WPT Prime India: Vineet Kumar Gets the Monkey Off His Back, Posts First Live Tournament Victory in ₹40K PLO (₹9.63 Lakhs)

Vineet Kumar
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  • Attreyee Khasnabis April 15, 2023
  • 4 Minutes Read

It was a busy start to the weekend at the floating Casino Deltin Royale in Goa, with the poker room packed with tournament players from across the country and several foreigners, all vying to win the coveted WPT trophies at the ongoing WPT Prime India!

Like the day before, two tournaments played down to a winner yesterday. Vineet Kumar (cover image), who bagged the Day 1 chip lead in the ₹40K PLO, ended up going the distance. The only PLO format tournament on the schedule, the event saw PLO enthusiasts hoarding to sign-up, with 82 entrants generating a ₹29.85 Lakhs prize pool.

A well-known domestic circuit regular, Vineet Kumar barged through the reg-cluttered field to claim his maiden live title, banking a personal-best (live score) ₹9.63 Lakhs in first-place prize money.

Kumar has been around the circuit for a while, with his earliest recorded live tournament scores dating back to 2017. The veteran player has locked in several deep runs and FT finishes in the last six years. But the title victory was missing from his list of accomplishments.

He made two close runs to winning the WPT trophy at the WPT Prime Cambodia last month in Event #1: NagaWorld Supertsack and Event #26: Superstack Classic Freezeout. Both times, Kumar finished seventh place. However, there was no denying him the glory as cheered on by a supportive rail, he finally scored the win, extending the festival`s record of naming first-time winners.

Vineet Kumar bagged the chip lead on Day 1 of the PLO tournament among 14 survivors. The old timer finally got the monkey off his back last night by besting the former poker operator Vikram Kumar heads-up to lift the sought-after WPT trophy. Vikram Kumar settled for a runner-up payout worth ₹5.82 Lakhs.

Vineet Kumar
Vineet Kumar

 

The top 11 places were assured payouts. According to the live coverage, a foreign player named Adi money-bubbled the tournament in 12th place. Suresh O was eliminated in 11th place for ₹83,500, and Sanjeev Mohanty bubbled the final table, collecting ₹89,500 in 10th place.

WPT Prime India 2023 PLO Final Table
WPT Prime India 2023 PLO Final Table

 

Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Deepak Agarwal – 573,000
  2. Vikram Kumar – 390,000
  3. Gagandeep Malik – 320,000
  4. Mandar Darade – 230,000
  5. Jagdeep Singh – 218,000
  6. Vineet Kumar – 277,000
  7. Sumukh K – 208,000
  8. Milena Mezhuieva – 171,000
  9. Siddharth Ranshevre – 70,000

 

Final Table Recap

Siddharth Ranshevre made a quick exit on the final table when his ran into Jagdeep Singh’s . The board opened , and Singh’s rivered boat knocked Ranshevre out in ninth place.

Mandar Darade was the next player to fall in eighth place. However, the elimination hand went unreported in the live coverage.

The former DPT High Roller champion and WPT title holder Gagandeep Malik’s bid to win a second WPT trophy ended prematurely. His came up against Vineet Kumar’s , but Kumar caught the better end of the runout , dismissing Malik in seventh place.

Soon after that, Vineet Kumar busted Sumukh K. The latter’s were no match for Kumar’s that hit a Queen-high straight on the board .

Finishing in fifth place was the lone woman on the final table, Milena Mezhuieva. In a classic cooler, Mezhuieva’s came up short of Vineet Kumar’s , with the board offering no succor to the former.

The following two eliminations went by quickly. Jagdeep Singh regarded as one of the best PLO players in the county, was sent packing in fourth place by Deepak Agarwal. However, Agarwal could not extend his stay on the final table for too long either and joined Singh on the rail ten minutes later after getting knocked out by Vikram Kumar in third place.

In a battle of the Kumars, Vikram ‘Lungi’ Kumar locked horns with the in-form Vineet Kumar. There is not a lot of information regarding how the heads-up played out. It seems Vikram started the heads-up as the shorter stack, and about 30 minutes later, he had whisked the chip lead away from Vineet. We do not have much detail on how Vineet fought back to gain the chip lead.

On the final hand of the tournament, Vikram Kumar’s lost out to Vineet Kumar’s , with the community cards opening .

Vineet Kumar
Vineet Kumar

 

Final Table Results (INR)

  1. Vineet Kumar – ₹9,63,000
  2. Vikram Kumar – ₹5,82,000
  3. Deepak Agarwal – ₹3,62,000
  4. Jagdeep Singh – ₹2,54,000
  5. Milena Mezhuieva – ₹1,86,300
  6. Sumukh K – ₹1,49,000
  7. Gagandeep Malik – ₹1,24,000
  8. Mandar Darade – ₹1,04,500
  9. Siddharth Ranshevre – ₹96,000

 

Main Event Day 1B Update

Running alongside the ₹40K PLO and the ₹30K Teams NLH Freezeout was the Day 1B flight of the ₹65K WPT Prime India Main Event.

The second starting flight registered 284 entries, with 36 runners surviving the day’s onslaught. Ayush Garg (604,000) bagged the day-end chip lead, with Jugol Java (528,000), Harshad Barve (498,000), Sudheer Chowdary (387,000), and Aditya Systla (385,000) on his tail.

Ayush Garg
Ayush Garg

 

Day 1C is currently underway, and after Level 1, over 100 entries have been recorded. The Main Event has closed 465 total entries from Day 1A and Day 1B. Another 233 entries are needed to eclipse the 697-entry record set in the 2018 WPT India Main Event.

Images & Live Coverage Information Courtesy: Gaming News 247 & World Poker Tour (Main Event)

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the WPT Prime India 2023!

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