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Indian poker is on an aggressive growth trajectory, and much of the credit for making poker a preferred game for card-game enthusiasts goes to domestic online poker sites. If the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to the live tournament and cash game action in casinos, the crowd took refuge in the vast guaranteed tournaments hosted by the domestic sites.
After the incredible surge in traffic witnessed during 2020-21, this year, the high plateaued, and the growth became more organic. Nevertheless, major brands continued to outdo one another to create innovatively designed tournament series and host more extensive and massive guaranteed editions of their flagship series.
With ever-increasing MTT guarantees, we saw huge payouts being handed out as well. Interestingly, two of 2022’s biggest winners were not top regs, but recreational players, a testament to the fair play policies our domestic online brands strictly abide by.
In today’s feature, we look at the top five breakout online scores of 2022 on domestic felts.
Jitendra Gadhwal was hands down the “biggest online scorer” of 2022, as he took down the #BBS EndBoss (May 22) for a mind-boggling ₹1 Crore. The 26-year-old Engineering graduate beat Eshan Kapoor in the heads-up showdown. Kapoor banked a career-best ₹60.20 Lakhs, and his prize ranks among the top 5 online scores of 2022.
Bengaluru-based player Rohit Kumar won the bragging rights in PokerBaazi’s ₹7 Crores GTD G.O.A.T, pocketing a massive ₹94.69 Lakhs, after chopping the title heads-up with Puneet Sachan, who banked a payout of ₹68.73 Lakhs.
Finally, there is the seasoned Amit Gehani, who won the ₹3.50 Crore GTD IOPC #114 – The Crown for ₹56.40 Lakhs.
There were a plethora of other standout finishes. Without delaying you any further, let’s look into the top 5 online scores of 2022!
1. Jitendra Gadhwal
WinsPokerBaazi’s ₹5 Crore GTD #BB8 EndBoss For ₹1 Crore
On Sunday, May 22, 26-year-old Jitendra Gadhwal took down the third installment of PokerBaazi’s ₹5 Crores GTD #BB8 EndBoss. Traversing past a 4,948-entry field, Gadhwal netted a whopping ₹1 Crore, becoming the second player after the first EndBoss. champion, Abhishek Maheshwari, to bank an eight-figure payday!
Talking about his victory, Gadhwal, who is a B.Tech in Engineering and has been playing poker since 2017, said, “I still can’t believe it. It will definitely take time to sink in. I’ve been playing for three-four years, mainly on PokerBaazi and mostly tournaments, but never expected a hobby would turn out to be so rewarding.”
Gadhwal clashed against Eshan Kapoor in the heads-up showdown. He reminisced about the clash and the final hand of the tournament. “H.U. was pretty straightforward. I tried to not focus on the amount we were playing for and just play my cards. My opponent was seemingly a bit tight, and I wanted to play face up, too…the final hand was my top pair of 8 vs his second pair of 4 on an 8-4-2 board. He raised on the flop I check-jammed, he called and was behind, my pair of 8 held up!”
Read the tournament recap here
2. Rohit Kumar
Wins PokerBaazi’s ₹7 Crores GTD GOAT For ₹94.69 Lakhs
PokerBaazi upped the temperatures on the domestic felts on November 6, hosting the inaugural G.O.A.T, aka Greatest of all Tournaments. The G.O.A.T is India’s first, and to date, biggest online tournament, and it featured a never-before-seen ₹7 Crores in guaranteed prize money. Following eight qualifiers that brought in 7,233 entries, Bengaluru-based player Rohit Kumar topped the competition. A 35-year-old data scientist at Walmart, Kumar maneuvered past the stacked final table, eventually agreeing to a heads-up deal to emerge champion. He collected an unbelievable ₹94.69 Lakhs for his victory run.
