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Daily Majors: Anurag Srivastava, Harsh Bubna & Aahil Malik Batala Dominate the Thursday Grind With Power-Packed Finishes!
There’s a distinct wave of uncertainty sweeping across the country as the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict unfortunately deepens. What began with a terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, targeting non-Islamic tourists, has rapidly escalated into a full-blown national concern. This follows swift action from the Indian government, which targeted terrorist outfits in parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. With Pakistan forces reportedly retaliating with missiles and drones, the concerns of a larger-scale conflict with the neighbouring country are, understandably, growing louder.
One of the most immediate and perhaps most disruptive measures has been the suspension of airport operations in several major cities. Commercial flights are grounded, travel plans are in disarray, and the general atmosphere is heavy with unease. Even the world of sports hasn’t been immune; the Indian Premier League 2025 has been suspended until further notice, a development that highlights the gravity of the situation. But while stadiums have fallen silent and airport runways have emptied, one corner of the competitive world remains brightly lit: online poker.
PokerBaazi continues to lead the charge with their legendary ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker. This pioneering and longest-running single-flight tournament in India, boasting an eight-figure guarantee, is powering through its 31-day, non-stop daily grind. With The MoneyMaker series charging ahead in full swing, and Thursday witnessing many of the cancelled flagships from the previous night (like the Daily Last Chance and Big PLO-5) making a roaring return with guarantee-crushing turnouts, the pre-weekend hype was definitely real. Add to that Junglee Poker’s ₹7.50 Crores GTD Poker Premier League (PPL) keeping the action at a fever pitch, Adda52’s regular big-money events, and Natural8 India’s World Festival 2025 (billed as India’s biggest series ever) all continuing to pull in serious poker talent – it all made for one buzzing day for online poker!
And once again, the biggest storyline of the day came from PokerBaazi’s #8 The MoneyMaker, which crowned a champion no one saw coming. ‘flip352’ stormed through the 1,000+ strong battlefield and delivered the kind of finish that turns heads right across the circuit. With apparent ice in their veins and seemingly flawless timing, this underdog closed out the tournament, their account suddenly richer by a jaw-dropping ₹15 Lakhs — nearly 18 times their previous best score. Tack on a minor cash on the side, and their Thursday haul soared to an incredible ₹15.21 Lakhs. Not only was it their biggest single-session collection by a country mile, but it also rocketed them back into profit on PokerBaazi in a huge way, making them the day`s biggest winner, no contest!
Anurag Srivastava, one of India’s most consistent crushers and a four-time medallist at NPS India 2025, came into the day locked and loaded. After recent wins in The Quest Lite and the Supreme, he was fiercely gunning for that elusive The MoneyMaker championship bracelet — the one major title missing from his glittering resume. Srivastava gave it his absolute all but ended up as the runner-up, a performance that still added a massive ₹9.78 Lakhs to his winnings. A few more side cashes saw his total earnings for the night cruise past the ₹10.47 Lakhs mark. Kolkata’s Harsh Bubna, the DPT May 2024 Mini Main Event champion and a former The MoneyMaker 54.0 winner, almost pulled off a spectacular repeat win in the #8 The MoneyMaker. He expertly sliced through the field to claim a strong third-place finish, which translated to a ₹7 Lakhs prize — his biggest score of 2025 and the sixth-largest of his career. Bubna wrapped up his night with just under ₹7.70 Lakhs in total collections.
Aahil Batala penned another fantastic underdog story of the night! The Maharashtra-based grinder announced himself in PokerBaazi’s The Summit, delivering a breakout performance to clinch his first-ever title. That victory came with a career-best payout of ₹7.50 Lakhs — a staggering 16-fold jump from his previous top score. This incredible run placed him as Thursday’s fourth biggest earner, just behind the #8 The MoneyMaker’s top trio. Chasing him right down to the end was ‘smr1g10’ (anonymity requested), a player with serious credentials — a former The MoneyMaker 30.0 champion and a two-time NPS Gold Medallist. Riding high from a Wednesday night win in Adda52’s Bounty Madness, they were aggressively pursuing their seventh title of the year. The finish line was incredibly close, but the title just slipped away at that final hurdle. Still, they walked away with a handsome ₹5.23 Lakhs — their biggest score of 2025 and their second-highest career payout — which pushed their total Thursday haul past ₹5.32 Lakhs.
Over at Adda52, Raghav Ananth made a thunderous return to the top of the podium, capturing the Godfather title and ending a six-week title-less streak. Improving on his runner-up finish in last week’s MMA Takedown, Ananth doubled down on his momentum with a commanding performance in this Thursday headliner. He walked away with ₹3.37 Lakhs after a heads-up deal, his second-biggest score on Adda52, which nudged his Thursday total just shy of ₹3.54 Lakhs. Breathing down his neck was Sahil Mahboobani, who was hunting for a fifth Godfather title. He came incredibly close once again, landing a powerful runner-up finish worth ₹3.14 Lakhs—his second-best score on the site this year and, remarkably, his fourth near-miss in this very event. He also racked up four more cashes, including a final table finish in the Monster Turbo PKO, pushing his Thursday winnings to a healthy ₹3.60 Lakhs.
PokerBaazi’s Summit Lite saw Aniruddha Joshi rise to the occasion, his efforts rewarded with a commanding ₹2.19 Lakhs. The Pune-based poker streamer and content creator, who recently made a podium finish in #2 The MoneyMaker, shipped this primetime flagship for the first time. This also registered as his fifth-biggest score of the year, pushing his Thursday total to just over ₹2.38 Lakhs and helping him make further strides in his ongoing ₹1 Crore profit challenge for this year. Vaibhav Arora, coming off a couple of recent strong finishes of his own, held strong throughout the tough field and closed out his night with a runner-up finish that added ₹1.43 Lakhs to his name.
Rishab Malik, the iconic three-time The Millionaire champ, served up a potent reminder of the kind of poker force he used to be — and, clearly, still very much is. Just two weeks removed from his explosive win in PokerBaazi`s The Summit, Malik returned to the spotlight with another top-tier performance, tearing through Junglee Poker’s PPL Thursday Mini Highroller to snag the title and a tidy ₹1.80 Lakhs. Malik also stormed his way to an eighth-place finish in PokerBaazi’s #8 The MoneyMaker, adding another ₹2.60 Lakhs to his name. That flurry of deep runs brought his Thursday tally to a fiery ₹4.77 Lakhs across three deep runs. Also making waves in that PPL event was ‘vb018,’ who stepped up in the PPL Thursday Mini Highroller to score a brilliant runner-up finish, pocketing ₹1.35 Lakhs.
In the other PokerBaazi flagships, Puneeth B N snapped a three-month cold streak with flair, taking down Daily Last Chance. That victory added a solid ₹1.88 Lakhs to his bankroll – his biggest score of 2025 so far and the fourth-best of his career. Meanwhile, veteran grinder Jasven Saigal made his presence felt in the Big PLO-5. Navigating the five-card chaos with typical precision, he clinched this PLO flagship title for the second time this year and walked away with ₹2.10 Lakhs — his second-best score of the year.
Over on Natural8 India, newcomer ‘CalypsoK’ made a very sharp first impression in the high-paced Mini LUCKY SEVENS Superstack Turbo 17.77, clinching a strong fourth-place finish worth ₹1.30 Lakhs.
The day had even more winners writing their own headlines, with Sanjay Kumar and Prashanth Sekar also adding marquee titles to their growing poker résumés!
Here are the Thursday highlights!
PokerBaazi
#8 The MoneyMaker – ₹1 Crore GTD
Buy-in – ₹10,000
Entries – 660
Re-entries – 390
Prize Pool – ₹1,00,00,000
Places Paid – 161
There’s simply no slowing down the firestorm that is PokerBaazi’s The MoneyMaker frenzy, currently tearing its way through May. This iconic ₹1 Crore GTD beast has well and truly taken over the platform’s prime 7:30 PM slot for the entire month. With eight editions now officially wrapped up, the sheer scale of the action is becoming impossible to ignore. Thursday night’s #8 The MoneyMaker served up another epic marathon of deep-run poker, packed with wild swings, some truly eye-opening breakout scores, and a lineup of familiar poker sharps all taking a very serious crack at that championship bracelet.
While Wednesday’s schedule threw a few curveballs with some cancellations, Thursday saw PokerBaazi’s roster come roaring back to pretty much full strength (though the WTF again took a day off). The Big PLO-5 and Daily Last Chance didn’t just return to the fold; they blew past their respective guarantees, and the Summit Lite also turned in numbers that left its guarantee in the dust. That said, even with more players in the mix, both of the day’s biggest attractions, The Summit and The MoneyMaker, ended up with overlays—clear proof that PokerBaazi is still dishing out extra value on the regular.
The 98th edition of The MoneyMaker pulled in 1,050 entries (from 660 players), just pipping the previous night’s edition by a single entry. This jump in numbers was, once again, largely thanks to a noticeable increase in satellite qualifiers. These satellites are swinging the doors open for many micro and low-stakes grinders, giving them a real shot at chasing those life-changing, big-league paydays.
And one of these very players—‘flip352’ (anonymity requested)—grabbed their chance with both hands and made the absolute most of it. Until Thursday, the biggest score on their poker CV was a 174th-place finish in the historic NPS India 2025 Main Event, which netted them ₹84,000. Fast forward to Thursday night, and this same player expertly navigated that 1,000+ entry field to lock down their first-ever flagship title – in The MoneyMaker, no less. Along with the breakout win came the coveted championship bracelet and a jaw-dropping ₹15 Lakhs payday—nearly 18 times bigger than that previous best score!
Hailing from Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, ‘flip352’ started their PokerBaazi journey in January 2019, initially only playing freerolls. They then went missing from the active grind for over five long years. However, their return to the platform in March 2024 signalled a more disciplined approach—grinding micro-stakes, playing a ton of satellites, and gradually getting comfortable again on the site. And the results slowly started to show.
Although they didn’t play anywhere near the full NPS India 2025 schedule, ‘flip352’ managed to cash in nine out of the 25 events they did enter, with some fairly deep runs among them, though none quite reached a final table. February brought a PLO-5 PKO title, which undoubtedly gave their confidence a welcome boost. A final table finish just last week in the (7-Max) SPRINT was a strong hint that ‘flip352’ had the game to go deep, suggesting that this massive breakthrough wasn’t entirely out of left field—and Thursday certainly delivered that moment most spectacularly.
Their victory came after an intense 10-hour and 9-minute grind, and they weren’t quite finished for the night. ‘flip352’ also managed a 62nd-place finish in The Summit, adding another ₹21,000 to their already explosive Thursday winnings, pushing their day’s total to an incredible ₹15.21 Lakhs. Not only was it their biggest single-session haul by a country mile, but it also rocketed them back into profit on PokerBaazi in a huge way, making them the day’s biggest winner by a considerable distance.
flip352’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹21.24 Lakhs | Site Profits: ₹13.15 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #2
And this win was anything but a stroll. The final table was stacked with some of the most formidable names in Indian poker. The player who chased ‘flip352’ all the way to the final hand was none other than Anurag ‘Rebuy2survive’ Srivastava. Srivastava is on an absolute tear in 2025 and was making a very credible bid to add the one missing The MoneyMaker title to his glittering poker resume. It just wasn’t to be this time around for the Delhi-based online shark, who had to settle for the runner-up spot, though that came with a massive ₹9.78 Lakhs payout.
A four-time NPS India 2025 Medallist (2 Golds, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Srivastava is practically poker royalty. His decorated resume includes game-changing wins in Spartan Poker’s IOPC Millionaire Main Event and Destiny (2020), and IOPC#65 Friday Spotlight (2023). He has been nothing short of a phenom this year, already claiming 15 titles – most of them in big-ticket flagship events! April saw him hit a scorching streak with five final tables and five title wins, and he hasn’t eased off the gas in May either. In fact, May kicked off with a bang for Srivastava—he picked up a win in Adda52’s MMA Thunder PKO on May 1, followed it with a title run in The Quest Lite on PokerBaazi, and added a Supreme title from Spartan Poker on Monday.
Thursday saw this versatile campaigner go deep in four other events across various platforms, bringing his total loot to over ₹10.47 Lakhs. This placed him second among the day’s top earners, only behind The MoneyMaker champion!
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s #8 The MoneyMaker for ₹9,78,000
> 6th in Spartan Poker’s Supreme for ₹27,200
> 63rd in PokerBaazi’s The Summit for ₹21,000
> 17th in PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance for ₹11,648
> 23rd in Adda52’s Thursday Thunder for ₹9,253
Anurag Srivastava’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹12.40 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹4.19 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #15 | Annual Winnings: ₹1.14 Crores | Annual Profits: ₹56.85 Lakhs | Moves to #22 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard
The final battle also featured another poker heavyweight chasing a repeat win: Kolkata’s Harsh ‘harsh1327’ Bubna, who previously won The MoneyMaker 54.0. He was clearly eyeing a second The MoneyMaker bracelet. Bubna fired two bullets and played them brilliantly to power his way to a third-place finish, good for ₹7 Lakhs – his largest score of 2025 and his sixth-largest career payout. The DPT May 2024 Mini Main Event champion added to his Thursday success with a sixth-place finish in Adda52’s Thursday Thunder for ₹33,235. This pushed his total for the day to just under ₹7.70 Lakhs from the same five deep runs as Srivastava.
> 3rd in PokerBaazi’s #8 The MoneyMaker for ₹7,00,000
> 6th in Adda52’s Thursday Thunder for ₹33,235
> 82nd in PokerBaazi’s The Summit for ₹21,000
> 32nd in PokerBaazi’s Big PLO-5 for ₹9,470
> 77th in PokerBaazi’s Summit Lite for ₹6,291
No surprises here, the final table of The MoneyMaker 98.0 was absolutely loaded with talent. The lineup included the NPS#19 Micro HighRoller Gold Medallist and OG ‘High-Stakes Crusher’ Ashish ‘OMG_spew’ Munot (4th for ₹5.61 Lakhs), Gaurav ‘gauravgoru’ Bhutra (5th for ₹4.44 Lakhs), last night’s PPL Thursday Mini Highroller champion Rishab ‘ryuk’ Malik (7th for ₹2.60 Lakhs) and WSOP bracelet winner Young Gun Abhinav ‘griezmann’ Iyer (8th for ₹1.87 Lakhs).
