunners feature Sunny (221,000) and Ankit Saxena (192,500), who are placed seventh and eighth on the leaderboard respectively.

Meanwhile, Durga Deepak (157,500), Varun Gupta (129,000), Gaurav Gala (113,500), Ashok Desai (101,500), Varun Ganjoo (82,500), Zarvan Tumboli (81,000) and Uday Patil (33,00) also bagged chips at the end of play.

Poland’s Krzysztof Tomasz Bielak topped the chip counts with 535,000 in the bag though several other notables are in contention including Roman Sobek (318,500), Jeremy Bleu (296,000) and Viacheslav Svyshchov (250,000).

With three more starting flights yet to play out, the Indian participation is only expected to increase.

Top 10 Chip Counts At The End of Day 1A

1. Krzysztof Tomasz Bielak – 535,000

2. Roshan Romeo Rodrigues – 347,000

3. Evo – 323,000

4. Roman Sobek – 318,500

5. Jeremy Bleu – 296,000

6. Viacheslav Svyshchov – 250,000

7. Sunny – 221,000

8. Ankit Saxena – 192,500

9. Michael Bernd Alfred – 168,000

10. Marco Hermann Niedermair – 160,000

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