WPT Prime India: Main Event Sets a New Attendance Record; Gokul Raj & Kanchan Sharma Join the List of First-Time WPT Champions!

It was a busy Saturday inside the floating Casino Deltin Royale in Goa, the host venue of WPT Prime India. Like the last two days, two side events played down to a champion even as the ₹65K Main Event ran its third and final starting flight.

Two well-known tournament pros, Gokul Raj and Kanchan Sharma, added their names to the fast-growing list of first-time WPT champions!

Last month’s MHW Colossus champion, Gokul Raj, routed the 100-player starting field in the single-day ₹15K Ship It NLH to collect ₹4.25 Lakhs, besting Rahul Singroha (2nd for ₹2.80 Lakhs) heads-up.

Another single-day special, the ₹12.5K Ladies NLH, found a champion in our first and to date only female Young Gun, Kanchan Sharma. The Agra resident took down the 23-entry field to claim the lion’s share of the ₹2.95 Lakhs prize pool worth ₹1.33 Lakhs. Poker streamer Radhika Shankar finished runner-up for ₹80,000.

The other big update was the record-breaking turnouts in the ₹65K WPT Prime India Main Event. The last of the three starting flights registered a 392-strong field, and 49 players survived the day`s onslaught. Loveleen Singh (740,000), Prasit Chowdhury (632,000), and Ayush Garg (604,000) topped the day-end counts.

Living up to expectations, the Main Event set a new attendance record with the final numbers coming in at 857 entries (Day 1A – 181, Day 1B – 284, Day 1C – 392), making this the biggest WPT India Main Event yet!

₹15K Ship It NLH

The ₹15K Ship It NLH made a quick sprint to the finish line. The organizers capped the field at 100 entries, each player getting a seat at one of the ten tables set up for the tournament.

The event played Round 1 with everyone all-in preflop, and the winner from each table advanced to Round 2, which ran in the traditional NLH format.

The long-time poker pro Gokul Raj upstaged the ten-handed final table to win his first-ever WPT title and ₹4.25 Lakhs in prize money. Rahul Singroha collected ₹2.80 Lakhs as the runner-up.

The series-opener ₹15K SuperStack NLH runner-up finisher, Kunal Patni, was sitting out for a considerable time on the final table since he was busy playing the Day 1C flight of the Main Event. After busting the flight, he got into the thick of the action and finished third for ₹1.85 Lakhs, marking his second podium finish in the series.

Shravan Kumar Singh (4th for ₹1,30,000), Sumanth Kumar (5th for ₹95,000), Siva Tati (6th for ₹70,000), Romit Advani (7th for ₹55,000), Manoj Pentakota (8th for ₹45,000), Goonjan Mall (9th for ₹40,000) and Amarendra Sahoo (10th for ₹40,000) were others finishing in the money.

According to the live coverage, the tournament hand had Raj’s pitted against Singroha’s in a preflop all-in showdown. The board ran , and Raj rivered two pair got the poker pro his maiden WPT trophy.

Final Table Results (INR)

1. Gokul Raj – ₹4,25,000
2. Rahul Singroha – ₹2,80,000
3. Kunal Patni – ₹1,85,000
4. Shravan Kumar Singh – ₹1,30,000
5. Sumanth Kumar – ₹95,000
6. Siva Tati – ₹70,000
7. Romit Advani – ₹55,000
8. Manoj Pentakota – ₹45,000
9. Goonjan Mall – ₹40,000
10. Amarendra Sahoo – ₹40,000

₹12.5K Ladies NLH

The women`s exclusive ₹12,500 buy-in Ladies NLH brought in 26 entries, and four ladies got a share from the ₹2.95 Lakhs prize pool.

The DPT April 2022 Women’s Special winner, Young Gun Kanchan Sharma, entered the final table in the chip lead and carried the advantage to the finish line, picking up her maiden WPT trophy and ₹1.33 Lakhs in prize money – her second Ladies’ event title after the Women’s Special event she won at DPT last April. Poker streamer Radhika Shankar AKA “poker mom,” pocketed ₹80,000 in second place.

On the final hand, Shankar open-shoved with , and the chip leader Sharma woke up with to make the easy call. The board ran , and Sharma won the Ladies’ event with the perfect hand “pocket queens,” scoring ₹1.33 Lakhs.

According to the live coverage, Adda52 Game Ambassador Maria Kirloskar money-bubbled the tournament. Her failed to improve against Radhika Shankhar’s on the runout . Shankar took down the pot with a three-of-a-kind, busting Kirloskar in fifth place.

Simran Sharma (3rd for ₹50,000) and Simran Malhotra (4th for ₹32,620) received the other payouts.

Final Table Results (INR)

1. Kanchan Sharma – ₹1,33,000
2. Radhika Shankar – ₹80,000
3. Simran Sharma – ₹50,000
4. Simran Malhotra – ₹32,620

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!