Even beyond the final table, the top 20 featured a host of known crushers. Among them were last week’s Inception and MMA Takedown winner Arjanveer ‘holdbaby’ Singh Chadha (9th for ₹1.32 Lakhs), Zeshan ‘Deez49’ Hamza (10th for ₹1.32 Lakhs), NPC Gujarat State Freeroll winner Dhawal ‘Stick3rz’ Lachwani (11th for ₹1.32 Lakhs), Tuesday’s The Mint champion Aditya ‘KesarDa’’ Kesharwani (12th for ₹1.32 Lakhs), last month’s BSS Super Value champ Bhuvan ‘Ustaad75’ Bansal (13th for ₹83,000), last week’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty winner and 2024 POY #6 Shreyansh ‘halifax7701’ Sharma (14th for ₹83,000), Indrajeet ‘iwilltakeall’ Sarangi (16th for ₹83,000), February’s BSS SuperStack victor Thepfulhoutuo ‘AvizoKeditsu’ Keditsu (19th for ₹83,000), and NPS India 2025 Main Event finalist Ashish ’Imgabru’ Kumar(20th for ₹60,000).
And, as we’ve seen all month, The MoneyMaker 98.0 failed to hit its guarantee, falling short by ₹8.69 Lakhs (not counting rake). This made it the second edition in a row to break what had been a streak of seven-figure overlays. Still, with 161 players finishing in the money, each pocketing at least ₹17,000, it offered another night of sweet returns for those who went deep. With eight bracelets already claimed, 23 more The MoneyMakers are yet to come this month. As this daily grind continues, so do the opportunities for more breakout stories, upcoming stars to make their name, and seasoned grinders to add to their already impressive legacies. This May, the poker felt isn’t just hot—it’s electric, and you can bet there is much more to come.
Final Table Results
- flip352 – ₹15,00,000
- Anurag ‘Rebuy2survive’ Srivastava – ₹9,78,000
- Harsh ‘harsh1327’ Bubna – ₹7,00,000
- Ashish ‘OMG_spew’ Munot – ₹5,61,000
- Gaurav ‘gauravgoru’ Bhutra – ₹4,44,000
- Poruss – ₹3,48,000
- Rishab ‘ryuk’ Malik – ₹2,60,000
- Abhinav ‘griezmann’ Iyer – ₹1,87,000
The Summit – ₹50 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹10,000
Entries – 315
Re-entries – 165
Prize Pool – ₹50,00,000
Places Paid – 82
You can feel it in the air– a real electric charge zipping through the online poker scene this month, and it seems like PokerBaazi is the one holding the live wire! It’s not just about The Money Maker mania, though that iconic ₹1 Crore GTD nightly beast is certainly serving up a daily poker feast (and those overlays are adding some serious value). The usual big-hitting flagships have only amped up the excitement, and Thursday’s lineup brought forward one of the week’s grandest high-stakes affairs — the ₹50 Lakhs GTD The Summit.
Interestingly, both of the day’s giants — #8 The MoneyMaker and The Summit — kept the May overlay streak alive. This happened even as popular mainstays like WTF took a breather for the day. But there was plenty of action to go around, as the other popular attractions like the Big PLO-5 and the Daily Last Chance were back with a vengeance after their Wednesday siesta, and both these crowd-pleasers (plus Summit Lite) didn’t just meet their guarantees; they comfortably smashed them.
Right in the middle of this high-octane grind, Aahil ‘danielantonio’ Batala didn’t just make an appearance; he made an entrance. This poker regular from Maharashtra, who’s been on the PokerBaazi scene since July 2022 and jumped into the MTT fray from September that year, grabbed his big breakthrough spectacularly. And honestly, that’s becoming a bit of a welcome habit on PokerBaazi, with their stacked schedule giving more players a real shot at snagging career-defining prize money!
In what’s easily one of PokerBaazi’s most prestigious weekly battles, Batala expertly sliced his way through a 480-entry field (packed with 315 players) in the 8 PM The Summit. After a nearly nine-hour marathon, he was the last one standing, his account suddenly richer by a career-best ₹7.50 Lakhs. This win wasn’t just his first-ever title on PokerBaazi; it utterly demolished his previous top score (₹45,000 in the (7-Max) Afternoon Boost last July) by more than 16 times over! This incredible run placed him as Thursday’s fourth biggest earner, just behind the #8 The MoneyMaker’s top trio: Varun Agrawal, Anurag Srivastava, and Harsh Bubna, and you better believe it gave his platform profits a massive jolt!
Aahil Batala’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹8.91 Lakhs | Site Profits: ₹7.59 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #1
Trying to stop Batala’s charge was a seriously tough customer — ‘smr1g10’ (anonymity requested), the former The MoneyMaker 30.0 champion and a two-time NPS Gold Medallist (including the NPS#103 (7-Max) SPRINT Gold they won this year). Riding high from a Wednesday night victory in Adda52’s Bounty Madness, ‘smr1g10’ was aggressively hunting down their seventh title of 2025.
For a long stretch, it looked like they might pull off back-to-back wins. But The Summit crown just slipped through their fingers at the final hurdle. They finished as the runner-up, a performance that still funnelled a striking ₹5.23 Lakhs into their winnings — their best score this year and their second-biggest ever. A little extra from Adda52’s Thursday Thunder (22nd for ₹9,253) nudged their total Thursday earnings over the ₹5.32 Lakhs line.
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Summit for ₹5,23,000
> 22nd in Adda52’s Thursday Thunder for ₹9,253
And, no surprise here, The Summit final table was jam-packed with poker A-listers. We saw Sunday’s BSS SuperStack finalist Young Gun Anmol ‘anzzzzz’ Mehta (3rd for ₹3.95 Lakhs), poker veteran and recent Natural8 India APT Taipei – India Exclusive Tournament runner-up Shravan ‘FishStars’ Chhabria (4th for ₹2.98 Lakhs), the player who snagged the #3 spot on April’s leaderboard and last week’s Blockbuster champ Young Gun Ashwin ‘Ashwinvijay99’ Vijayvergiya (5th for ₹2.44 Lakhs), and WSOP bracelet winner Kartik ‘TheInternetKid’ Ved (7th for ₹1.59 Lakhs) adding serious firepower to the business end of this Thursday staple.
Despite all that star power, The Summit was one of the best value events of the night for players. It came up a whopping ₹8.26 Lakhs short of its ₹50 Lakhs guarantee — an overlay of over 16%. Nevertheless, it ensured the top 82 finishers all walked away with at least ₹21,000, more than double the ₹10,000 buy-in. With The MoneyMaker continuing its month-long poker party and Thursday’s results being a fantastic reminder that a big win can come from anywhere, May is quickly turning into one of the most explosive months for poker we’ve seen this year. And the exciting part is that we aren’t even halfway through the month yet.
Final Table Results
- Aahil ‘danielantonio’ Batala – ₹7,50,000
- smr1g10 – ₹5,23,000
- Anmol ‘anzzzzz’ Mehta – ₹3,95,000
- Shravan ‘FishStars’ Chhabria – ₹2,97,500
- Ashwin ‘Ashwinvijay99’ Vijayvergiya – ₹2,44,000
- deep1221 – ₹2,01,000
- Kartik ‘TheInternetKid’ Ved – ₹1,58,500
Summit Lite – ₹12 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹3,000
Entries – 327
Re-entries – 221
Prize Pool – ₹14,29,732
Places Paid – 87
Just as the temperatures outside are cranking up, so is the poker heat on PokerBaazi, with that iconic ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker leading the charge in May with its daily run. But here’s the interesting bit from Thursday: while some of the platform’s biggest attractions, including The Summit and the #8 The MoneyMaker, found themselves with a bit of an overlay, other events stepped up to the plate and delivered a night packed full of value for the players.
Standing tall among them was the ₹12 Lakhs GTD Summit Lite. This primetime tournament dodged the overlay trend that hit some others, becoming one of the most profitable spots for anyone grinding Thursday’s packed schedule. Also pulling in guarantee-busting crowds were the Daily Last Chance and the Big PLO-5—both hugely popular MTTs that had been unexpectedly cancelled the night before but came roaring back with strong turnouts.
And rising to the top of that bustling Summit Lite field was Aniruddha ‘PocketacesAJ’ Joshi, a name many will recognise from the streaming circuit and a relentless grinder known for his string of consistent deep runs. The Pune-based player, who had already made serious waves earlier in the week with a podium finish in the #2 The MoneyMaker, fired two entries before carving his way through the stacked 548-entry field (221 unique) in this 7:30 PM flagship event. After a solid six-plus hours at the tables, Joshi walked away with his first Summit Lite title, his account boosted by a handsome ₹2.19 Lakhs—a prize that also happens to be the fifth-largest on his 2025 scorecard.
Joshi has been in a fantastic rhythm in recent weeks. Following his March victory in Adda52’s MMA Main Event, he’s consistently strung together deep runs, including podium finishes in the Head Hunter and a near-title bid in the MMA Voyager PKO last month. Thursday night only added to that impressive momentum.
Joshi’s efforts across two events saw his Thursday winnings clock in at just over ₹2.38 Lakhs, helping him take further strides in the ambitious ₹1 Crore profit challenge he has set for himself this year!
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s Summit Lite for ₹2,19,035
> 17th in Adda52’s Godfather for ₹19,183
Aniruddha Joshi’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India and Junglee Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.89 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹65.98 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #5 | Annual Winnings: ₹56.43 Lakhs | Annual Profits: ₹19.41 Lakhs
Facing Joshi in the heads-up battle was Delhi’s Vaibhav ‘vaibhi18’ Arora, who put up a truly spirited challenge. A consistent finisher in daily major tournaments, Arora, who previously won the Daily Last Chance in April and landed on The Quest Lite final table just last week, made it to second place this time after re-entering once, a performance that added ₹1.43 Lakhs to his bankroll.
Vaibhav Arora’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India and Junglee Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.53 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹55.70 Lakhs | Annual Winnings: ₹10.15 Lakhs | Annual Profits: ₹2.55 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #5
The final table of the Summit Lite was a shark tank. ‘Frankie08’, a dual NPS India 2025 Gold Medallist (NPS#130 Deepdive & NPS#25 PLO-4), claimed a third-place finish for ₹1.07 Lakhs – this came just a day after he made the podium in Adda52’s Godfather.
The former IPM#123 Main Event champion Sreekanth ‘n0thing’ Narayan was also in the mix. Also a double Gold Medalist from NPS India 2025 (who incredibly finished as the runner-up in the historic NPC finale in Goa), he ended his run in fifth place, earning ₹69,056. Meanwhile, one of India`s most accomplished players of all time, Young Gun Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood, added another deep run to his extensive record. The three-time POY finished eighth for ₹33,313, maintaining his characteristic consistency on the virtual felts.
With a ₹3,000 buy-in, the Summit Lite drew a very healthy turnout, generating a prize pool of ₹14.29 Lakhs, comfortably sailing past its advertised guarantee. That extra boost in the prize pool translated into real value for the 87 players who made it into the money, each of whom walked away with at least ₹6,291 – more than doubling their initial investment. All told, it was one high-octane Thursday on India`s leading online poker platform!
Final Table Results
- Aniruddha ‘PocketacesAJ’ Joshi – ₹2,19,035
- Vaibhav ‘vaibhi18’ Arora – ₹1,42,973
- Arunav ‘Frankie08’ Mittal – ₹1,07,373
- dakudaddy2022 – ₹81,495
- Sreekanth ‘n0thing’ Narayan – ₹69,056
- Poker4everz – ₹56,903
- Kash9988 – ₹45,037
- Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood – ₹33,313
Big PLO-5 – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,000
Entries – 125
Re-entries – 117
Prize Pool – ₹10,52,216
Places Paid – 33
Thursday night on PokerBaazi was a straight-up storm of chip-slinging action. When the dust began to settle, the ever-dangerous veteran, Jasven ‘JasvenSaigal’ Saigal, cut through the noise, delivering another masterclass in the wild art of five-card mayhem.
After about a month of relative quiet, Saigal, who’s all geared up for his return in PokerBaazi’s ‘The Circuit’ Season 3 (which should be hitting screens tomorrow!), definitely dialled up the hype for the popular show. He went ahead and took down the ₹10 Lakhs GTD Big PLO-5 title, and he did it with a flair for the dramatic – it was the same tournament he’d last conquered in April. That’s his second Big PLO-5 trophy this year, his fourth title overall in 2025, and it serves as another clear signal: when the PLO streets get rough, Saigal is always more than ready for a fight.
While Saigal’s live poker exploits are legendary, even with his more selective online play, he’s managed to snag some iconic titles, including The MoneyMaker 67.0. He’s also been a permanent fixture in PokerBaazi’s “The Circuit” across all three seasons filmed in Hanoi, even finishing as the runner-up in the debut season. Saigal keeps proving he’s every bit as lethal in the online arena, even if he doesn’t put in the sheer volume of some of today’s relentless online grinders.
2025 certainly started with a bang for the Mumbai-based pro, with small early victories in the (7-Max) SPRINT and the (PLO-5) Afternoon Boost. But it’s in the Big PLO-5 that Saigal is truly stamping his authority this year. On Thursday night, he expertly navigated his way through a volatile 242-entry field (125 unique) over six hours and 18 minutes of intense swings and pot-sized bedlam. His reward for this display of five-card wizardry was a cool ₹2.10 Lakhs – his second-best score of the year.
