This Week in Poker: October 31 – November 6

This Week in Poker
  • Profile picture
  • Namita Ghosh November 6, 2018
  • 10 Minutes Read

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring to you the weekly round-up of the biggest online scores by Indian MTT players along with the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit.

Here are this week`s top stories

It’s been action and celebrations for the poker zealots this past week, as gearing up for the festival of Diwali, the domestic poker sites launched their respective Diwali-special tournaments and promotions offering the Indian online players much to rejoice over. Alongside, even as the international felts saw the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) coming to a thundering halt, action continued at the WSOP Circuit halts, the Montreal stop of the World Poker Tour (WPT) and Run It Up Reno.

The biggest stories came in from the online felts that were bursting with action as the fun and frolic of Diwali took over. Reigning supreme on the PokerStars India felts was Joey ‘inisme’ Saha, who pocketed an accumulated sum of ₹6.54 Lakhs by taking down the Diwali Rush Main Event ₹30 Lakhs GTD for ₹6.21 Lakhs, the Diwali Rush Last Chance Supersonic ₹1.2 Lakhs GTD for ₹33,065 and finishing runner-up in the Diwali Rush Mini Big Rebuy Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD for ₹25,310. This tremendous performance by the young champion makes him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

Part of PokerStars India’s Diwali rush was a special mega freeroll offering the winner a coveted Platinum Pass, and it was eventually won by Sharad Rao who walked away with the pass worth a whopping ₹21 Lakhs and he will now be joining an elite group of Indians who will be seen at the PokerStars Players NLHE Championship (PSPC), Bahamas in January 2019.

Sharad Rao

Sharad Rao

While the poker action of this past week has been electrifying, there is still a lot more to look forward to including the WPTDeepStacks– Brussels (November 6 to 11), Master Classics of Poker 2018, Amsterdam (November 21 to December 1) and 888poker LIVE London (November 23 to December 2).

Meanwhile, the Indian live poker circuits and the gaming industry has seen big moves and upheavals over the past week. We saw the Indian lottery major Sugal & Damani launch its ‘Luckykhel’ mobile app and Indian Esports startup, GamingMonk successfully raise ₹4 Crores in funding.

Poker has been struggling to find a footing in the legal corridors of the country and there were several setbacks and some good news as well. Right as poker player from Delhi, Karan Mutha withdrew the criminal writ petition filed by him in the Delhi High Court in December 2017 arguing that poker is a game of skill, a new bench of the Gujarat High Court will now hear the appeal by secretary of Indian Poker Association (IPA) KN Suresh against a December 2017 dated single-bench order of the High Court over poker’s definition as a game of chance on December 21.

The much-awaited casino policy in Goa has sprung back to spotlight, as owner and Chairman of Delta Corp Jaydev Mody expressed confidence that the casino policy would benefit the state’s casino industry in the long run. We also heard that the government was weighing the possibility of developing certain areas as ‘casino towns’. Without confirming this, state agriculture minister Vijai Sardesai has advocated setting up a casino strip, along the lines of the Hong-Kong harbour, in Panaji. Meanwhile, Goa’s Directorate of Fire And Emergency Services conducted an inspection and audit of the casino vessels anchored over river Mandovi.

We wrap up this week’s recap with tournament reports from 22018 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Harveys Lake Tahoe, WPT Montreal, WPT500 Montreal, 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), 2018 Run It Up Reno Main Event and 2018 Battle of Malta Main Event.

 

Online Railbird Report

While the Diwali Rush series on PokerStars India had taken centre stage on the online felts, the show stopper was undoubtedly the Mumbai-lad Joey ‘inisme’ Saha who took the spotlight after winning the Diwali Rush Main Event ₹30 Lakhs GTD for a daunting ₹6.21 Lakhs, along with an additional ₹33,065 for crushing the Diwali Rush Last Chance Supersonic ₹1.2 Lakhs GTD and ₹25,310 for finishing runner-up in the Diwali Rush Mini Big Rebuy Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD. His total winnings on PokerStars India this past Sunday was ₹6,54,459 and for this, he is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

Joey Saha

Joey Saha

Other notable scores of the week include –

‘Babuji44’ won ₹7.20 Lakhs for 1st place in the 9stacks ‘Boom Boom₹30 Lakhs GTD’

Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja won ₹₹2.70 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi‘BSS ₹15 Lakhs GTD SuperStack’

‘TheHungryKid’ won ₹1.22 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi‘The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

‘plofish’ won ₹1.20 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘BSS PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

‘md20’ won ₹1.09 lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi‘BSS MegaStack₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Sandeep ‘effuno007’ Varma RS won ₹57,784 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Diwali Rush Deep Stack Hyper Turbo ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD’

‘Soo Pure’ won ₹52,501 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Storm ₹3 Lakhs GTD’

Dhananjoy ‘Dhananjoy’ Karmakar won ₹45,000 for 1st place in the MadOverPoker‘Dyamite’

‘MrAanand’ won ₹34,670 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Diwali Rush Mini Big Rebuy Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD’

Joey ‘inisme’ Saha won ₹33,065 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Diwali Rush Last Chance Supersonic ₹1.2 Lakhs GTD’

Rumit ‘Heyyounotyouyesyou’ Khade won ₹32,922 for 1st place in the MadOverPoker‘Grenade’

‘baby.driver18’ won ₹29,693 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Stars ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

‘nmishra8′ won ₹19,106 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Warm-Up ₹1 Lakh GTD’

Sam ‘Lokimon’ Anand won ₹16,000 for 1st place in the MadOverPoker’s ‘NightCrawler’

Goa’s Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai Advocates Development of a Casino Strip

After reports that Goa government was considering developing ‘casino towns’ along the coastline, state Agriculture minister Vijai Sardesai while talking to reporters advocated developing a casino strip along the coastline in Panaji.

