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!

Welcome to the first ‘This Week in Poker’ update of 2021! We start off this recap with news from the domestic online poker circuit. With live poker tournaments still pretty much out of the picture, the online poker action continues to be the driving force for the industry.

Topping this week`s online charts, we have Sagar Choudhury. The IIM-Rohtak alumni went on a trailblazing run on Friday (January 1), ringing in the New Year celebration in style! Choudhury couldn`t have asked for a better start to the year as he shipped two flagship tourneys on the day, Spartan Poker’s The Elite and PokerBaazi’s The Weekly HighRoller. This, along with a litany of deep runs through the week, helped him accumulate an impressive ₹13.65 Lakhs in winnings, making him our first “PokerGuru Star of the Week” of 2021!

Next in line is the two-time Millionaire champion, Manish Lakhotia. The Siliguri-based pro had topped the December online leaderboard, and there was no let-up in form for this MTT crusher who championed two tourneys this past week – Spartan Poker’s Sunday SuperStack and Adda52’s La Luna.

PokerGuru Ambassador`s Ashish Ahuja and Laksh Pal Singh alongside Jaideep Sajwan and Sahil Mahboobani were the other big scorers this week.

PokerStars India’s “Star of the Month” leaderboard race found another champion with online reg Siddharth Gangwar bagging the “Star of the Month” – December title. He won MTT tickets worth ₹1.15 Lakhs and a PokerStars India goodie bag for the win! That`s not all! Gangwar is already chasing back-to-back titles, having topped the January Week #1 standings to storm his way into the January Finale.

January has all the bearings to be an explosive month! Spartan Poker`s India Online Poker Championship (IOPC) – January 14 to 31 – Adda52 ‘January Suit Up’ series – January 1 to 31 – and PokerBaazi`s APT 2021 Online Series India – January 15 to 26 – promise a firecracker start in the New Year!

There is good news for poker players interested in some passive income. India`s fastest-growing online poker site, MPL Poker, recently threw open its affiliate program offering players the best-in-the-industry commissions for referring players to the site.

The biggest news from the international sphere was the online-live hybrid 51st WSOP Main Event. Argentinian pro Damian Salas, who had won the GGPoker-leg of the Main Event, defeated Louisiana’s Joseph Hebert, the WSOP.com leg champion, heads-up in Las Vegas to win the bragging rights of becoming the new World Champion. He won an additional $1 Million for the win along with the most sought after bracelet in poker.

Grabbing headlines was news of another former World Champion, the 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker, who parted ways with PokerStars after endorsing the brand for 17 years.

Huckleberry Seed was named the 59th inductee to the Poker Hall of Fame (PHoF) and the lone player to make it in the “Class of 2020. ” He beat out other accomplished nominees like Matt Savage, Isai Scheinberg, Eli Elezra, and Antonio Esfandiari.

Online Railbird Report

The first week of 2021 belonged to Sagar Choudhury. The Mumbai-based pro championed two flagship tourneys on Friday alongside a string of FT finishes. In all, he collected almost ₹13.65 Lakhs through the week, making him our first “PokerGuru Star of the Week” of 2021.

His top finishes include:

1. 1^st in the ₹25 Lakhs GTD The Elite on Spartan Poker for ₹54 Lakhs
2. 1^st in the ₹12 Lakhs GTD The Weekly HighRoller on PokerBaazi for ₹64 Lakhs
3. FT finishes in The Ballers, Titan Stack, Sunday Special PKO and BSS MegaStack, Choudhury

Manish Lakhotia features yet again among the top winners! The December leaderboard topper raked in almost ₹12.20 Lakhs through the week.

His top finishes include:

1. 1^st in the ₹25 Lakhs GTD Sunday SuperStack on Spartan Poker for ₹30 Lakhs
2. 1^st in the ₹5 Lakhs GTD La Luna on Adda52 for ₹19 Lakhs
3. FT finishes in Mega Suits, The Big Show, The Mint, and Sixth Sense

PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja ranked #3 on the annual leaderboard last year. The Chandigarh-based MTT crusher looks on track to make 2021 even more eventful. He cashed over ₹9.50 Lakhs this past week – most of it through three title victories.

His top finishes include:

1. 1^st in the ₹30 Lakhs GTD Mega Suits on Adda52 for ₹04 Lakhs
2. 1^st in the ₹10 Lakhs GTD Highroller on PokerStars India for ₹90 Lakhs
3. 1^st in the ₹5 Lakhs GTD Voyager on Adda52 for ₹82,500

Ahuja’s fellow teammate Laksh Pal Singh was not far behind. His biggest haul came in The Elite, a tourney he chopped with Sagar Choudhury to win ₹5.37 Lakhs. Singh also FT-ed The Ballers, cashing in almost ₹7.32 Lakhs this past week.

Seasoned reg Sahil Mahboobani placed runner-up in the Godfather for ₹3.78 Lakhs and placed fourth in The Ballers for ₹1.87 Lakhs, raking in almost ₹6.98 Lakhs.

‘PsychG0d’ (Adda52 Millions ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹6.86 Lakhs), The LagLawyer (Godfather ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹6.25 Lakhs), The Game Changer 4.0 winner, JaiKiran Kumar (Destiny ₹22 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.83 Lakhs), and ‘pokraj’ (The Ballers ₹22.5 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.62 Lakhs) were the other big winners this past week.

Notable Winners of the Week

PokerStars India`s “Star of the Month” – December, Siddharth Gangwar Tops January Week #1 Leaderboard Standings

Siddharth Gangwar made the headlines twice over this week. He caught his big break on December 30 when he topped the 100-player field in the PokerStars India’s “Star of the Month” December Finale to win MTT tickets worth ₹1.15 Lakhs and a PokerStars India goodie bag. He was back on the grind almost immediately and accumulated an impressive 677 TLB points last week to top the SOTM January Week #1 standings.

Read the complete report here

MPL Poker’s Affiliate Program Offers Lucrative Earning Potential

Fantasy sports giant Mobile Premier League (MPL) added poker to its platform almost a year ago. The poker platform has been growing by leaps and bounds since making it the country`s fastest-growing online poker network. MPL Poker recently rolled out its affiliate program publicly, guaranteeing the best-in-the-industry commissions to high potential affiliates.

Read the complete report here

Damian Salas Emerges as the 51^st WSOP World Champion!

And we have a new World Champion! The 51st World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event heads-up finale took place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on January 3. Argentina’s Damian Salas, who’d entered the finale after winning the GGPoker-leg of the Main Event, defeated the WSOP-leg champion, Louisiana-based Joseph Hebert, to claim the additional $1 Million, along with the bracelet and the bragging rights of becoming the 51^st WSOP World champion.

Read the complete report here

Chris MoneyMaker Parts Ways With PokerStars

Chris Moneymaker – the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion – whose blazing run almost 18 years ago made poker a household game in the US, parted ways with online poker giant PokerStars after endorsing the brand for 17 years.

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 in the New Year. Till then, stay safe and enjoy your New Year celebrations!