Jasven Saigal’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.94 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹92.95 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #4 | Annual Winnings: ₹19.52 Lakhs
Giving Saigal a serious chase for those chips, right down to the very last hand, was Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur, Delhi’s undisputed volume king. Known for grinding with the intensity of a finely tuned machine, Thakur came into this fresh from an almost unbelievable NPS India 2025 campaign, where he played all 191 events, cashed in an incredible 129 of them, reached six final tables, and proudly took home two medals (a Gold in NPS#13 Deepdive and a Silver in NPS#166 Slamdunk). This Herculean effort saw him finish #20 on the Series Leaderboard, netting him an additional ₹1.50 Lakhs in leaderboard prizes.
And he genuinely hasn’t eased up since. March saw him capture the Maverick title, finish second in the Sunday Big Slick, and place third in the (PLO-6) BSS. In April, he bagged three titles across different platforms (The Big Show Lite, Bounty Madness, and The Starlight), and just last week, he kicked off May by winning the Godfather title.
Last night, he added two more deep runs to his ledger— a runner-up finish in the Big PLO-5 for a handsome ₹1.74 Lakhs, and a seventh place in Adda52’s Nighttide DST Adda which added another ₹5,451 to his night’s work — pushing his total for the day just past the ₹1.79 Lakhs mark. That performance also gave him a very useful boost in his tight race with Advait Rajguru for the #4 spot in the 2025 Player of the Year standings, pipping the PokerGuru Staking coach and claiming that coveted #4 position, at least for now.
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s Big PLO-5 for ₹1,73,616
> 7th in Adda52’s Nighttide DST Adda for ₹5,451
The Big PLO-5 final table wasn’t just a two-horse race; it also featured several other tough competitors who are more than comfortable with the wild swings of five-card Omaha. This included the former Game Changer champion and the 2024 POY #13, JaiKiran ‘testify’ Kumar (3rd for ₹1.32 Lakhs), and PokerBaazi Team Pro (and another familiar face from ‘The Circuit‘) Laksh ‘boomtlt23’ Pal Singh (4th for ₹87,334).
Making a strong comeback after a surprising cancellation the night before, the widespread ₹5,000 buy-in Big PLO-5 once again comfortably crushed its guarantee, generating a prize pool of ₹10.52 Lakhs. The top 33 finishers all walked away with at least ₹9,470 – nearly doubling their initial entry fee. From legends like Saigal proving they’ve still very much got the goods, to dedicated grinders like Thakur redefining what online volume truly means, nights like these are a fantastic reminder of why PokerBaazi’s tables remain some of the fiercest, most exciting, and rewarding battlegrounds in the game.
Final Table Results
- Jasven ‘JasvenSaigal’ Saigal – ₹2,10,443
- Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur – ₹1,73,616
- JaiKiran ‘testify’ Kumar – ₹1,31,527
- Laksh ‘boomtlt23’ Pal Singh – ₹87,334
- noobynuggets – ₹52,611
- SelfishGambler – ₹42,089
Daily Last Chance – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,500
Entries – 331
Re-entries – 233
Prize Pool – ₹12,26,136
Places Paid – 87
May has kicked off with some serious energetic vibes on PokerBaazi. The famed ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker has set up shop permanently, running every night at 7:30 PM. Last night, it celebrated its eighth champion of the month, sporadic platform user Varun Agrawal, who impressively broke an extended dry spell, clinching his first-ever online win spectacularly!
Now, while some of the other big-name tournaments (including The MoneyMaker itself) ended up in overlays territory, the late-night crowd favourite, the ₹10 Lakhs GTD Daily Last Chance, had a different tale to tell. Surprisingly, it was off the schedule the night before. Still, it roared back as one of only three major flagships on PokerBaazi (the others being Summit Lite & Big PLO-5) to beat its guarantee. Weaving through a packed field in this popular after-hours contest was Puneeth ‘Ruzzanaire’ B N, who put on quite the performance to reach the top!
Puneeth, based out of Bengaluru, is known for these periodic, powerful showings. He’d been flying a bit under the radar for a while—right until last night, that is. By taking down the Daily Last Chance, he notched his first win in over three long months, and with undeniable precision (his last victory, fittingly, came in this very same tournament towards the end of January).
The field for this late-night dance, as always, was tough. A guarantee-busting 331 players, which ballooned to 564 total entries, jumped into the 10:30 PM flagship. But Puneeth seemed to have a point to prove, a return to form in mind, and nothing short of the top spot would cut it. After a relatively quick but demanding six hours and 23 minutes of play, he stood above everyone else in the night’s closing act. It took four entries to get there, but with a history of winning this and a close second-place finish in late March, this victory felt like a skilled operator deciding to retake control of the late shift. He captured his second title of the year, and a very nice ₹1.88 Lakhs went into his account – his best score of 2025 so far, and his fourth-best ever, giving him a much-needed nudge from a daunting seven-figure downswing!
Puneeth B N’s online stats (PokerBaazi and Spartan Poker): Site Winnings ₹1.10 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #2
Chasing Puneeth hard was ‘Bluff900.’ This player is a relatively new face on the site, having been active since January 2023 and with only 56 events played. Aiming for a first online title, they certainly brought a lot of grit and spirit to that final table. The heads-up match against Puneeth saw ‘Bluff900’ fighting hard before eventually finishing as the runner-up. That second place came with a very welcome ₹1.23 Lakhs— a personal best online score by almost six times over, and a crucial result that helped ‘Bluff900’ get back into profitable territory on the site for the first time in two and a half years.
Bluff900’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹1.76 Lakhs | Site Profits: ₹74,753
The Daily Last Chance final table featured several other familiar regulars, including Monday`s Adda52 Inception finalist Dhaval ‘Faizal1506’ Doshi (4th for ₹69,890), last month`s Daily Last Chance podium finisher and recent NPS#151 Deepdive Bronze Medallist Saiganesh ‘Arwen’ Reddy Kalakoti (5th for ₹59,222) and January`s Junglee Poker Thursday Thunder runner-up Manu ‘ChipsGenerator’ Kallayyathu (8th for ₹28,569).
The ₹2,500 buy-in Daily Last Chance continues to prove itself an undeniable favourite on PokerBaazi. Last night, it once again comfortably sailed past its guarantee by a healthy ₹2.26 Lakhs—a really solid showing after being cancelled the previous night. The electric late-night grind saw 87 players finish in the money, with even those just min-cashing walking away with ₹5,395. It all made for another rewarding and exciting night for the late-shift grinders who have turned this tournament into one of the most endearing and popular fixtures on India`s leading online poker platform.
Final Table Results
- Puneeth ‘Ruzzanaire’ B N – ₹1,87,844
- Bluff900 – ₹1,22,614
- Sirccharaja – ₹92,083
- Dhaval ‘Faizal1506’ Doshi – ₹69,890
- Saiganesh ‘Arwen’ Reddy Kalakoti – ₹59,222
- Tezi13 – ₹48,800
- RampageR1 – ₹38,623
- Manu ‘ChipsGenerator’ Kallayyathu – ₹28,569
Junglee Poker
PPL Thursday Mini Highroller – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹6,900
Entries – 127
Prize Pool – ₹10,00,000
Places Paid – 17
The summer poker scene is brimming with a jolt of energy, and anyone following the action knows Junglee Poker’s ₹7.50 Crores GTD Poker Premier League (PPL) is where the big stories are unfolding. This month-long festival, cleverly blending the high-energy excitement of the Indian T20 cricket league with the deep strategy of poker, is the grand finale of the platform’s stunning ₹50 Crores GTD festival. With an action-packed schedule boasting three daily guaranteed tournaments, Junglee Poker is undeniably cranking up the temperature (and the player value) this May.
And who better to grab the Thursday headlines than one of the most scorching names on the Indian poker circuit right now — Rishab ‘NoChan(3’ Malik, a player who needs no introduction.
Hailing from New Delhi, the legendary three-time The Millionaire champion looks every bit like he’s back in his prime and firmly planted in the winner’s spotlight. He kicked off the year with a bang, taking down Adda52’s The Ballers (an event he`s already won twice this year). Since then, Malik has been methodically building an enviable track record of going deep in some of the biggest tournaments out there. His final table skirmishes in January’s Godfather and WTF were early warnings of his form, quickly followed by a podium finish in the Adda52 Millions in February. That hot streak only intensified in March, where he bagged himself a Bronze Medal in NPS#102 Big Knockout (KO) and immediately followed it up with a Silver in NPS#172 Slamdunk.
But the real thunderclap, the moment that announced his current dominance, came on April 24, when Malik powered his way to victory in PokerBaazi’s The Summit. This statement win signalled his readiness to take down any virtual tournament he sets his sights on.
Last night, just two short weeks after that memorable The Summit victory, Malik once again proved his red-hot form with another blitzkrieg, pulling off a resounding win in Junglee Poker’s ₹10 Lakhs GTD PPL Thursday Mini Highroller. This wasn’t just another trophy for the cabinet; it was his second time winning this Thursday flagship. Expertly gliding through a tricky field of 127 entries in this Thursday mainstay (now proudly flying the PPL banner) over a solid 7.5 hours of intense play, Malik was the last man standing, his efforts rewarded with a top prize that swelled his bankroll by ₹1.80 Lakhs.
And as if one major win wasn’t enough action for a Thursday night, Malik was also busy making his mark in the biggest online showdown of the evening, PokerBaazi’s #8 The MoneyMaker. He put on a highly commendable show there too, finishing in seventh place and adding ₹2.60 Lakhs to his nightly haul. Factor in another strong showing in The Summit, and his Thursday poker exploits added well over ₹4.77 Lakhs to his account, neatly wrapping up another profitable session for the pro!
> 7th in PokerBaazi’s #8 The MoneyMaker for ₹2,60,000
> 1st in Junglee Poker’s PPL Thursday Mini Highroller for ₹1,79,990
> 19th in PokerBaazi’s The Summit for ₹37,500
Rishab Malik’s online stats (excluding Junglee Poker, Natural8 India and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹10.79 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.32 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #5 (across all platforms)
While Malik was busy putting on a clinic, ‘vb018’ quietly put together an impressive run of their own. This relatively lesser-known player seemingly stepped out of the shadows to clinch a remarkable runner-up finish in the PPL Thursday Mini Highroller, walking away with a well-earned ₹1.35 Lakhs—a standout performance that’s going to get them noticed.
The Thursday Mini HighRoller final table wasn’t exactly lacking in star power. Among the notable names was online beast Lavesh ‘magicodds98’ Meena, who has impressively championed this event four times. Although he didn’t quite snag a fifth title, Meena still delivered a strong performance, finishing in fifth place for ₹76,998.
Despite being a clear magnet for MTT regulars, the ₹6,900 buy-in PPL Thursday Mini HighRoller fell ₹2.38 Lakhs short of meeting its advertised ₹10 Lakhs guarantee, a significantly larger overlay than seen recently. Nonetheless, the top 17 finishers each pocketed at least ₹13,448, making this a very rewarding showdown from start to finish for those who went deep. And even though the IPL 2025 has unfortunately been suspended, given the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, the PPL poker frenzy is just beginning to catch fire!
Final Table Results
- Rishab ‘NoChan(3’ Malik – ₹1,79,990
- vb018 – ₹1,35,464
- guru9999 – ₹1,02,090
- Lavesh ‘magicodds98’ Meena – ₹76,998
- puls07 – ₹57,974
- godfather – ₹43,706
The other PPL title winners of the day included Sanjay ‘floppednuts’ Kumar (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD PPL Thursday Thunder for ₹97,600) and ‘slimshady911’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD PPL Thursday Sunsetter for ₹31,080).
Adda52
Godfather – ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,750
Entries – 141
Re-entries – 192
Rebuys – 7
Prize Pool – ₹20,00,000
Places Paid – 53
It looks like Adda52 has definitely found its groove again, and with overlays popping up like unexpected treats, there’s been no shortage of sweet value for anyone putting in the hours at the tables. As India’s longest-running poker platform—and now sitting as the second-biggest in daily tournament offerings, only behind PokerBaazi—Adda52 is making a strong push to reclaim its territory.
Thursday night was another big one, and all eyes were on a perennial crowd-pleaser: the ₹20 Lakhs GTD Godfather. A fired-up field of 340 entries (141 unique) locked horns for hours in what turned out to be one of the most intense midweek clashes seen in a while. When the virtual chips finally settled in this signature 8 PM headliner, Raghav ‘mrbean98’ Ananth was left standing tall amidst the carnage.
Still feeling good from a runner-up finish in Adda52’s MMA Takedown last Tuesday, Ananth had been waiting for another major win. It had been six weeks since his precious victory in Junglee Poker’s JK#5. Well, he broke that quiet spell with some real flair, taking down his second title of 2025 and collecting a handsome ₹3.37 Lakhs after a heads-up deal. This win represented his second-biggest score on Adda52, the 11th-highest cash of his career, and, notably, his very first win in this particular Adda52 headliner.
But his night wasn’t over. Another cash in PokerBaazi`s #8 The MoneyMaker (105th for ₹17,000) gave his night an extra sparkle, pushing his total Thursday collections to just a shade under ₹3.54 Lakhs.
Not too far behind was the ever-present Sahil ‘imhighishove’ Mahboobani, a seasoned poker veteran and a volume beast who, frankly, is never really out of form. Coming off winning Junglee Poker’s PPL Thursday Mini Highroller last week and a fourth-place finish in Adda52’s Stack Attack on Saturday, Mahboobani rolled into Thursday looking to make another statement—and he certainly did. Actively gunning for what would have been his fifth Godfather title, he gave the mid-week headliner a serious run for its money, only just falling short at the final hurdle. He ended up as the runner-up for the fourth time in this tournament, yet still pocketed an almost comparable ₹3.14 Lakhs thanks to that deal—his second-best score on Adda52 this year.
And, in his typical high-volume fashion, Mahboobani had a busy session, landing in the money in four other events, including another final table appearance in the Monster Turbo PKO. He wrapped up Thursday night with his accounts looking rather healthy, having stacked up just over ₹3.60 Lakhs in total earnings.
> 2nd in Adda52’s Godfather for ₹3,14,268* (heads-up deal)
> 5th in Adda52’s Monster Turbo PKO for ₹15,165
> 15th in PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance for ₹11,648
> 22nd in PokerBaazi’s Summit Lite for ₹10,008
> 20th in Adda52’s Thursday Thunder for ₹9,253
Sahil Mahboobani’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹16.74 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹5.71 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #2 | Annual Winnings: ₹83.35 Lakhs
The Godfather final table was loaded with high-calibre players right down the line. The long-time regular ‘goajaanahai’ finished third, adding ₹2.02 Lakhs to their earnings. The 2024 POY #4, Nishaanth ‘superdeluxe’ S, placed fourth, banking ₹1.48 Lakhs. Last month’s PokerBaazi The Quest runner-up and 2024 POY #11, Neeraj ‘NeeruNJ’ Sattawat, finished fifth, which was good for ₹1.08 Lakhs. Saturday’s Stack Attack runner-up, Siddharth ‘gabandheer’ Pandey, finished sixth, padding his roll with ₹79,493. ‘theinternetkid‘ (who requested anonymity) came in seventh for ₹58,268, while ‘Akashpaswan12‘ rounded out the final table lineup in eighth place for ₹42,711.
Echoing a broader trend seen recently, the ₹5,750 buy-in Godfather fell notably short of its guarantee, leaving a significant ₹3 Lakhs in overlays for the players to enjoy – a massive increase in added value compared to what has been seen in recent editions of this event. For the players who cashed, this meant some truly insane value. The top 53 finishers got paid, with min-cashes starting at ₹12,706 – more than double the buy-in.
With incredible value like this regularly on offer and Adda52 not pulling any punches with its beefed-up schedule, India`s longest-serving online poker platform’s summer grind is hitting a very exciting stride.
Final Table Results
- Raghav ‘mrbean98’ Ananth – ₹3,36,787*
- Sahil ‘imhighishove’ Mahboobani – ₹3,14,268*
- goajaanahai- ₹2,01,848
- Nishaanth ‘superdeluxe’ S – ₹1,47,954
- Neeraj ‘NeeruNJ’ Sattawat – ₹1,08,450
- Siddharth ‘gabandheer’ Pandey – ₹79,493
- theinternetkid – ₹58,268
- Akashpaswan12 – ₹42,711
*denotes a heads-up deal
‘noobies’ won the ₹7.50 Lakhs GTD Thursday Thunder for ₹1.49 Lakhs.
Prashanth ‘ekthatalli’ Sekar (Won ₹4.50 Lakhs GTD Monster Turbo PKO for ₹1.06 Lakhs), (Won ₹50K GTD Sundown Adda for ₹11,500), and ‘tusharkewl11’ (Won ₹50K GTD Morning Adda for ₹10,923) won the other Thursday marquees on Adda52.
₹50 Lakhs GTD Big Whale – Day 1A
Day 1A > Entries – 111| Re-entries – 53 | Rebuys – 5 | Survivors – 21 | Chip Leader – Young Gun Aditya ‘A_Sushant’ Sushant (252,307)
Spartan Poker
‘mkrao’ (Won ₹4 Lakhs GTD Supreme for ₹71,762), ‘NutyNuts’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Spotlight for ₹31,312), ‘9X2X5X1X5X’ (Won ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD Monster Stack for ₹26,076), ‘Nonu06’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Daily Kickoff for ₹22,200), and ‘saini271’ (Won ₹50K GTD Centurian for ₹9,400) won the Thursday marquees on Spartan Poker.
Keep following PokerGuru for daily updates on the biggest winners across the major domestic networks!
Daily Majors: Vishal Ojha Pulls Off Insane Friday Run! Wins #2 The MoneyMaker After The Quest Runner-Up For ₹18.66 Lakhs Total Haul!
If Thursday kicked off May with fireworks on PokerBaazi, Friday night kept the heat on! The main attraction was the second edition of the iconic ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker, now a daily ritual this month, drawing massive attention even as overlays continued across most flagships – meaning tons of value for players jumping into the Friday grind. The action wasn’t just confined to PokerBaazi either; Natural8 India’s Omaholic Series 2025 kept PLO fans busy, Adda52’s ₹1.50 Crores GTD Masterminds Arena Bounty Series headed towards its finale, and Junglee Poker’s Poker Premiere League (PPL) kept dealing.
Plus, exciting news came from the live circuit today as India’s Nishant Kumar completed his spectacular run in the record-breaking APT Taipei Main Event, finishing fifth for a career-best ~₹1.15 Crores!
But Friday night online belonged to one man: Vishal Ojha. The Pune-based pro, already etched in history as India’s only USOP Main Event champion, put on a display of multi-tabling mastery that left jaws on the floor. First, he battled deep in PokerBaazi’s The Quest, firing four bullets and reaching heads-up against Aditya Kesharwani. While he finished second for a solid ₹3 Lakhs, that turned out to be just the warm-up! Literally 90 minutes later, Ojha closed out the biggest tournament of the night, conquering the #2 The MoneyMaker, finally grabbing that coveted The MoneyMaker bracelet after a near miss last April. The win delivered a staggering ₹15 Lakhs payday – matching Thursday’s top prize, giving Ojha his biggest score of 2025, and registering as his second-best online cash ever! Adding an eighth place in Adda52’s The Ballers and three other small scores, Ojha’s Friday night rampage resulted in combined winnings hitting an unbelievable ₹18.66 Lakhs, making him the runaway top earner. This monster session also vaulted his tracked online profits past the ₹2 Crore point and launched him straight to #3 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard!
While Ojha took the bracelet, Bihar’s Deepak Kumar nearly pulled off a massive upset. Finishing second earned them an incredible ₹10 Lakhs – an all-time best score over 22 times their previous highest cash, putting their account firmly back in the black! Popular streamer Aniruddha Joshi also had a huge night, finishing third in The MoneyMaker for a personal-best ₹7.37 Lakhs. The event itself had another large ₹16 Lakhs overlay, benefiting the 146 players who cashed (min-cash ₹19K).
Before his The MoneyMaker win, Ojha battled Aditya Kesharwani heads-up in The Quest. It was Kesharwani who took down that title, continuing his own hot streak. The Rewa grinder claimed his first The Quest victory, banking a hefty ₹5.01 Lakhs – his best score of 2025. Adding another FT cash on Adda52, Kesharwani’s Friday session delivered over ₹5.12 Lakhs to his bankroll, his most profitable night of 2025 so far.
India’s first WSOP bracelet winner and recent NPC Finalist, Aditya Sushant, added another major title to his incredible CV by winning Adda52’s The Ballers for the fifth time! The victory added ₹3.91 Lakhs to his name, part of a Friday haul exceeding ₹4.25 Lakhs across four deep runs. ‘TheAceCrown’ finished runner-up for ₹2.89 Lakhs, contributing to their nightly total of ₹3.09 Lakhs.
The seemingly unstoppable Arjanveer Singh Chadha kept his phenomenal run going, winning PokerBaazi’s WTF for the second time in his career! This victory, his fourth major title in under a month, was worth ₹2.29 Lakhs. His total Friday take neared ₹2.60 Lakhs with three other cashes. Ashutosh Das finished runner-up for ₹1.50 Lakhs, part of a ₹1.60 Lakhs night for him. The WTF had a tiny ₹15K overlay.
On Junglee Poker, Nandan Pugalia made a strong comeback just days after a runner-up finish in PokerBaazi’s The Endeavour, winning the PPL Friday Supernova for ₹1.58 Lakhs – his sixth title this year. His overall Friday take exceeded ₹1.88 Lakhs. Runner-up ‘dhatrwal’ scored a personal platform-best ₹1.19 Lakhs.
Natural8 India saw ‘chalnighlavdya’ break a four-month quiet spell with a runner-up finish in the Midnight Madness II 88, worth a platform-best ₹1.77 Lakhs.
Other notable winners on PokerBaazi included Parth Aggarwal, who shipped the Daily Last Chance for ₹1.93 Lakhs, and the relentless Anurag Srivastava, who added The Quest Lite title for ₹1.57 Lakhs (his 14th win of 2025!).
Ram Kakkar, Vishal Soni, Mohak Kapoor, and Shreyansh Sharma also booked wins in various Friday marquees, contributing to a truly action-packed night!
Here are the Friday highlights!
PokerBaazi
#2 The MoneyMaker – ₹1 Crore GTD
Buy-in – ₹10,000
Entries – 568
Re-entries – 398
Prize Pool – ₹1,00,00,000
Places Paid – 146
Just when you thought the PokerBaazi felt might cool down slightly after April’s intensity, May arrived and dumped gasoline on the fire! The main driver is the legendary ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker, which isn’t just back; it’s the nightly headliner for all 31 glorious days of the month. Following up on previous successful festivals, PokerBaazi has genuinely upped the ante, making India’s first and longest-running single-flight ₹1 Crore beast a daily ritual where players chase bracelets and potentially life-altering scores every single evening for the second time ever (after last April’s The MoneyMaker Mania)!
Following Prasit Chowdhury‘s fantastic win in Thursday’s kickoff edition (#1 The MoneyMaker), Friday night’s #2 The MoneyMaker crowned its champion and this time the spotlight belonged squarely to one of India’s most formidable poker talents: Vishal ‘Darky’ Ojha.
Ojha, the Nashik-based pro who commands respect both live and online, finally captured The MoneyMaker title that had slipped through his fingers before (he finished a close third in the #25 The MoneyMaker last April). This victory felt like unfinished business completed. Ojha is a true powerhouse – the 2023 People’s Poker Championship nominee, a key player for the runner-up Kolkata Wizards in PSL Season 6, a four-time IOPC champion, winner of the massive 2023 Legend Poker Series Super High Roller (₹26.78 Lakhs), and the player who etched his name in international poker history by becoming the first Indian to win a USOP Main Event title in Hanoi in 2023 —a feat that cemented his reputation far beyond domestic borders.
While 2025 had been somewhat steady rather than spectacular for Ojha by his elite standards (with wins in PokerBaazi’s WTF (January) and The Quest Lite (February) and runner-up finishes in Adda52’s Iron Man and PokerBaazi’s NPS#120 Wednesday Volley), Friday night saw him shift into beast mode.
Imagine the focus required: he was simultaneously deep in two of the biggest PokerBaazi flagships! Less than 90 minutes before his The MoneyMaker triumph, Ojha was heads-up in the 8 PM Friday headliner, The Quest. He narrowly missed that one, finishing second to Aditya Kesharwani but still adding ₹3 Lakhs to his burgeoning nightly haul.
Undeterred, he seamlessly transitioned his focus to closing out the main prize. Entering the 7:30 PM The MoneyMaker 92.0 twice, Ojha masterfully navigated the 966-entry field (568 unique) over a gruelling 10-hour session. This time, he wouldn’t be denied. He sealed the deal, finally grasping that elusive The MoneyMaker bracelet and banking a staggering ₹15 Lakhs – matching the previous night’s top prize, hitting his biggest score of 2025, and achieving his second-best online payday ever!
That monster score, combined with The Quest runner-up finish, an eighth place in Adda52’s The Ballers and three other smaller cashes, meant Ojha’s Friday night rampage resulted in an incredible ₹18.66 Lakhs deposited into his account! It crowned him the undisputed MVP of the day, pushed his tracked online profits soaring past the ₹2 Crore milestone, and rocketed him straight to #3 in PokerBaazi’s 2025 Player of the Year standings!
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s #2 The MoneyMaker for ₹15,00,000
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Quest for ₹3,00,000
> 8th in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹47,389
> 13th in PokerBaazi’s The Quest Lite for ₹9,500
> 91st in PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance for ₹5,061
> 44th in Adda52’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty for ₹3,913
Vishal Ojha’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India and Junglee Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹6.75 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹2.06 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Annual Winnings: ₹68.22 Lakhs | Moves to #3 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard
But the #2 The MoneyMaker didn’t just reward an established star; it created another incredible story. Bihar’s Deepak ‘pokerrani108’ Kumar, a player grinding on PokerBaazi since last May, had the session that poker dreams are made of. Battling all the way to heads-up against the mighty Ojha, he finished one spot shy of the bracelet but achieved an unbelievable, life-enhancing ₹10 Lakhs payout! This single score shattered his previous personal best by a mind-blowing factor of 22, instantly putting him deep in the black on the platform and making him the day’s clear second-biggest scorer!
Deepak Kumar’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹16.54 Lakhs | Site Profits: ₹3.54 Lakhs
Popular streamer Aniruddha ‘PocketacesAJ’ Joshi, known for his entertaining streams and ambitious profit challenge, kept his strong form rolling. Coming off winning Adda52’s MMA Main Event in March and posting several deep runs since —including a podium in last week’s Head Hunter and a near-miss in MMA Voyager PKO just days ago, Joshi expertly navigated the challenging The MoneyMaker field to lock up the third spot on the podium. This earned him a personal-best ₹7.37 Lakhs, giving him a massive boost in his ongoing ₹1 Crore profit challenge for the year!
Aniruddha Joshi’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India and Junglee Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.85 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹65.95 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #4
Unsurprisingly, The MoneyMaker 92.0 final table was a deadly mix of talent. Young Gun Anmol ‘anzzzzz’ Mehta, coming off a Sunday Big Slick final table, placed fourth for ₹5.71 Lakhs. Nirbheek ‘noobboob23’ Biswas, who won the Daily Last Chance last week, finished fifth for ₹4.59 Lakhs. Abhishek ‘Adrit’ Singh, a recent WTF finalist, came sixth for ₹3.48 Lakhs. Sandeep ‘janspeed’ Jaiswal rounded out the final table in eighth, banking ₹1.88 Lakhs.