Vijai Sardesai

Vijai Sardesai

Read the complete story here.

Goa’s Directorate of Fire & Emergency Inspects 6 Offshore Casinos For Fire Safety & Rescue

In a surprising move, the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services in Goa conducted inspection and audit of the fire safety measures on the offshore casino vessels moored over river Mandovi.

Read the complete story here.

Poker Appeals to be Heard by New Bench of Gujarat High Court on Dec 21

A new bench of Gujarat High Court would be hearing the appeal application of secretary of Indian Poker Association (IPA) KN Suresh on December 21. Suresh has appealed against the December 2017 order of the single bench of the High Court over poker’s definition as a game of chance and thus falling into the ambit of gambling.

Read the complete story here.

Criminal Writ Petition Arguing Poker is a Game of Skill Withdrawn From Delhi High Court

The question-mark over legality of poker has been bearing heavy over poker players living in India. Delhi-based poker player Karan Mutha who had filed a criminal writ petition in the Delhi High Court in December 2017 after he along with six others had been arrested for playing card games at a location in Greater Kailash has now withdrawn the petition.

Read the complete story here.

Delta Corp Chairman Jaydev Mody Optimistic on New Casino Policy in Goa

Chairman and owner of India’s only BSE-listed gaming company Delta Corp Jaydev Mody has expressed confidence that Goa government’s casino policy will benefit the state’s casinos in the long run.

Jaydev Mody

Jaydev Mody

Read the complete story here.

Indian Lottery Group Sugal & Damani Launch ‘Luckykhel’ Mobile App

Indian lottery supplier Sugal & Damani have announced launch of ‘Luckykhel’, a mobile app facilitating sale of lottery tickets on mobile. The app will be released on Android platform first, and subsequently on others.

Read the complete story here.

GamingMonk Raises 4 Crores in Funding

New Delhi based eSports startup, GamingMonk has successfully raised ₹4 Crores in a fresh funding round, with funding support coming in mainly from Japan-based seed investment firm, Incubate Fund and Google India’s vice-president Rajan Anandan.

Read the complete story here.

PGA EuroPro Tour to be Sponsored by partypoker in 2019

Online poker giant partypoker has announced that it will be the official partner of the PGA EuroPro Tour Ltd in 2019. partypoker will have the branding rights at EuroPro Tour events and also the beneficiary of targeted social media campaigns by the tour.

Read the complete story here.

Caesars CEO Mark Frissora Will Be Stepping Down in February 2019

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Caesars Entertainment, Mark Frissora who has been on the chair for 12 years will be stepping down from his post in February 2019. This was announced by the company’s board of directors.

Read the complete story here.

Jasthi Kumar Ships $600 Big Blind Ante NLHE For 2nd WSOPC Gold Ring

Indian-origin IT Professional Jasthi Kumar defended his title at the 2018 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Harveys Lake Tahoe in Event #9: $600 Big Blind Ante No-Limit Hold’em and collected his second WSOPC ring for a paycheque of $24,238 (₹17.67 Lakhs).

Jasthi Kumar

Jasthi Kumar

Read the complete story here.

Patrick Serda Wins Career-First WPT Montreal Title

Hosted at the Playground Poker Club, the World Poker Tour (WPT) Montreal ran from October 28 till November 4 and pulled in 792 entries through three starting flights. Outlasting the huge field to win his maiden WPT title was Canadian pro Patrick Serda, who also bagged C$855,000 in prize money which includes a $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

Patrick Serda

Patrick Serda

Read the complete story here.

Miguel Goncalo Takes Down WPT500 Montreal C$550 NLHE

The 2018 World Poker Tour (WPT) Montreal Festival began with the WPT500 Montreal C$550 NLHE, which attracted a massive field of 2,536 entries through three online and seven live starting flights, and was topped by Miguel Goncalo who earned a top prize of US$152,596 for his efforts.

Read the complete story here.

Jack Sinclair Wins Maiden WSOP Bracelet in WSOPE Main Event

Jack Sinclair bested a 534-strong entry field at the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) €10,350 Main Event and took home his maiden WSOP gold bracelet and a winner’s payday of €1,122,239.

Read the complete story here.

Lian Liu Claims First WSOPC Gold Ring at Harveys Lake Tahoe

Pittsburgh native Lian Liu overcame a player pool of 227 entries to win his first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring at the 2018 WSOPC Harveys Lake Tahoe for $18,733.

Lian Liu

Lian Liu

Read the complete story here.

Matt Stouts Wins 2018 Run It Up Reno Main Event

Drawing in 687 entries, the 2018 Run It Up Reno Main Event crowned a winner in Las Vegas-based pro Matt Stout who won the event for a cool $70,000.

Read the complete story here.

Julien Stropoli Wins 2018 Battle of Malta Main Event For €168,500

The six-day long 2018 Battle of Malta Main Event culminated in a record-breaking 3,816-strong field which was ultimately won by French-born Malta resident Julien Stropoli for €168,500 in prize money, following a five-way deal.

Julien Stropoli

Julien Stropoli

Read the complete story here.

And with this, we conclude this week’s round up of the latest news updates and developments from the world of poker. We will return again next week with our weekly report, stay tuned.

0 0 votes
Article Rating

Related Players

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru