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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!
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August got off to a firecracker start as the 11th edition of the India Online Poker Championship (IOPC) on Spartan Poker wrapped up its showstopper IOPC – The Crown, just as two other high-voltage events, the APT Online Series India & WPT Online India, commenced proceedings.
Dominating the week’s action was the ₹3.50 Crore GTD IOPC The Crown. The magnum opus registered a massive 3,758 entries across its week-long, and the survivors played to an eight-handed final table on Sunday night. The finalists reconvened on Monday evening to contend for the grand prize. Poker maestro Aditya Agarwal had started out as the final table chip leader, and for the most part, dominated the final table action. The heads-up started out with Agarwal commanding a 10:1 chip lead against Vaibhav Temani. To most, it seemed like the match was done and dusted in Agarwal’s favor. Still, the 33-year-old Temani overcame the overwhelming odds and that too against a formidable opponent, becoming the latest IOPC The Crown champion, and banking the biggest score of the year (so far) worth ₹58.02 Lakhs (cumulative)! For this incredible performance, Vaibhav Temani is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
Poker coach Aditya Agarwal missed out on grabbing the prestigious title, but he still walked away with a phenomenal ₹36.14 Lakhs (cumulative) payday!
Guneet Kwatra, Young Gun Anuj Yadav, Anirban Das, Young Gun Siddhanth Kripalani, and Sriharsha Doddapaneni were the other big weekly scorers.
While online tournament series have been hogging the spotlight, online poker brands have been simultaneously doling out attractive offers and promotions. Deposit offers seemed to be the flavor of the week.
PokerStars India has brought back its ever-popular 100% Reload Bonus Offer. The site had previously run the promotion in January and May, and this time around, the promotion is running from August 2 to 15. If you missed the offer the first two times, it’s fairly simple. All you have to do to claim a 100% bonus on your next deposit on PokerStars India is to use the Bonus Code ‘BOOST’ while depositing.
The deposit offer on BLITZPOKER is part of the site’s ‘Astronomical August’ promotion primarily targeting cash game lovers. Like the site’s ‘June Jackpot’ promotion, you have to make a deposit on the site using a specific code to receive the corresponding bonus. You can use each bonus code twice during the promotion period, adding over ₹11,000 in bonuses.
The online action and promotions aside, this was a memorable week for India’s online gaming industry. On August 3, the first bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, in a historic moment for the industry, struck down the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act 2021, calling it ‘excessive and disproportionate.’ However, the state government has made it clear that it`s unwilling to seek regulation of the industry and retaliated to the judgment by doubling down on its intention to ban online gaming. State Law Minister S. Regupathy, on August 4, announced the government’s intentions to table a law prohibiting online games like rummy while following due procedures and specifying valid reasons.
Moving onto the 2021 WSOP Online Series, the WSOP.com-leg of the series concluded on July 31 with Chris Moorman grabbing the last bracelet of the series in Event #29 $800 NLHE 8-Max Turbo Deepstack for $102,406. The GGPoker/Natural8-leg of the series kicked off on August 1 and has already crowned two champions in Bartlomiej Swieboda and Joao Simao.
Online Railbird Report
The final week of Spartan Poker’s India Online Poker Championship (IOPC) tingled with excitement as the series’ most anticipated event, the ₹3.50 Crores GTD IOPC #138 – The Crown opened to action. Running past a guarantee-smashing 3,758-entry field and a star-studded final table was Vaibhav Temani. Temani came into the final table fourth in chips but went toe-to-toe to outrun world-class opponents to claim the ₹57.26 Lakhs up-top. He also placed 66th in the event for ₹76,287, collectively earning ₹58.02 Lakhs. Temani wrapped up a super-successful week with winnings worth ₹58.02 Lakhs and is hands-down our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
Team PokerGuru was chasing to defend the IOPC- The Crown title that was last won by PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh in January. Poker coach and team mentor Aditya Agarwal had entered the IOPC – The Crown final table as the chip leader, a position he consolidated entering the heads-up against Temani. With the latter denying Agarwal the bragging rights, Agarwal still took home a hefty ₹36.14 Lakhs.
Bengaluru-based Guneet Kwatra came strikingly close to shipping the ₹1.40 Crore GTD IOPC Super High Roller. The former Millionaire champion eventually lost the title to mystery player ‘Pradzzzz,’ but added ₹23.80 Lakhs to his kitty for the runner-up finish, altogether earning ₹26.78 Lakhs over the week.