And that’s just scratching the surface. The top 20 finishers included other heavyweights like Tarush ‘Busterr’ Gupta (9th for ₹1.34 Lakhs), Surajkishan ‘sukira’ Razdan (12th for ₹1.34 Lakhs), former NPS Main Event champion Chirag ‘miyagi’ Sodha (13th for ₹81,000), ‘SPRINT King’ Pradip ‘Nit2Donk’ Ghosh (14th for ₹81,000), this week’ s Sunday Big Slick champion and The Mint podium finisher Bharat ‘Thinkfloyd’ Vasan (17th for ₹81,000), Margi ‘weakerkickhai’ Dhiren Narendra (18th for ₹81,000), and Mohit ‘thejoker’ Mehta (20th for ₹55,000).
Following Thursday’s trend, The MoneyMaker 92.0 experienced an even bigger shortfall! The ₹10,000 buy-in showstopper missed its lofty ₹1 Crore guarantee by a massive ₹16 Lakhs – a huge 16% overlay! For the 146 players who skillfully navigated into the money, it was like hitting a value jackpot before even laddering up. Every single casher received a minimum payout of ₹19,000, nearly doubling their investment instantly.
Two nights down, 29 more editions of The MoneyMaker to go! With another chance tonight (Saturday) and the massive Baazi Super Sunday lineup waiting tomorrow alongside the #4 The MoneyMaker, one thing is crystal clear: May on PokerBaazi is delivering non-stop, high-stakes fireworks, incredible value, and potentially life-changing victories every single night!
Final Table Results
- Vishal ‘Darky’ Ojha – ₹15,00,000
- pokerrani108 – ₹10,00,000
- Aniruddha ‘PocketacesAJ’ Joshi – ₹7,37,000
- Anmol ‘anzzzzz’ Mehta – ₹5,71,000
- Nirbheek ‘noobboob23’ Biswas – ₹4,59,000
- Abhishek ‘Adrit’ Singh – ₹3,48,000
- heisenberg369 – ₹2,59,000
- Sandeep ‘janspeed’ Jaiswal – ₹1,88,000
The Quest – ₹30 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,750
Entries – 367
Re-entries – 328
Prize Pool – ₹30,00,000
Places Paid – 87
May has exploded on PokerBaazi, largely thanks to the daily return of the iconic ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker. With 29 more nights of bracelet chasing lined up, the platform’s energy is undeniable. Even with The MoneyMaker drawing massive attention (and glaring overlays everywhere), Friday night’s 8 PM staple, the ₹30 Lakhs GTD The Quest, held its ground impressively. The signature event attracted 695 entries (367 unique), barely missing its guarantee but delivering an 8-hour high-stakes showdown packed with drama.
Stepping into the spotlight and making his presence felt loud and clear was Aditya ‘KesarDa’ Kesharwani. While many players are busy extending recent heaters, the Rewa, Madhya Pradesh grinder decided Friday was his night to shine. Navigating a minefield packed with regulars, Kesharwani clinched his first-ever The Quest title, banking a neat ₹5.01 Lakhs for his efforts! This was his best payday of 2025, his second-largest cash ever on PokerBaazi (behind only that legendary End Boss 2020 run), and his third-biggest online haul overall.
This victory underscores the fantastic form Kesharwani has found recently. After winning Adda52’s Iron Man in January, he hit a bit of a quiet patch title-wise. But April saw him roar back, taking down the Sunday Big Slick, following up with a Daily Boost win, and then adding The Pride Lite title just last week. Last night’s The Quest win gives him his fourth flagship title this year and fifth victory overall in 2025!
Kesharwani kept busy elsewhere, too, adding an eighth-place finish in Adda52’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty for another ₹11,764. His Friday grind tallied over ₹5.12 Lakhs, representing his most profitable session yet this year.
Aditya Kesharwani’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.14 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.17 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #5 | Annual Winnings: ₹47.87 Lakhs
Now, here’s where the night gets really interesting. Kesharwani had to navigate a tense heads-up battle in The Quest against Vishal ‘Darky’ Ojha – a true powerhouse known for his live exploits, the first Indian USOP Main Event champ and a key force in Kolkata Wizards’ runner-up finish in Pocket52 PSL Season 6) and online dominance. Looking to snap a three-month title drought, Ojha fired four bullets in The Quest and came incredibly close. He eventually finished runner-up, collecting a solid ₹3 Lakhs for his efforts. But this runner-up finish was merely the prelude to an even bigger story unfolding simultaneously!
Just as he was wrapping up his deep run in The Quest, Ojha was battling deep in the night’s main attraction, #2 The MoneyMaker. In an incredible display of multi-tabling skill and focus, barely 90 minutes after finishing second in The Quest, Ojha went all the way in The MoneyMaker! He outlasted the massive 966-entry field (568 unique), claimed the elusive bracelet (sweet redemption after a near miss in the #25 The MoneyMaker last April), and banked a staggering ₹15 Lakhs – matching Thursday night’s top prize and hitting his biggest score of 2025 (his second-biggest online payday ever)!
Adding his The Quest runner-up score and four other cashes (including eighth in Adda52’s The Ballers), Ojha’s Friday night was simply phenomenal, pulling together ₹18.66 Lakhs in total winnings, making him the day’s top earner by a massive margin. This incredible session also pushed his tracked online profits past the ₹2 Crore milestone and shot him up to #3 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard!
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s #2 The MoneyMaker for ₹15,00,000
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Quest for ₹3,00,000
> 8th in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹47,389
> 13th in PokerBaazi’s The Quest Lite for ₹9,500
> 91st in PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance for ₹5,061
> 44th in Adda52’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty for ₹3,913
Vishal Ojha’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹6.75 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹2.06 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Moves to #3 on #PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard
As expected, The Quest’s final table featured a lineup of known grinders. Vishal ‘VishalMaharaj’ Maharaj finished third for ₹2.40 Lakhs. Ram ‘mowgumotu’ Kakkar, who seems to be running very pure lately (after his Adda52 Millions runner-up finish on Sunday and last night`s MMA Friday Bounty victory), placed fifth for ₹1.35 Lakhs. Monday’s The Big Show winner, Young Gun Devang ‘Laila’ Yadav, took sixth for ₹1.12 Lakhs. Prabaha ‘alpha321’ Roy finished seventh for ₹91,200, and Apurv ‘ppsumit’ Shah rounded out the final table in eighth for ₹72,600.
Following Thursday’s trend, almost all Friday majors on PokerBaazi recorded overlays, but The Quest came remarkably close to hitting its number, missing its ₹30 Lakhs guarantee by a tiny ₹25,000. The top 87 finishers in the ₹5,750 buy-in event shared the prize pool, with even the minimum cash returning a solid ₹10,200.
With the daily The MoneyMaker now setting the pace alongside a stacked schedule offering undeniable value, May couldn’t have started any hotter on India’s leading online platform!
Final Table Results
- Aditya ‘KesarDa’ Kesharwani – ₹5,00,100
- Vishal ‘Darky’ Ojha – ₹3,00,000
- Vishal ‘VishalMaharaj’ Maharaj – ₹2,40,000
- Krunal1800 – ₹1,82,400
- Ram ‘mowgumotu’ Kakkar – ₹1,34,700
- Devang ‘Laila’ Yadav – ₹1,11,600
- Prabaha ‘alpha321’ Roy – ₹91,200
- Apurv ‘ppsumit’ Shah – ₹72,600
WTF – ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,200
Entries – 409
Re-entries – 367
Prize Pool – ₹15,00,000
Places Paid – 118
Even with the massive ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker now commanding attention nightly, PokerBaazi’s Friday schedule still packed a serious punch. The platform flexed its tournament muscle with headliners like The Quest and the crowd-pleaser ₹15 Lakhs GTD WTF. While overlays remained a theme across most events, the action was fierce, especially in the WTF, where one of India’s most dominant pros added another trophy to his collection.
And the star of the primetime battle was Arjanveer ‘holdbaby’ Singh Chadha. This Chandigarh-based pro is playing lights-out poker right now. Coming into the night hot off dual final table appearances on Thursday (Godfather and Big PLO-5), Chadha kept his foot firmly on the gas and conquered the WTF field, claiming his fourth major title in less than a month! After a relatively standard start to 2025 by his high standards, April saw him catch fire, and he’s clearly carrying that heat into May.
An established online giant with winnings stretching over ₹17.17 Crores and north of ₹6 Crores in profits, Chadha got it with clinical efficiency, needing just one bullet to slice through the 776-entry field (409 unique) in the 7:30 PM WTF. After over seven hours, he clinched the WTF title for the second time in his career (first since July 2023), pocketing ₹2.29 Lakhs. With three other small cashes sprinkled in, Chadha’s Friday take climbed near ₹2.60 Lakhs—just another day at the office for one of India’s best.
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s WTF for ₹2,28,000
> 28th in PokerBaazi’s The Quest for ₹23,100
> 78th in PokerBaazi’s The Quest Lite for ₹4,800
> 21st in Adda52’s MMA Friday Bounty for ₹4,001
Arjanveer Singh Chadha’s online stats (excluding Junglee Poker, PokerStars India, and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹17.17 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹6.13 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #9 | Annual Winnings: ₹68.20 Lakhs
Putting up a strong fight heads-up was Ashutosh ‘ashutoshdas’ Das. The former The Pride champion showed real determination, firing four bullets to make a deep run. He pushed Chadha close but finished as the runner-up. Still, the deep run added ₹1.50 Lakhs to his account – his best result of 2025 and the third-biggest payday of his career! Adding another small cash, Das closed his Friday session with ₹1.60 Lakhs booked, putting a dent in previous site losses.
Veteran Prashanth ‘ Iveyleague’ Sekar was also making serious waves on Friday night. The first-ever Game Changer champion might be searching for his first title in over seven months (since his (PLO-5) BOOST and Blockbuster takedown last September). Still, he’s been consistently knocking on the door with at least four final table appearances in April alone! Last night, he went on a tear, hitting not one, not two, but three final tables! He placed fourth in WTF (₹85,500), third in Adda52’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty (₹65,998), and fourth in Adda52’s MMA Friday Bounty (₹23,706). Add it all up, and Sekar pulled in over ₹1.75 Lakhs for his night’s work!
Prashanth Sekar’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.74 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.45 Crores
The WTF final table also featured other tough regs like ‘High Roller Specialist’ Karan ‘Collingwood’ Sitlani (3rd for ₹1.11 Lakhs), Vikas ‘nohomejerome’ Yadav (5th for ₹70,350) and Manish ‘KHATIDRAGON’ Jangid (6th for ₹57,450), himself fresh off two FTs the night before!
Like most other PokerBaazi flagships on Friday, the ₹2,200 buy-in WTF didn’t quite hit its ₹15 Lakhs guarantee, falling short by a tiny ₹15,512. That small overlay just meant a little extra value for the players. The top 118 finishers shared the spoils, with payouts starting at ₹4,500 – more than double the buy-in, adding more juice to another high-energy Friday night grind on India’s leading online platform!
Final Table Results
- Arjanveer ‘holdbaby’ Singh Chadha – ₹2,28,000
- Ashutosh ‘ashutoshdas’ Das – ₹1,50,000
- Karan ‘Collingwood’ Sitlani – ₹1,11,000
- Prashanth ‘Iveyleague’ Sekar – ₹85,500
- Vikas ‘nohomejerome’ Yadav – ₹70,350
- Manish ‘KHATIDRAGON’ Jangid – ₹57,450
- jwadhwa – ₹45,000
- tipnik74 – ₹32,850
The Quest Lite – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,000
Entries – 305
Re-entries – 232
Prize Pool – ₹10,00,000
Places Paid – 82
Even with the daily ₹1 Crore GTD The MoneyMaker commanding huge attention, Friday nights on PokerBaazi mean a packed schedule, and the other flagships still brought the heat. The ₹10 Lakhs GTD The Quest Lite, kicking off at 7:30 PM, delivered its usual dose of fast-paced action and, like most majors on the platform recently, came with a nice overlay bonus.
And riding a wave hotter than the summer sun right now is Anurag ‘NormanBates’ Srivastava. Just 24 hours removed from winning Adda52’s MMA Thunder PKO, the Delhi-based crusher simply went back to work on PokerBaazi and added another title to his unbelievable 2025 run. Srivastava stormed through The Quest Lite field, claiming the top spot for the first time and banking a tidy ₹1.57 Lakhs. Forget counting final tables (he had over 30 in Q1 alone!); this guy is collecting trophies. After five titles in April, last night’s victory pushes his count for the year to a staggering 14!
Srivastava’s campaign this year has been phenomenal from the start, highlighted by a dominant NPS India 2025 showing (four medals, including two Golds, and second place on the Delhi leaderboard). He won Spartan Poker’s Supreme last week (for the third time this year!), then PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance two days later (his second win in that event in April). A runner-up finish in Wednesday’s MMA Wonder PKO and Thursday’s MMA Thunder PKO win set the stage for this latest conquest. He seems to be playing on easy mode right now.
Jumping into the 7:30 PM The Quest Lite, Srivastava needed two bullets to make magic. He navigated the 537-entry field (305 unique) in under six and a half hours to claim his seventh PokerBaazi title this year! Adding three more cashes across Adda52 and PokerBaazi last night, Srivastava padded his Friday bankroll with nearly ₹1.86 Lakhs, keeping his scorching streak alive as May gets underway.
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s The Quest Lite for ₹1,56,900
> 30th in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹19,154
> 32nd in PokerBaazi’s WTF for ₹6,750
> 22nd in Adda52’s MMA Friday Bounty for ₹3,063
Chasing Srivastava right down to the wire was Kapil ‘kapil1912’ Tyaagi. A seasoned regular from Uttar Pradesh who’s been grinding on PokerBaazi for six years, Tyaagi has been patiently searching for that elusive first title on the platform. The Quest Lite looked like it might be the moment – he battled hard and came incredibly close, but had to settle for the runner-up position. Still, the deep run delivered a significant reward: Tyaagi walked away with a site-best ₹1.04 Lakhs, providing a nice boost after a tough two-year-long downswing!
