WPT Prime India: Nitesh Baliyan Wins Maiden Live Title in ₹30K Mini Main Event Freezeout (₹13.44 Lakhs)

Nitesh Baliyan
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  • RUPAM THAKUR April 17, 2023
  • 3 Minutes Read

The 2023 WPT Prime India, running at the luxurious Casino Deltin Royale in Goa, witnessed non-stop action on Monday as two tournaments crowned champions. All eyes were on the ₹65K WPT Prime India Main Event, where Prasit Chowdhury made headlines by outlasting a record-shattering 857-entry field to take home a jaw-dropping ₹86.60 Lakhs, his maiden live title, and a seat worth $10,400 in the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

But the first-ever WPT India Mini Main Event Freezeout was no less exciting, as Nitesh Baliyan eviscerated the final table to claim his maiden live title and a career-best ₹13.44 Lakhs. Asian circuit reg Raju Jaruplavath (AKA. J Raju) finished runner-up for ₹8.95 Lakhs.

The ₹30K Mini Main Event Freezeout was a resounding success, attracting 216 entries, clearly evidencing that Indian poker players were starving for a domestic live series. The top 27 finishers shared a massive prize pool of ₹58,96,800.

Nitesh Baliyan is no stranger to the domestic live poker scene, having competed regularly since 2015. He has had remarkable success at the Casino Deltin Royale, having made seven deep runs at the venue, and finally clinched the win today. He had come close to winning a title on two previous occasions, securing podium finishes in the 2016 DPT ₹25K NLHE Deepstack (3rd for ₹6.92 Lakhs) and the ₹15K NLHE Bounty (2nd for ₹2.21 Lakhs) on consecutive days. His last live score came in the 2019 BPT Main Event, where he placed 36th for ₹1.60 Lakhs.

Baliyan has a decent online scorecard with ₹67.39 Lakhs in tracked winnings and ₹17.60 Lakhs in profits. He has won nine online tournaments, his best score being the ₹12.50 Lakhs from a third-place finish in Adda52’s AOPS Main Event in 2020.

The runner-up J Raju is a regular in the Asian live circuit scene. Before the WPT Prime India series, Raju had accumulated an impressive fifteen live tournament cashes. These scores included title wins in the 2022 PokerStars Road to PSPC Manila Event #14: NLHE High Roller (career-best $14,724) and Manila Megastack 15 Event #9: NLHE One Day High Roller ($8,153).

Nine of Raju’s fifteen past live scores have been at the WPT. In fact, he posted an impressive four deep runs in WPT Prime Phnom Penh last month, further consolidating his standing as a consistent performer in the live circuit.

The second and final day of the Mini Main Event had 19 players taking their seats, including familiar faces like Siddhanth Kapoor, Siddharth Mishra, Dhinesh Kumar, and Dhaval Mudgal.

Final Table Recap

Prabhat exited in the second level of the day (Level 20) at the hands of the eventual champion Nitesh Baliyan in ninth place.

In the next 30 minutes, Vaibhav Shah joined the railbirds. His fell short against Nitesh Baliyan’s with the board giving Baliyan the winning pair of queens.

In the same level, MSL Director, Sidharth Mishra, was sent packing in seventh place, courtesy of J Raju. Mishra moved all in with , and Raju made the call with . The dealer rolled out the on the board, and Raju’s bottom pair sent Mishra packing.

Soon after Mishra, Amit Kaushik exited in sixth place.

Nitesh Baliyan kept his elimination spree going by busting Anmol Narang fifth. Narang shoved all in with and Baliyan took the call with . The board was no help to Narang, who became Baliyan’s third victim on the final table.

Next on Nitesh Baliyan’s hitlist was Vaibhav Khurana. The latter`s failed to improve against Baliyan’s on the board , marking Khurana’s fourth place exit.

Nitesh Baliyan bulldozed his way to the finish line by eliminating his final two opponents, Hanson Wilandor (3rd) and J Raju (2nd), en route to clinching his maiden live title and a career-best ₹13.44 Lakhs.

Nitesh Baliyan
Nitesh Baliyan

 

Final Table Results (INR)

  1. Nitesh Baliyan – ₹13,43,800
  2. Raju Jaruplavath – ₹8,95,000
  3. Hanson Wilandor – ₹6,55,000
  4. Vaibhav Khurana – ₹4,80,000
  5. Anmol Narang – ₹3,60,000
  6. Amit Kaushik – ₹2,70,000
  7. Siddharth Mishra – ₹2,10,000
  8. Vaibhav Shah – ₹1,60,700
  9. Prabhat – ₹1,30,000

Images & Live Coverage Information Courtesy: Gaming News 247 & World Poker Tour

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the WPT Prime India 2023!

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