His top finishes include:
> 2nd in the IOPC #117 Super High Roller ₹1.40 Crore GTD for ₹23.80 Lakhs
> 74th in the IOPC #138 – The Crown for ₹1.66 Lakhs
Young Gun Anuj Yadav went on a breakout run at the IOPC, winning a record five titles at the series and topping the leaderboard. This week, Yadav pocketed at least ₹24.83 Lakhs (we do not have his accurate stats as he is opted out of our tracking), much of which came with a third-place finish in the IOPC #138 – The Crown worth ₹21 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 3rd in the IOPC#138 The Crown ₹3.5 Crores GTD for ₹21 Lakhs (cumulatively ₹22 Lakhs)
> 1st in the IOPC #135 All Rounder SNG for ₹3 Lakhs
> 1st in the IOP #125 All Rounder ₹10 Lakhs GTD for ₹2.10 Lakhs
> 4th in the IOPC #118 Thursday Spotlight ₹13 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.19 Lakhs
Anirban D Das aka ‘Mr. Consistent’ raked in scores worth ₹19.94 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 8th in the IOPC #117 – Super High Roller ₹1.40 Crore GTD for ₹4.69 Lakhs
> 4th in the APT#16 PLO Highroller ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹2.06 Lakhs
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s Blockbuster for ₹1.49 Lakhs
> 102nd in the IOPC #138 – The Crown for ₹1.33 Lakhs
Young Gun Siddhanth Kripalani placed fourth in the IOPC #138 – The Crown for ₹17.02 Lakhs, adding up ₹19.89 Lakhs through the week.
The defending IOPC Super High Roller champion Sriharsha Doddapaneni made an impressive attempt to defend his title and ended up winning ₹15.47 Lakhs for placing third. Over the week, Doddapaneni padded his bankroll by ₹18.93 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 3rd in the IOPC #117 – Super High Roller ₹1.40 Crore GTD for ₹15.47 Lakhs
> 48th in the IOPC #138 – The Crown for ₹2.65 Lakhs
PokerGuru Ambassador Vishal Bajaj, Mohit Bhati, Rajeev Kumar, Harshit Sanghi, Vinay Rajpal, Abhishek Shah, Mayank Jaggi, Kunal Patni, Rajat Sharma, PokerGuru Ambassadors Ankit Wadhawan, and Gokul Raj, as well as Vinayak Bajaj and Avadh Shah, were the other top scorers this week.
Notable Winners of the Week
Player | Prize Amount | Event | Poker Site |
---|---|---|---|
1. Vaibhav ‘AllinPavBhaji’ Temani | ₹57.26 Lakhs | IOPC#138 The Crown ₹3.5 Crores GTD | Spartan Poker |
Pradzzz | ₹35.22 Lakhs | IOPC #117 Super High Roller ₹1.40 Crore GTD | Spartan Poker |
Mohit 'jacktheripper' Bhati | ₹9.97 Lakhs | IOPC #124 Friday Spotlight ₹55 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Vishal 'Tokio999' Tulsyan | ₹9.57 Lakhs | IOPC#110 Wednesday Prime ₹50 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Pavankiran ‘Rootahua Machi’ B | ₹8.79 Lakhs | IOPC#135 Sunday Prime ₹60 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
stardust | ₹7.77 Lakhs | APT #4 Sunday Major ₹40 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Chikuu36 | ₹7.68 Lakhs | WPT India 6 Max Championship ₹30 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Sreekanth ‘GL1DE’ Narayan | ₹6.71 Lakhs | IOPC #116 – Thursday Prime ₹35 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Vikash 'Mantvik' Mantri | ₹6.16 Lakhs | APT#16 PLO Highroller ₹25 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Adithya 'Rlox1' N G | ₹6.12 Lakhs | Godfather ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Jitesh ‘shooter19’ Kumar | ₹6.07 Lakhs | The Ballers ₹22.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Piyush ‘anCap’ Ravi | ₹5.58 Lakhs | IOPC #139- Value Mine ₹40 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Vishnu 'violator' Khandelwal | ₹5.40 Lakhs | WPT Tuesday Feature ₹22.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Satnam ‘LUCKYS0007’ Singh | ₹5.39 Lakhs | WPT Super Stack ₹30 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Aditya ‘Konstantin’ Singh | ₹4.17 Lakhs | The Weekly Highroller ₹12 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Vinayak ‘salmanbhai’ Bajaj | ₹3.92 Lakhs | APT #1 Kickoff ₹20 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Mohammad 'chandlerbing' Azhar | ₹3.90 Lakhs | The Summit ₹15 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Saumya "bigcards" Agarwal | ₹3.67 Lakhs | WPT Monday Feature 6 Max ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Rajeev ‘AthenaVolt’ Kumar | ₹3.41 Lakhs | Mega Stack ₹16.50 Lakhs GTD – Millionaire Bubble | Spartan Poker |
Ashwin ‘Ashwinvijay1399’ Vijay | ₹3.18 Lakhs | WPT Kickoff ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Gokul 'Niruha' Raj | ₹3.10 Lakhs | Maverick ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Anuj 'titootauji' Yadav | ₹3 Lakhs | IOPC#136 All Rounder SNG ₹7.5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Abhishek 'Addysonu' Sonu | ₹3 Lakhs | Sunday Special Progressive KO ₹15 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Saroj 'Pepperchino' Mehta | ₹2.89 Lakhs | IOPC #123 Friday Prime ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
sumit_5011 | ₹2.70 Lakhs | Highroller ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Buhr “C@mage” Advirkar | ₹2.59 Lakhs | IOPC #118 Thursday Spotlight ₹13 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Devrat ‘Vickypune’ Singh | ₹2.44 Lakhs | WPT Monster Turbo ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Dhinesh 'dhineshrocky007' Kumar | ₹2.29 Lakhs | The Pride ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Pabloescobat | ₹2.12 Lakhs | APT#18 Megastack ₹8 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Anuj 'tittooTauji' Yadav | ₹2.10 Lakhs | IOPC#125 All Rounder ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Dhinesh 'dinzy009' Kumar | ₹2.05 Lakhs | WPT Mini 6-Max ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
calyx420 | ₹1.81 Lakhs | IOPC #11 All Rounder PKO ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Neeraj 'Jannat52' Kumar | ₹1.71 Lakhs | IOPC #119 All Rounder ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Pravin ‘littlejony’ Garle | ₹1.71 Lakhs | APT#13 (6-Max) Turbo ₹8 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Ujjwal ‘Mr vishnani’ Vishnani | ₹1.68 Lakhs | IOPC#111 Wednesday Spotlight ₹11 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Parth 'ucallucry' Budhraja | ₹1.63 Lakhs | ReCharge ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Vivek 'victor2coolsmart' Karwa | ₹1.53 Lakhs | WPT Table for 6 ₹7 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Vivek 'Vivek94540' Singh | ₹1.51 Lakhs | Running Hot ₹5.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Arish 'YKNjonsnow' Taraporewala | ₹1.47 Lakhs | APT#19 (6-Max) Turbo ₹6 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
PradhanLi | ₹1.42 Lakhs | The Race ₹6.75 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Anmol ‘anzzzzz’ Mehta | ₹1.36 Lakhs | Monster Turbo ₹5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Saahib 'Str8$$$Homey' Bawa | ₹1.17 Lakhs | IOPC#121 ₹5.25 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Vikram 'MentalScience' Mishra | ₹1.13 Lakhs | IOPC#108 PKO ₹5.25 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Ritwik ‘Ritwikkhanna’ Khanna | ₹1.12 Lakhs | APT#8 DST ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Bhanu Prakash ‘Chennaino1’ KC | ₹1.05 Lakhs | APT #9 PKO ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Anurag 'Krifard' Rawat | ₹1.01 Lakhs | La Luna ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Rajesh Kumar ‘ChivasRegal’ Shukla | ₹1 Lakh | IOPC #114 ₹5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Dhaval 'D1D1D' Doshi | ₹98,693 | Uppercut ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
kabir2298 | ₹94,563 | Battle Royale ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Faiz ‘LFGgggg’ Alam | ₹90,774 | Night on Stars ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
durrred | ₹89,810 | IOPC #115 ₹4.50 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
M 'LACHANCE' Balakrishnan | ₹89,345 | IOPC#122 ₹4.75 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Himanshu ‘baagdi’ Bagdwal | ₹83,159 | WPT Hustle ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Kalidenalii | ₹80,200 | The Flash ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
suhael | ₹63,729 | IOPC #113 ₹3.25 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Nishachar | ₹56,943 | 6-Max Holdem BOOST DST ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
deadpan16 | ₹55,787 | Battle Royale 7-Max ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Mohit 'thejoker' Mehta | ₹55,639 | IOPC#120 ₹2.75 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
starnaruto | ₹54,590 | 6-Max Holdem BOOST DST ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Jason Koon | ₹49,616 | Night Rider – DeepStack Turbo ₹2.10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Aditya ‘Opulentadi’ Sharma | ₹47,250 | Afternoon Adda ₹1.75 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
DeuceSeven09 | ₹44,025 | The Classic PKO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Harsh 'harsh1327' Bubna | ₹42,225 | Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Abhishek ‘Addysonu’ Sonu | ₹40,688 | Big Bubble Rush ₹1.75 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Blackace9 | ₹39,030 | Night DST ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
janspeed | ₹37,870 | Night DST ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
Sahil 'you3bi4b' Nair | ₹37,094 | 6-Max Holdem Boost DST ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
birjukumar | ₹36,975 | Nighttide DST ₹1.75 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Monk555 | ₹36,810 | Afternoon DST ₹1 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