As expected, The Quest Lite final table featured a collection of familiar grinders deep in the action. Nipun ‘nipun.3551’ Kumar, who finished runner-up in The Big Show last month, placed third here, adding ₹78,000 to his account. Dirgesh ‘dirgesh’ Dedhiya finished fifth for ₹48,600, while Vaibhav ‘vaibhi18’ Arora took sixth, good for ₹40,000. Thursday’s Godfather winner and current POY #5, volume beast Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur, made another deep run, finishing seventh for ₹31,600, and Manoj ‘cutymannu’ Kumar rounded out the final table payouts in eighth place, earning ₹23,500.
Like most other PokerBaazi majors on Friday night, the ₹2,000 buy-in The Quest Lite experienced a slight overlay, falling short of its ₹10 Lakhs guarantee by ₹65,620. This meant extra value was sprinkled into the prize pool – a welcome bonus for the top 82 finishers. Every player who cashed collected at least ₹4,800, more than doubling their initial investment and adding more juice to another high-energy night on India’s leading online platform.
With players like Srivastava seemingly winning titles at will and grinders like Tyaagi finding breakthrough scores, the PokerBaazi tables are the place to be as we head into another massive weekend!
Final Table Results
- Anurag ‘Rebuy2survive’ Srivastava – ₹1,56,900
- Kapil ‘kapil1912’ Tyaagi – ₹1,03,500
- Nipun ‘nipun.3551’ Kumar – ₹78,000
- Trippymedellin – ₹57,300
- Dirgesh ‘dirgesh’ Dedhiya – ₹48,600
- Vaibhav ‘vaibhi18’ Arora – ₹40,000
- Rajneesh ‘msdhoni’ Thakur – ₹31,600
- Manoj ‘cutymannu’ Kumar – ₹23,500
Parth ‘vinay7690’ Shah won the ₹10 Lakhs GTD Daily Last Chance for ₹1.93 Lakhs.
‘TheWhiteHorsee’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD PLO-5 Boost for ₹26,620) and ‘sexyboy’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD 7-Max SPRINT for ₹18,340) won the other Friday marquees on PokerBaazi.
Junglee Poker
PPL Friday Supernova – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹4,600
Entries – 217
Prize Pool – ₹10,00,000
Places Paid – 29
Junglee Poker is aiming to set May ablaze with its premium MTT offering, the Poker Premier League (PPL). Running all month long (May 1-31) with a colossal ₹7.50+ Crores in guaranteed prizes, the PPL channels the fast-paced energy of the Indian T20 cricket league, promising a daily dose of poker adrenaline. Day 2 of this extravaganza saw the spotlight shine brightly on the ₹10 Lakhs GTD PPL Friday Supernova.
The 8 PM Friday mainstay, now sporting the PPL branding, attracted 217 entrants ready to grind. After an intense six-hour session featuring the usual swings, one name rose above the rest – Kolkata’s Nandan ‘RageMonkey42’ Pugalia. This upcoming star is undeniably one of the players to watch right now, and last night, he added another impressive line to his rapidly growing 2025 resume.
Just three days removed from that heartbreakingly close runner-up finish in PokerBaazi’s The Endeavour (where he banked a massive ₹5 Lakhs), Pugalia showed incredible resilience and form. He navigated the PPL Friday Supernova field with poise and precision, clinching the PPL title and a well-deserved ₹1.58 Lakhs payday. This victory adds to his already stellar 2025 campaign, which includes two Daily Last Chance wins on PokerBaazi, a Monday Monster title on Junglee Poker, a Friday Bounty win on Adda52, and that Inception title last month that snapped an eight-week title drought. Last night’s win is officially his sixth title across platforms this year!
Pugalia wasn’t just focused on the PPL Friday Supernova either. He backed up the win with two deep runs elsewhere, boosting his total Friday take past ₹1.88 Lakhs!
> 1st in Junglee Poker’s PPL Friday Supernova for ₹1,57,768
> 14th in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹25,912
> 63rd in PokerBaazi’s The Quest Lite for ₹4,800
Nandan Pugalia’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.14 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.30 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #6 (across all platforms)
Almost playing spoiler to Pugalia’s victory lap was the mystery grinder ‘dhatrwal.’ They showed plenty of grit at the final table, pushing hard before finishing in second place. Still, it was a fantastic run rewarded with ₹1.19 Lakhs – their biggest recorded payday yet on Junglee Poker.
Also making waves at the final table was site regular Amit ‘the_ziro’ J. Coming into the event with momentum from winning two Battle Ground series titles last month (Monday Monster and Wednesday Superstack), Amit was hunting that PPL trophy. He battled deep but eventually hit the rail in third place, collecting a nice ₹87,822 for his efforts.
Similar to the PPL Thursday Mini Highroller the night before, the PPL Friday Supernova also experienced an overlay, missing its ₹10 Lakhs guarantee by ₹1.32 Lakhs. That shortfall meant extra value distributed among the participants. The top 29 finishers shared the prize money, each walking away with at least ₹8,118 – a nice return for those who navigated deep.
With the big weekend schedules looming and the Poker Premier League just getting started, there’s undoubtedly plenty more value and high-energy action still to come on Junglee Poker this month!
Final Table Results
- Nandan ‘RageMonkey42’ Pugalia – ₹1,57,768
- dhatrwal – ₹1,18,982
- Amit ‘the_ziro’ J – ₹87,822
- coco-143 – ₹64,862
- rdx1111-1 – ₹47,888
- vabss – ₹35,342
The other PPL title winners of the day included ‘h2owater’ (Won ₹3 Lakhs GTD PPL Friday Fighter for ₹96,115) and ‘plhgtrfgu’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD PPL Friday Sunsetter for ₹28,639).
‘zeefish’ won the ₹75K GTD Hangover for ₹13,499.
Adda52
The Ballers – ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹8,050
Entries – 99
Re-entries – 126
Re-buys – 12
Prize Pool – ₹20,00,000
Places Paid – 35
Adda52 has seriously cranked things up since April, and their turbocharged tournament schedule kept delivering the goods as May got underway. With the ₹1.50 Crores GTD Masterminds Arena Bounty Series entering its business end and the daily lineup consistently offering sweet value (thanks, overlays!), Friday night felt electric.
Taking centre stage was the classic Friday night battleground, the ₹20 Lakhs GTD The Ballers, drawing a stacked field of India’s sharpest grinders ready to clash. And yes, following the recent pattern, this primetime event offered extra juice with an overlay, but it certainly didn’t lack for top-tier poker action.
When the final river card was dealt after nearly eight hours of intense play, it was Aditya ‘a_sushant’ Sushant – India’s first-ever WSOP bracelet winner, a two-time The MoneyMaker champion, and recent NPC finalist – who added another major title to his legendary poker CV. Coming off that impressive eighth-place run in the historic NPC showdown in Goa just weeks ago, the Chennai-based icon proved his form is as sharp as ever.
Sushant has been locked in for the past couple of months. After a stupendous showing at the NPS India 2025, he kicked off April by winning PokerBaazi’s Daily Last Chance. He followed that with a barrage of deep runs – landing on seven more final tables, if you’re counting. Now, just two days into May, he’s claimed another major scalp, conquering The Ballers for an incredible fifth time in his career.
The 8 PM headliner pulled in 237 entries (99 unique), a step up from last week’s 195, though still leaving some overlay cash on the table. Sushant, who needed two bullets, moved through the field with his signature calm and killer instincts. His victory lap earned him a handsome ₹3.91 Lakhs, marking at least his fourth title grab of 2025.
Never one to single-table, Sushant was also active on PokerBaazi, notching scores in three of their biggest majors last night. His combined Friday efforts pushed his total earnings beyond ₹4.25 Lakhs. This performance keeps him climbing the ranks, now sitting at #17 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY leaderboard.
> 1st in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹3,91,112
> 143rd in PokerBaazi’s #2 The MoneyMaker for ₹19,000
> 62nd in PokerBaazi’s The Quest for ₹10,200
> 95th in PokerBaazi’s WTF for ₹4,500
Facing Sushant in a compelling heads-up duel was another accomplished regular, ‘TheAceCrown’ (anonymity requested). They put up a serious fight, firing two bullets themselves and coming incredibly close to pulling off the upset against the poker veteran. While The Ballers title wasn’t theirs this time, ‘TheAceCrown’ settled for a lofty runner-up payout worth ₹2.89 Lakhs.
But the runner-up score wasn’t their only success story of the night. ‘TheAceCrown’ also found the cashier in three PokerBaazi events, patching together a Friday haul nearing ₹3.09 Lakhs.
> 2nd in Adda52’s The Ballers for ₹2,89,304
> 58th in PokerBaazi’s The Quest for ₹10,200
> 71st in PokerBaazi’s The Quest Lite for ₹4,800
> 100th in PokerBaazi’s WTF for ₹4,500
TheAceCrown’s Adda52 stats: Site Winnings: ₹1.27 Crores | Site Profits: ₹71.58 Lakhs
The final table of The Ballers was, predictably, loaded with firepower. Ryan ‘plassma’ Cardoso – last month’s Tuesday Night Stacks champion – finished third, taking home ₹2.14 Lakhs. Current #4 in the 2025 POY race, Advait ‘ronaldinho018’ Rajguru, fresh off winning the BSS SuperStack this past Sunday and runner-up in Thursday’s MMA Thunder PKO, kept the heat on with a fourth-place finish for ₹1.58 Lakhs. Parth ‘HeiKid’ Trivedi placed fifth, earning ₹1.17 Lakhs. Young Gun Ashwin ‘Ashwinvijay1399’ Vijayvergiya, who himself finished runner-up in Sunday’s BSS SuperStack with the biggest payout, added a sixth-place finish worth ₹86,610.
In what’s become a familiar sight recently on Adda52, The Ballers missed its ₹20 Lakhs guarantee, filling in a substantial ₹3.41 Lakhs overlay. That’s a juicy 17% value injection – a nice bonus chunk of value for everyone who made the money. Even the min-cash of ₹19,154 on the ₹8,050 buy-in represented an over 2.3 times return on the investment, making Adda52 a prime spot for value hunters, especially with a monster weekend grind and the MMA Bounty Series finale coming up fast!
Final Table Results
- Aditya ‘a_sushant’ Sushant – ₹3,91,112
- TheAceCrown – ₹2,89,304
- Ryan ‘plassma’ Cardoso – ₹2,13,997
- Advait ‘ronaldinho018’ Rajguru – ₹1,58,293
- Parth ‘HeiKid’ Trivedi – ₹1,17,089
- Ashwin ‘Ashwinvijay1399’ Vijayvergiya – ₹86,610
MMA Friday Mystery Bounty – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹4,200
Entries – 130
Re-entries – 136
Re-buy – 18
Total Prize Pool – ₹10,36,600
Regular Prize Pool – ₹5,18,300
Bounty Prize Pool – ₹5,18,300
Places Paid – 44
Adda52 kept its foot on the gas heading into the weekend, with the revamped tournament schedule rolled out last month clearly finding traction. The buzz around the ₹1.50 Crores GTD Masterminds Arena Bounty Series is building, and the enhanced daily lineup continues to dish out serious value, thanks to those juicy overlays grinders love. Friday night saw the ₹10 Lakhs GTD MMA Friday Mystery Bounty crowning a champion who was definitely due for another big win.
That champion was none other than Shreyansh ‘halifax7701’ Sharma. The Howrah-based poker sensation was one of the biggest revelations of 2024, finishing an incredible #6 in the Player of the Year race after pulling together ₹4.40 Crores in recorded winnings (₹3.45 Crores in profit!).
He hasn’t slowed down much in 2025, starting the year strong by winning Natural8 India’s APL Series: Deepstack Highroller (January) and PokerBaazi’s The Endeavour Lite, Adda52’s Godfather DPT Edition and Pocket52’s (7-Max) Deepstack Turbo (February). March saw a relatively quiet patch (only three FTs, including a Bronze in NPS#64 Deepdive). Still, April was right back to business – Sharma hit ten final tables last month, landing on the podium three times, more recently taking third in Sunday’s Adda52 Millions and second in Tuesday’s The Mint!
Enter May. Shreyansh, who famously dominated last May (“Prince of May”), looks poised to repeat. Last night, he finally broke that three-month title-less spell, conquering Adda52’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty like it was destined. The 7 PM fixture, the day’s marquee MMA Bounty Series event, required precision and bounty luck in equal measure. Sharma came ready. He tore through the 284-entry field (130 unique), needing just a single bullet. His relentless pressure paid off; he captured the MMA Friday Mystery Bounty title – his second mystery bounty tournament win ever (after that insane ₹1.54 Crore win in Natural8 India`s Bounty Hunters HR MAIN EVENT 525 last December). The victory delivered ₹1.79 Lakhs to his account, with a healthy ₹79,457 coming just from bounties! He officially put the drought behind him.
Not content with just one deep run, Sharma also cashed in PokerBaazi’s WTF (17th for ₹13,500), pushing his Friday winnings to over ₹1.92 Lakhs.
> 1st in Adda52’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty for ₹1,78,529* (₹79,457 in bounties)
> 17th in PokerBaazi’s WTF for ₹13,500
Shreyansh Sharma’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.63 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹92.45 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Finished #6 in the 2024 Leaderboard Standings (Total Cashes)
Facing Sharma heads-up was Kashish ‘Barcelona’ Singh Rathore, a regular in the low-to-mid stakes scene hunting for his own breakthrough after a long dry spell (almost 32 months without a title!). He fought hard in the Mystery Bounty but had to settle for second. Still, the deep run delivered his biggest score of the year so far: ₹95,278 (₹22,199 in bounties).