Kumar has been playing poker for over a decade but has focused on MTTs since his return to India in 2022. The G.O.A.T was Kumar’s second domestic online tournament title. He admitted to us, “When I enrolled in that tournament, I had an objective of coming in top payout structure. But I never thought I’d be able to win this tournament. I’m telling you honestly…I had played the satellite tournament and got selected. My chip stack was very low. When that tournament started, I just told myself that I had to play my best game ever, and I didn’t want to make any mistake because one mistake would terminate me immediately…I loved that sometimes I played the right strategy at the right position with the right players. So those things helped me to improve my chip stack on the table.”
Read the tournament recap here
3. Puneet Sachan
Runner-up in PokerBaazi’s ₹7 Crores GTD GOAT For ₹68.73 Lakhs
This past November, Puneet Sachan came excruciatingly close to clinching the G.O.A.T title. However, in the final moments, Sachan struck a heads-up deal with Rohit Kumar, taking up the runner-up position that earned him an equally jaw-dropping ₹68.73 Lakhs payday.
Sachan’s run in the event was nerve-wracking and exciting. “Honestly, I had a very sick beat when 15 people were left. I had aces, and the opponent jammed 16 B.B.s with nines. I called him, but I lost the pot after a nine appeared on the flop. It was very disheartening for me. I had 5.5 BBs left, but I soon got good cards and a double-up two or three times. End of the day, I was chip leading the final table.”
The runner-up score is Sachan’s biggest online feat to date, and vaulted his tracked online winnings straight past the ₹1 Crore marker. It also makes the poker streamer the third-biggest scorer of 2022!
4. Eshan Kapoor
Runner-up in the PokerBaazi’s ₹5 Crore GTD #BB8 EndBoss For ₹60.20 Lakhs
It can be tilting when you come strikingly close to winning one of the biggest online tournaments but finish one position short. Still, for 28-year-old Delhi-based Eshan Kapoor, a runner-up score of ₹60.20 Lakhs (his career-best finish) in a tournament as prestigious as the #BB8 EndBoss is no mean feat. While Kapoor has shipped only one online tournament, dating back to August 2020, his stellar run in the #BB8 EndBoss, ensured him a spot in our year-end feature.
5. Amit Gehani
Wins Spartan Poker’s ₹3.50 Crore GTD IOPC #114 – The Crown For ₹56.40 Lakhs
Dubai-based reg Amit Gehani enjoys a glittering online scorecard. Many would recall Gehani’s IOPC Legends win in July 2021 or his runner-up finish in the IOPC High Roller in January 2022. Gehani stole the thunder early in 2022 with his close finish in the IOPC High Roller, where he chopped the top prize with Young Gun Sahil Chutani, the latter claiming the title for ₹23.20 Lakhs. Gehani pocketed ₹21.13 Lakhs in the tourney.
But that’s not why Gehani ranks on this feature. A week after his High Roller run, Gehani wore the majestic IOPC – The Crown. He trampled the 3,938-player field in the event to clinch his career-second IOPC title (he has three IOPC titles overall) and a personal-best score of ₹56.40 Lakhs (cumulatively from three ITM finishes)!
Read the tournament recap here
Some of the other top online scorers of the year include:
> Saurabh Rohila – Won Spartan Poker’s ₹4 Crore GTD IOPC #130 – The Crown for ₹53.78 Lakhs
> ‘washerman’ – 2nd in Spartan Poker’s ₹4 Crore GTD IOPC #130 – The Crown for ₹48.98 Lakhs
> Sahil Chutani – Won Spartan Poker’s ₹2 Crore GTD IOPC #69 Legends for ₹44.06 Lakhs
> Arsh Grover –Won Spartan Poker’s ₹2 Crores GTD FTS #41 – Main Event (6-Max) for ₹40.24 Lakhs
> Sajal Gupta – Won Spartan Poker’s ₹2 Crores GTD FTS #56 Main Event for ₹39.67 Lakhs
We will continue to bring you many more such end-of-the-year features narrating the exciting progress that the Indian online gaming sector made in 2022. Stay tuned!