ThikanaCK | ₹35,069 | Nighttide DST Adda ₹1.75 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
75##.717##9_2257163 | ₹33,000 | The Closer ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | GoodPoker |
Sankalp 'Wobbegong' Marwah | ₹30,970 | PLO Boost Monster ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
Akash 'winnerwinner' Punshi | ₹30,918 | Night DST ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
underdawgg | ₹30,150 | Afternoon DST ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
cal123 | ₹28,990 | Afternoon DST ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
Amit ‘Stu Ungar 7694’ Kaushik | ₹28,731 | Time Tourney 90 Minutes ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
rkcravi | ₹27,082 | Ultrasonic ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerStars India |
Faiz ‘AilaGaya’ Alam | ₹26,640 | PLO BOOST Monster ₹1 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Zangam | ₹25,760 | Punch for ₹80K GTD | Adda52 |
Armaan ‘armaan007111’ Kochhar | ₹24,423 | Ultrasonic ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerStars India |
Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur | ₹24,110 | PLO Boost Monster ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
777Grkrn777 | ₹24,000 | Warrior Arena ₹1 Lakh GTD Bounty RE | PokerDangal |
flashsurya | ₹24,000 | Dangal Friday ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerDangal |
88bluff | ₹22,000 | Wednesday PLO ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerDangal |
maaya420 | ₹21,000 | Hitman PLO ₹30K GTD | Khelo365 |
newbie884 | ₹20,752 | Ultra KO 90% ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
robert_ford9 | ₹18,770 | Ultra KO 75% ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
Djsjsjsjsjsjsjsjsjsj | ₹17,918 | The Centurion ₹1.10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
kidwithim | ₹17,396 | Afternoon on Stars ₹60K GTD | PokerStars India |
041195 | ₹16,791 | Ultrasonic ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerStars India |
kimi_nj | ₹15,590 | Afternoon on Stars ₹60K GTD | PokerStars India |
hardyindin | ₹15,093 | Bigstack Turbo ₹70 GTD | PokerStars India |
Pranav ‘PranV’ Agrawal | ₹15,045 | Afternoon on Stars ₹60K GTD | PokerStars India |
badlAA | 13,431 | Deepstack ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
shubh79 | ₹13,309 | Bigstack Turbo ₹70K GTD | PokerStars India |
Shailu1456 | ₹12,967 | Sundown Adda ₹50K GTD | Adda52 |
dhamlabhis | ₹12,900 | Prime Time PLO ₹30K GTD | Khelo365 |
kimi_nj | ₹12,024 | Bigstack Turbo ₹70K GTD | PokerStars India |
padamjain | ₹11,813 | Striker 5 Card PLO ₹45K GTD | Spartan Poker |
Sagar ‘sagar28389’ Gulati | ₹11,494 | Sundown Adda ₹50K GTD | Adda52 |
maaya420 | ₹10,750 | 6 Feet Under ₹25K GTD PLO Deepstack | Khelo365 |
fuckRey | ₹10,562 | Deepstack ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
RKGRKG | ₹9,881 | Deepstack ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
ShipIT@MONEY | ₹8,396 | Primetime Grind ₹40K GTD | PokerStars India |
ShipIT@MONEY | ₹8,107 | Primetime Grind ₹40K GTD | PokerStars India |
nikj33l | ₹7,083 | Primetime Grind 40K GTD | PokerStars India |
PokerStars India Brings Back 100% Reload Bonus Offer (August 2 – 15)
PokerStars India has brought back its 100% Reload Bonus Offer, offering 100% matched bonuses on player deposits from August 2 to 15.
Read the complete report here
BLITZPOKER’s Astronomical August Offers Exciting Deposit Bonus Offers
BLITZPOKER’s latest promotional offering for cash game players – Astronomical August – offers over ₹11,000 in bonuses.
Read the complete report here
WSOP Online 2021 Updates
The WSOP.com leg of the 2021 WSOP Series culminated this week, with the action simultaneously shifting to GGPoker/Natural8 for players outside the U.S.
Chris Moorman grabbed one of the last gold bracelets on offer on WSOP.com, winning Event #29: $800 NLHE 8-Max Turbo Deepstack for $102,406. This was Moorman’s career-second gold bracelet.
Read the complete report here
Mitchel Halverson (Won Event #30: $600 NLHE 6-Max Championship for $84,057), Brad Zusman (Won Event #31: $500 NLH Summer Saver for $79,683), Drew O’ Connell (Won Event #32: $1,000 NLH Championship for $146,893), and Dan Sindelar (Won Event #33: $500 NLHE Grand Finale for $159,100) were the other WSOP.com bracelet winners.
In the GGPoker-leg of the series, Bartlomiej Swieboda walked away with his career-first bracelet in Event #1: $50 The Return NLHE for $161,111.
Read the complete report here
Brazilian pro Joao Simao finally got the WSOP monkey off his back by shipping Event #2: $1,111 Caesars Care Charity Event for $206,075.
Read the complete 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 next week with our weekly report. Stay tuned.