But Rathore wasn’t finished! He kept grinding the smaller Adda52 events and finally got that win later in the session, taking down the ₹10K GTD Hot Pot for ₹4,486! Combined with three other small cashes, Rathore’s determined Friday grind resulted in nearly ₹1.03 Lakhs added to his account and that much-awaited title, finally swinging his online stats back into the green.
> 2nd in Adda52’s MMA Friday Mystery Bounty for ₹95,278* (₹22,199 in bounties)
> 1st in Adda52’s Hot Pot for ₹4,486
> 5th in Adda52’s MMA Daily KO for ₹2,146
> 48th in Adda52’s MMA Mystery Bounty for ₹404
> 16th in Adda52’s Chip Up for ₹243
Kashish Singh Rathore’s online stats (Adda52 and PokerBaazi): Lifetime Winnings: ₹3.62 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹37,844 | Titles Won in 2025: #1
The MMA Friday Mystery Bounty final table was, simply put, a minefield packed with killers. Prashanth ‘ekthatalli’ Sekar, making his third FT of the night, finished third here for ₹65,998 (₹12,098 in bounties!). Kashish ‘Fletcher03’ Gupta, who FT’d this same event just two weeks ago, took fourth for ₹84,324 (₹44,570 in bounties!). Arjun ‘arjunraghani4444’ Raghani placed fifth with ₹42,555 (₹13,234 in bounties). The red-hot Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh finished seventh for ₹23,553 (₹7,603 in bounties), and last night`s The Quest champion Aditya ‘Beware67’ Kesharwani bowed out in eighth with ₹11,764. Surviving that lineup was a serious feat!
The ₹4,200 buy-in Friday Mystery Bounty delivered exactly the kind of knockout excitement players crave. It comfortably crushed its ₹10 Lakhs guarantee by ₹36,600, building a prize pool of ₹5.18 Lakhs with the same in the bounty pool. The top 44 finishers received a payout from this main pool (minimum ₹2,851), but the real juice came from those mystery bounties awarded for every elimination after the money bubble burst.
It was another explosive night on Adda52, proving their revamped schedule and bounty series are hitting the right notes with players looking for both action and value!
Final Table Results (Including Bounties)
- Shreyansh ‘halifax7701’ Sharma – ₹1,78,529
- Kashish ‘Barcelona’ Singh Rathore – ₹95,278
- Prashanth ‘ekthatalli’ Sekar – ₹65,998
- Kashish ‘Fletcher03’ Gupta – ₹84,324
- Arjun ‘arjunraghani4444’ Raghani – ₹42,555
- breakneck – ₹21,626
- Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh – ₹23,553
- Aditya ‘Beware67’ Kesharwani – ₹11,764
The other MasterMinds Arena title winners of the day included Ram ‘mowgumotu’ Kakkar (Won ₹5 Lakhs GTD MMA Friday Bounty for ₹71,837), Vishal ‘NoobMonkey’ Soni (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD MMA Monster Stack PKO for ₹41,307), ‘rahnankuraj’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD MMA Mystery Bounty for ₹22,969), ‘Jaisiyaram7911’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD MMA PKO for ₹36,749), ‘Jaisiyaram7911’ (Won ₹75K GTD MMA PLO-4 Bounty for ₹20,917), and ‘TheGrindGuru’ (Won ₹550K GTD MMA Daily KO for ₹8,045).
₹35 Lakhs GTD MMA Main Event – Day 1E
Day 1E > Entries – 62 | Re-entries – 46 | Rebuys – 1 | Survivors – 13 | Chip Leader – Abhishek ‘abhispal’ Pal (223,567)
Combined > Entries – 412 | Re-entries – 248 | Rebuys – 12 | Survivors – 63 | Overall Chip Leader – ‘RiveShove5’ (519,981)
Spartan Poker
‘MOBLAND’ (Won ₹4 Lakhs GTD Supreme for ₹75,200), Mohak ‘Tiltin’ Kapoor (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Spotlight for ₹42,340), ‘bigshow811’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Monster Stack for ₹28,650), ‘8X0X4X5X7Y (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Daily Kickoff for ₹22,200), ‘BADSHAHKIPUBLIC’ (Won ₹50K GTD Dark Knight for ₹11,100) won the Friday marquees on Spartan Poker.
Keep following PokerGuru for daily updates on the biggest winners across the major domestic networks!
Daily Majors: Natural8 India`s ‘BollywoodBlinds’ Leads the Friday Frenzy; Nikhil Tuniki, Ashish Ahuja, Sahil Mahboobani & Aniruddha Joshi Also Score Big
If April wasn’t scorching enough on the felts, this second Sunday of the month is set to crank the heat way up! The grand finale of the record-breaking NPS India 2025, the National Poker Champion showdown, kicks off in Goa tomorrow (April 13). You can bet the entire poker community will be glued to the action, cheering on their state champions to unlock that massive ₹1 Crore freeroll for their state’s players – and you can catch it all streaming live on JioHotstar.
Friday served as the perfect warm-up for the monster weekend ahead. PokerBaazi is set to roll out its stacked Baazi Super Sunday (BSS) lineup, made even sweeter by that player-friendly TDS-free offer. Over at PokerDangal, the popular ₹60 Lakhs GTD Dangal Value Series is already underway (running April 12 – 20). Junglee Poker’s Battle Ground series also kept the games going strong (now extended until May 25), and Natural8 India’s ongoing Bounty Hunters Series 2025 added plenty more chances to hunt down those big scores.
Meanwhile, Adda52 is seriously stepping up its game ahead of the anticipated player pool merger with A23 Poker – a move that could really shake up the pecking order of Indian online poker. They’ve already started boosting their tournament offerings with higher guarantees and new big-money events, clearly aiming to regain ground from the current market leader, PokerBaazi. With two ₹10 Lakhs GTD Golden Freerolls announced (April 13 and 20) and the debut of Burstfire, a multi-flight bounty event boasting a ₹1 Crore GTD prize pool (April 16–20), Adda52 is sending a clear message: expect plenty more action brewing in the coming weeks.
But when the Friday night lights shone brightest, it was Natural8 India’s ‘BollywoodBlinds’ commanding the top spot. Building on a solid deep run in last weekend’s Saturday Bounty Hunters HR Special 525, they kept the momentum going strong, landing an impressive third-place finish in the Zodiac Goat High Roller. That’s a tournament where Indian players have been making serious noise lately (2025 POY #2 Anant Purohit won it in February, and the seemingly unstoppable ‘Shouryaanga’ finished runner-up twice just this week). Facing a tough field of 217 entries, ‘BollywoodBlinds’ more than held their own, walking away with a site-best ₹6.25 Lakhs and nabbing the top spot on the Friday earnings chart.
Shifting focus over to PokerBaazi, Nikhil Tuniki delivered a standout performance by conquering The Quest for a career-best ₹5.17 Lakhs. As a dedicated grinder on the platform for over two and a half years, Tuniki claiming his very first PokerBaazi title wasn’t just a personal achievement – it also pushed his overall stats back into positive territory and made him the day’s second-biggest winner. Giving him a real run for his money was Young Gun Gaurav Sood, the legendary three-time Player of the Year, who added a solid runner-up payout of ₹3.09 Lakhs to his day’s tally. Sood didn’t stop there; two additional scores, including a fourth-place result in Adda52’s new Friday Mystery Bounty, swelled his Friday total to nearly ₹4.75 Lakhs.
Back on Natural8 India, Varun Devayya continued to make waves. Just days after a top-10 finish in Monday’s Bounty Forty Stack 44, Devayya powered his way through a mammoth field of 8,284 entries in the Big Game 25. He landed in sixth place, collecting a personal-best ₹4.24 Lakhs on the platform.
Sahil Mahboobani finally checked off that long-awaited win over at Adda52! After a ten-week gap since his last victory (in the Big PLO-5) and enduring some frustrating near-misses, the poker veteran charged through the field to win The Ballers, collecting ₹3.23 Lakhs after a heads-up deal. This was his third time taking down this Friday headliner and his first recorded win on Adda52 in 2025. Another cash finish nudged his total Friday earnings just shy of ₹3.37 Lakhs. Right behind him was the ever-consistent Ashish Ahuja, who kept his own hot streak burning bright by finishing runner-up in The Ballers for ₹3.15 Lakhs via the deal. Ahuja was a whirlwind on Adda52, also making a deep charge in the brand-new Friday Mystery Bounty, only to finish runner-up there too for ₹1.02 Lakhs. Adding another score from PokerBaazi, Ahuja wrapped up his Friday grind with over ₹4.30 Lakhs in total earnings.
Taking centre stage on Junglee Poker was Aniruddha Joshi, one of India’s most recognizable poker streamers. He put on a dominant display in the BG#23 Friday Supernova, crushing the event for ₹2.33 Lakhs (₹1.24 Lakhs in bounties). An additional score saw him stack up close to ₹2.39 Lakhs for the day. The mystery player ‘Rdx1111-1’ (a former finalist in this very event) almost stole the show, putting in a stellar performance to finish runner-up for a site-best ₹1.18 Lakhs (₹9,219 in bounties).
The comeback stories kept rolling with Young Gun Abhishek Sonu. The 26-year-old pro and popular streamer from Patna, following up on a runner-up finish in The Endeavour Lite, went the distance in PokerBaazi’s WTF. He powered through the field to grab ₹2.29 Lakhs, notching his second career victory in this flagship event. Standing in his way at the end was Anudeep Gupta, who was chasing his first title in nearly four months but had to settle for runner-up this time, earning ₹1.50 Lakhs – his best result of 2025 and second-best overall.
PokerBaazi also saw ‘halfrich’ triumph in the Daily Last Chance, pocketing ₹1.88 Lakhs, while Habil Jiruwala took down The Quest Lite for ₹1.58 Lakhs.
Friday saw a flurry of other notable players clinching marquee titles across the sites, including Arjanveer Singh Chadha, Dhaval Solanki, Rohit Kumar, Nishant Chowdhury, another Rohit Kumar, Babu Ajay Kumar PN, Bijay Sarkar, Dhaval Doshi, and Sharad Haridasan!
Here are the Friday highlights!
PokerBaazi
The Quest – ₹30 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,750
Entries – 353
Re-entries – 280
Prize Pool – ₹31,65,000
Places Paid – 101
The energy on PokerBaazi hasn’t dipped one bit since the record-breaking NPS India 2025 wrapped up. This April, the virtual felt has been absolutely sizzling, partly fuelled by the platform’s tempting TDS-free offer on the first three cashouts – something that’s clearly got the community buzzing! Players are flocking in, fields are packed (thanks in part to those catchy “Tu Poker Khelta Hai Kya” ad campaigns), and PokerBaazi is riding a wave of momentum straight into the highly anticipated National Poker Champion showdown, which kicks off tomorrow (April 13) in Goa – and yes, you can catch the action live on JioHotstar.
Friday night perfectly captured this high-octane atmosphere, with all of PokerBaazi’s signature flagships easily leaving their guarantees in the rearview mirror. But the true star of the show was the ₹30 Lakhs GTD The Quest – the platform’s Friday headliner, which delivered all the excitement promised and then some.
Starting sharp at 8 PM, The Quest attracted a fierce field of 633 entries (280 unique) – even more than last week – each player gunning for their share of glory. After nearly nine intense hours of play, Nikhil ‘nikk58’ Tuniki came out on top in stunning fashion.
A loyal PokerBaazi grinder for over two and a half years, Tuniki had been putting in the work and getting close. Last night, he didn’t just knock on the door; he blew it wide open. He clinched his very first PokerBaazi title and did it in the biggest tournament of the day. His performance earned him a career-high ₹5.17 Lakhs, pushing his overall stats back into the green and slotting him in as the second-biggest winner reported for the day. The top spot belonged to Natural8 India user ‘BollywoodBlinds,‘ who made waves in the Zodiac Goat High Roller – an event where the seemingly unstoppable ‘Shouryaanga’ has already claimed the day’s biggest prize twice this week (Sunday and Thursday).
Nikhil Tuniki’s online stats (PokerBaazi and Adda52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹10.65 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹88,291 | Titles Won in 2025: #1
You can’t keep Young Gun Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood out of the headlines for long. The legendary three-time POY, one of Indian poker’s most iconic figures, had a demanding NPS India 2025 schedule, playing 184 events, cashing in 135, and collecting ₹23.79 Lakhs in winnings along the way. His performance included a Gold Medal in NPS#106 (PLO-5) and a #33 finish on the NPS Series Leaderboard, which added another ₹75,000 to his earnings.
And last night, Sood kept that momentum going strong. He fired two bullets in The Quest after an early stumble and came close to winning this Friday headliner for the first time, ultimately finishing as the runner-up for ₹3.09 Lakhs. This score helped nudge him to #25 on the 2025 PokerBaazi POY leaderboard. He didn’t stop there, adding two more scores, including a final table appearance in Adda52’s Friday Mystery Bounty (4th for ₹1.47 Lakhs), boosting his Friday haul to nearly ₹4.75 Lakhs.
Incredibly, these results pushed his tracked online winnings past the mind-blowing ₹23.50 Crores mark – the highest recorded for any player on our tracked database – and also saw him cross ₹50 Lakhs in annual profits for 2025. With this performance, Sood now finds himself inside the top 20 in the overall 2025 POY race, keeping the possibility of a record-extending fourth POY title very much alive. It’s another staggering show of dominance from a player who seems to thrive on defying limits.
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s The Quest for ₹3,08,904
> 4th in Adda52’s Friday Mystery Bounty for ₹1,46,667* (₹1,07,094 in bounties)
> 13th in Junglee Poker’s BG#23 Friday Supernova for ₹18,937* (₹3,750 in bounties)
Gaurav Sood’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹23.50 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹12.16 Crores| Titles Won in 2025: #7 | Annual Winnings: ₹91.76 Lakhs | Annual Profits: ₹50.41 Lakhs | Moves to #25 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard
The Quest also saw strong final table showings from the WPT India Online Player of the Series Avneesh ‘iamam’ Munjal (3rd for ₹2.46 Lakhs), Vijay ‘Vjpoker2’ Kakkar (4th for ₹1.90 Lakhs), Sonu ‘ElMagico’ Shejpal (6th for ₹1.14 Lakhs), Wednesday’s Daily Boost winner Aditya ‘KesarDa’ Kesharwani (7th for ₹92,418), and recent WTF podium finisher and NPS#105 (4-Max) Hyper SPRINT Bronze Medallist Mayank ‘mayhem97’ Kajala (8th for ₹71,213).
