This Week in Poker: February 10 – 16

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!

It was another action-packed week on the virtual felts with Young Gun Arsh Grover holding on to the “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title for a second consecutive week! The Delhi lad was in blistering form throughout the week and added a whopping ₹22.81 Lakhs in online cashes, taking his recorded virtual winnings to ₹7.28 Crores. Not only did he claim his career-first Millionaire title on Sunday for an impressive ₹13.77 Lakhs, he also took down PokerBaazi’s BSS SuperStack on the same day for ₹4.86 Lakhs. He also went on to place fifth in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹1.29 Lakhs on February 12.

However, Grover wasn’t the only Young Gun who was in stellar form this week. The 2020 leaderboard topper Gaurav Sood also locked in five six-figure scorers this week, out which three were title wins, bringing him ₹18.62 Lakhs in weekly earnings.

PokerGuru Ambassadors Ashish Munot and Vivek Singh, along with Sandy Lamba, Pravin Garle, Manish Lakhotia, Goonjan Mall, Attman Pradipbhai Velani and Suhas N. Yadav were among the other top performers this week.

Meanwhile, well-known reg Pranay Chawla topped Week #3 of PokerStars India’s ‘Star of the Month’ February leaderboard race with 454 points. He will headline this week’s top 25 finishers into the February finale that is all set to take place on February 24.

Speaking of finales, the Pocket52 Poker Sports League (PSL) Season 3 (Virtual) is also in its final week. With the league matches now in the books, Delhi Czars are now spearheading the team standings. Moreover, the penalty imposed on MPL Goan Kings and its team member Jai Saha for soft play was upheld by the PSL Review Panel.

In other news, this past week had a bit of romance in the air due to Valentine’s Day falling on Sunday. Many sites had featured holiday-themed freerolls and tournaments, including BLIZTPOKER, Pocket52 and Khelo365.

But if you missed all of that, don’t miss the recently launched reality series, ‘The Big Day’. Released on February 14, the Netflix show comprises six engaged couples as they prepare for their wedding day. Among the featured couples was poker commentator Aditya Wadhwani and his wife Gayeti Singh.

Moving on to more grim news, Kerala’s state government told the Kerala High Court (HC) that the government has proposed to regulate online rummy by issuing a notification under the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960. The notification proposes to remove the special exemption given to online rummy under the Gaming Act.

Bengaluru-based Mobile Premier League (MPL) is edging to become the second Indian gaming unicorn, after Dream11. The company reportedly closed a massive Series D funding round to the tune of $95 Million (~₹691 Crores) led by Composite Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures.

The online gaming platform Paytm First Games reportedly amassed ₹19.4 Crores in revenue, a 55% year-on-year (YOY) increase as revealed in the company’s financial statements for FY 2020.

Online Railbird Report

The virtual felts had their share of blockbuster runs this week and headlining them all was Young Gun Arsh Grover. Yes, Grover who had claimed the mantle of the “PokerGuru Star of the Week” last week has done it again! The Delhi-based pro added a whopping ₹22.81 Lakhs to his bankroll over the past seven days to defend the honor of being the week’s top performer. Grover was indeed in sublime form and grabbed two titles on Sunday. He entered the elite Millionaire club by winning the latest of Spartan Poker’s ₹1 Crore GTD The Millionaire for ₹13.77 Lakhs. Grover also won PokerBaazi’s ₹25 Lakhs GTD BSS SuperStack for ₹4.85 Lakhs!

His top finishes include:

– 1^st in The Millionaire ₹1 Crore GTD for ₹13.77 Lakhs

– 1^st in the BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹4.86 Lakhs

– 5^th in The Ballers for ₹1.29 Lakhs

– Thursday 6-Max DeepStack ₹4 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.01 Lakhs

– 5^th in the Sunday Special PKO ₹15 Lakhs GTD for ₹85,000

Young Gun Gaurav Sood may have outrun Grover in the 2020 annual leaderboard standings, but he trails the latter in the weekly cashes. Sood grabbed three titles and performed brilliantly in several other events to earn a hefty ₹18.62 Lakhs this week.

His top finishes include:

– 1^st in the Adda52 Millions for ₹6.95 Lakhs

– 1^st in the Godfather for ₹6.12 Lakhs

– 4^th in the Mega Suits ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹2.25 Lakhs

– 1^st in the Night on Stars ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.14 Lakhs

– 3^rd in the Sunday Special PKO ₹15 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.05 Lakhs

PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Munot earned an impressive ₹12.14 Lakhs this week, much of which came with his runner-up finish in The Millionaire.

His top finishes include:

-2^nd in The Millionaire ₹1 Crore GTD for ₹11.34 Lakhs

– 8^th in The Weekly HighRoller ₹12 Lakhs GTD for ₹42,840

Another top performer this week is The Millionaire third-place finisher, Sandy Lamba who also won the BSS Monster and other scores adding ₹12.73 Lakhs to his tally.

His top finishes include:

– 3^rd in The Millionaire ₹1 Crore GTD for ₹8.52 Lakhs

– 1^st in the BSS Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.24 Lakhs

– 6^th in the Uppercut MAGIC Edition ₹10 Lakhs GTD for ₹63,686

Vivek Singh was the second PokerGuru Team Pro to pocket seven-figure winnings this week. Singh collected three FT finishes to add ₹10.27 Lakhs to his scorecard.

His top finishes include:

– 9^th in The Millionaire ₹1 Crore GTD for ₹1.68 Lakhs

– 2^nd in Destiny ₹23 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.49 Lakhs

– 4^th in The Elite ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹2.75 Lakhs

Another The Millionaire FT finisher Pravin Garle also ran deep in The Elite, just about missing the seven-figure mark by collecting weekly cashes to the tune of ₹9.26 Lakhs.

His top finishes include:

-6^th in The Millionaire ₹1 Crore GTD for ₹3.22 Lakhs

– 2^nd in The Elite ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.59 Lakhs

Manish Lakhotia deserves a mention in this column, for his sublime performance that earned him ₹8.71 Lakhs this week.

His top finishes include:

– 1^st in The Summit ₹15 Lakhs GTD for ₹4.05 Lakhs

– 2^nd in the Mega Stack ₹16 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.95 Lakhs

– 2^nd in the BSS Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD for ₹87,150

Goonjan Mall (Mega Suits for ₹7.35 Lakhs), Attman Pradipbhai Velani (The Elite ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹6.37 Lakhs) and Suhas N. Yadav (Sunday Superstack ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹5.13 Lakhs) were the other top performers of the week.

Notable Winners of the Week

Pranay Chawla tops PokerStars India’s “Star of the Month” –February Week #3 Standings

Pranay Chawla booked his ticket into the February 24-slated “Star of the Month” – February finale this week. Chawla who won the latest edition of the ₹15 Lakhs GTD Sunday Special PKO on the site topped Week #3 standings with 454 points.

Read the complete report here

Pocket52 PSL Season 3 Updates

The Pocket52 Poker Sports League (PSL) Season 3 (Virtual) played past the League matches and has entered the FINALE week! While Deccan Aces overtook PokerDangal Kolkata Kings at the top of the team standings earlier in the week, the PSL Review Panel decided to uphold the penalty imposed on MPL Goan Kings and its team member Joey Saha for soft play.

Read the complete report here

Delhi Czars subsequently emerged as the Week #4 topper by collecting 28,000 points after an impressive performance in the Main Event. Deccan Aces placed second in team standings with 24,300 points. Both teams have qualified directly to the Finale.

Read the complete report here

And 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. Stay tuned.