Following the trend across all of PokerBaazi’s flagship events, The Quest smashed its guarantee, creating a generous ₹31.65 Lakhs prize pool. This bigger pot meant better payouts for the top 101 finishers, with everyone in the money receiving at least ₹10,128 – nearly double the ₹5,750 buy-in. It’s another example of why PokerBaazi remains a top destination for value and action – and the weekend is only just getting started!
Final Table Results
- Nikhil ‘nikk58’ Tuniki – ₹5,16,845
- Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood – ₹3,08,904
- Avneesh ‘iamam’ Munjal – ₹2,46,237
- Vijay ‘Vjpoker2’ Kakkar – ₹1,89,900
- professor1984 – ₹1,39,260
- Sonu ‘ElMagico’ Shejpal – ₹1,13,940
- Aditya ‘KesarDa’ Kesharwani – ₹92,418
- Mayank ‘mayhem97’ Kajala – ₹71,213
WTF – ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,200
Entries – 398
Re-entries – 388
Prize Pool – ₹15,03,618
Places Paid – 118
PokerBaazi is clearly leading the charge in the Indian poker scene right now. The buzz was already intense, with a massive weekend brewing and the National Poker Champion finals kicking off tomorrow in Goa. Friday night on India’s top online platform lived up to the hype, erupting with action as the flagship tournaments pulled in huge numbers, leaving their advertised guarantees well behind. While seasoned pros and fresh talents crowded the primetime majors, Young Gun Abhishek ‘chipndchair’ Sonu delivered a performance that left no doubt about his form and intent.
This 26-year-old pro and entertaining streamer from Patna isn’t exactly new to making waves. His name is already well-known across the domestic circuit, thanks to attention-grabbing victories like the 1000X32 Main Event (2023) and the #9 The MoneyMaker (2024). His recent run during NPS India 2025 only added to his growing reputation. He was practically living at the tables during the record-setting series, jumping into 172 events and finding the money in 76 of them – cashing nearly 44% of the time. He made it to three final tables and made each appearance count, grabbing a Gold Medal in NPS#95 Marathon and adding Bronze Medals in NPS#21 (7-Max) SPRINT and NPS#122 Slamdunk. These impressive finishes locked him in as the #2 player on the Bihar State Leaderboard, trailing only Abhijeet Kumar.
Sonu had already flashed his sharp form earlier in the week with a runner-up finish in The Endeavour Lite on Tuesday. Heading into Friday, he was playing with purpose. It took him three entries to gain traction in the 7:30 PM WTF, but he settled down for the long haul once locked in. After a demanding just over seven hours of intense poker, he weaved through a dense field of 786 entries (398 unique), clinching his second career WTF title (his first was back in May 2024) and adding a neat ₹2.29 Lakhs to his bankroll.
Abhishek Sonu’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and #Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹5.35 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.32 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #2 | Annual Winnings: ₹31.69 Lakhs
Right behind Sonu was Anudeep ‘zeroseven’ Gupta, a player pushing hard to snap a nearly four-month title-less streak. The UP-based regular came incredibly close in last night’s WTF, landing in second place for ₹1.50 Lakhs. While just shy of the win, it was a significant result – his best finish of 2025 and the second-largest cash of his poker career, only beaten by the ₹3.38 Lakhs he earned for winning The Weekly HighRoller over four years ago.
Anudeep Gupta’s online stats (PokerBaazi and Adda52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹65.71 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹14.02 Lakhs
The WTF final table featured plenty of other skilled players. Amit ‘kavipri’ Gehani, the banker/poker regular who recently earned a Bronze Medal in NPS#106 (PLO-5), finished third, pocketing ₹1.11 Lakhs. Following him in fourth was Shakti ‘shakeshwar’ Singh, still riding high from a Silver Medal finish in NPS#30 Slamdunk, who walked off with ₹85,706.
Avinash ‘Borntogamble’ Anand, who made the final table of this same event just last week, returned to prove his consistency, finishing fifth this time for ₹70,520. The young sensation Siddhant ‘aajnahiaana’ Singh, the most recent champion of The Quest, saw his run end in sixth place, worth ₹57,589. Himanshu ‘Venomaster’ Aggarwal, Gold Medallist from NPS#179 (4-Max) Hyper SPRINT, picked up ₹45,109 for seventh place. And closing out the final table was Ankush ‘Jonsnow84’ Aryan, Wednesday’s WTF runner-up, who banked ₹32,929 for eighth place last night.
As was the theme across PokerBaazi’s big Friday events, the ₹2,200 buy-in WTF drew enough participation to create a hefty ₹15.04 Lakhs prize pool, sailing past its guarantee. Payouts went to the top 118 finishers with even a min-cash awarding ₹4,511 – more than double the entry cost – putting a definitive stamp on a high-energy Friday night on India’s leading online platform!
Final Table Results
- Abhishek ‘chipndchair’ Sonu – ₹2,28,550
- Anudeep ‘zeroseven’ Gupta – ₹1,50,362
- Amit ‘kavipri’ Gehani – ₹1,11,268
- Shakti ‘shakeshwar’ Singh – ₹85,706
- Avinash ‘Borntogamble’ Anand – ₹70,520
- Siddhant ‘aajnahiaana’ Singh – ₹57,589
- Himanshu ‘Venomaster’ Aggarwal – ₹45,109
- Ankush ‘Jonsnow84’ Aryan – ₹32,929
The Quest Lite – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,000
Entries – 338
Re-entries – 258
Prize Pool – ₹10,37,040
Places Paid – 94
April’s been blazing over at PokerBaazi! That TDS-free cashout offer is clearly a big hit – nothing gets a poker crowd fired up quite like keeping more of their winnings. With that kind of juice, it’s no surprise the tables are buzzing, and with the flagships sailing past their guarantees again, Friday night saw more fireworks on the platform.
Igniting the primetime action, the ₹10 Lakhs GTD The Quest Lite turned into a real battleground. A field of 596 grinders (338 unique) jumped in, all chasing the title and the cash that comes with it. As the chips flew and the hours ticked by, Habil ‘MuckTheSystem’ Jiruwala navigated the chaos to come out on top. With some clutch plays, steely nerves, and a username that says it all, “MuckTheSystem” didn’t just survive the storm; he caused it.
Jiruwala’s been putting together a run that’s hard to ignore lately. That Adda52 Big Whale victory in October 2024 wasn’t a one-off – he followed it up with a runner-up finish in the same event soon after. Then February saw him grabbing wins in Maverick and the Voyager, showing he’s got skills across different formats. Even though his NPS India 2025 campaign didn’t quite hit the highs he might have wanted – despite 41 cashes and a fifth-place finish in the NPS#117 Marathon – he kept the fire burning.
Just when things seemed a bit quieter, Jiruwala snagged the Daily Boost title on Monday. Last night, he followed through again, taking down The Quest Lite after a strenuous six hours and 38 minutes of play. Firing three bullets in the 7:30 PM flagship, Jiruwala pocketed a slick ₹1.58 Lakhs payday, clocking in his second title this month and his second-best score of the year (fourth-best overall).
Habil Jiruwala’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹1.69 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹66.59 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #2 | Annual Winnings: ₹16.78 Lakhs | Annual Profits: ₹4.21 Lakhs
Meanwhile, site loyalist Akshay ‘jumlebaz’ Kumar, the 2024 NPS#71 Relay Bronze Medallist, seems destined for his first online title soon, but last night was another case of ‘almost.’ After finishing runner-up in The Quest Lite just last Friday, he managed the tough feat of getting heads-up again in the same event, only to fall just short once more. Still, banking a cool ₹1.04 Lakhs for second place – his third-best score this year – is certainly nothing to dismiss. Adding another cash from the WTF (76th for ₹5,563), Kumar pulled together over ₹1.09 Lakhs for his Friday session.
Akshay Kumar’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹33.50 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹8.70 Lakhs | Annual Winnings: ₹9.71 Lakhs | Annual Profits: ₹4.46 Lakhs
The final table of The Quest Lite was seriously competitive. Thursday’s double-title winner, the consistently dangerous Lavesh ‘upay4myweed98’ Meena, kept his hot streak alive with a solid third-place finish, good for ₹77,778—showing he’s always a threat deep in these events. Right behind him, Abhishek ‘abhishekthoke’ Thoke played hard, finishing fourth and collecting a commendable ₹41,274.
With its accessible ₹2,000 buy-in, The Quest Lite proved again that it punches well above its weight class. Comfortably surpassing its ₹10 Lakhs guarantee, the event built up a prize pool of over ₹10.37 Lakhs. The top 94 players made the money, each walking away with at least ₹4,148 for their efforts. And it all played out on India’s most trusted poker platform, PokerBaazi—where the action never stops.
Final Table Results
- Habil ‘Habz420’ Jiruwala – ₹1,58,149
- Akshay ‘jumlebaz’ Kumar – ₹1,03,704
- Lavesh ‘upay4myweed98’ Meena – ₹77,778
- Pfotokho – ₹59,111
- dev112410 – ₹50,089
- Abhishek ‘abhishekthoke’ Thoke – ₹41,274
- thepokerdream – ₹32,667
- Nigambodh – ₹24,163
‘halfrich’ won the ₹10 Lakhs GTD Daily Last Chance for ₹1.88 Lakhs.
Dhaval ‘TheMaHaKal’ Solanki (Won ₹5 Lakhs GTD (7-Max) Afternoon Boost for ₹65,752), Rohit ‘Rwryhhuhhh’ Kumar (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD PLO-6 Daily for ₹33,950), Nishant ‘NC1202’ Chowdhury (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD PLO-5 Boost for ₹32,140), ‘amitrai112000’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Daily Boost for ₹27,360), ‘sdkingemperor’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD 7-Max SPRINT for ₹20,210), Rohit ‘Rwryhhuhhh’ Kumar (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD 6-Max Hyper for ₹16,000), and ‘maheskc16 (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Boost for ₹11,160) won the other Friday marquees on PokerBaazi.
Junglee Poker
BG#23 Friday Supernova – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,750
Entries – 157
Total Prize Pool – ₹10,00,000
Ranked Prize Pool – ₹6,07,500
Bounty Prize Pool – ₹3,92,500
Places Paid – 17
You know, some nights in poker feel different. Nights where the energy buzzing around the tables is just electric. Day 8 of Junglee Poker’s ongoing Battle Ground series was definitely one of those nights. Friday brought serious fire to the virtual felt, with three major events lighting up the lobby and the ₹10 Lakhs GTD BG#23 Friday Supernova leading the charge.
The rebranded 8 PM flagship saw 157 runners dive into the action. After six hours and forty-seven minutes on the grind, one name rose to the top: Aniruddha ‘Pocketacesaj69’ Joshi. As one of India’s most popular poker streamers and content creators, Joshi brought his signature mix of cool composure and killer instincts to the final table. He ultimately walked away with the title and ₹2.33 Lakhs – with a cool ₹1.24 Lakhs of that coming directly from bounties he collected along the way.
This win adds to an already strong year for Joshi, especially as he continues to chase a personal challenge to hit ₹1 Crore in profits. His 2025 highlights already include taking down PokerBaazi’s The Quest (his first victory of the year), bagging the Adda52 MMA Mega (PKO) title back in February, plus wins in Adda52’s Voyager and the MMA Main Event, not to mention a Silver Medal in NPS#126 Thursday Thunder last month. Consistency, momentum, sharp play – Joshi seems to have it all dialled in right now.
Adding to his successful Friday, Joshi also made a deep run over on Adda52 in the Friday Bounty, finishing ninth for ₹5,923, pushing his total Friday earnings close to ₹2.39 Lakhs.
> 1st in Junglee Poker’s BG#23 Friday Supernova for ₹2,32,805* (₹1.24 Lakhs in bounties)
> 9th in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for ₹5,923
Aniruddha Joshi’s online stats (excluding Junglee Poker, Natural8 India and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.72 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹55.99 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #4
The BG#23 Friday Supernova final stages didn’t lack drama. Making a rare appearance on the platform, mystery player ‘Rdx1111-1’ (who made the Friday Supernova final table previously in February) decided it was their time to make some noise. They played with determination and precision, locking down a runner-up finish worth ₹1.18 Lakhs (₹9,219 in bounties) – their biggest payday yet on Junglee Poker.
The final table featured another crowd-favourite streamer, Rahul ‘rahulskul’ Kumar, who kept his recent momentum going by finishing third for ₹82,925 (₹8,750 in bounties). Also making waves was the ever-consistent Ashit ‘Cringing’ Sharma (recent The Pride Lite finalist, finishing 4th for ₹76,654, inc. ₹19,063 in bounties), this week’s BG#9 Sunday Special Highroller champ, Goa’s Myron ‘khAAbib’ Pereira (5th for ₹50,650, inc. ₹5,938 in bounties), and site regular Amar ‘PsykoEko’ Iyer (6th for ₹76,485, inc. ₹41,797 in bounties), making it quite the stacked final lineup.
The ₹5,750 buy-in BG#23 Friday Supernova didn’t just promise action – it delivered. Although it fell ₹2.15 Lakhs short of its ₹10 Lakhs guarantee, that overlay meant extra value injected directly for the 17 players who finished in the money. With every knockout boosting the bounty payouts, the night was full of big swings, bold plays, and significant scores. And with this India T-20 league-themed poker series now running until May 25, the summer action is set to sizzle over at Junglee Poker.
Final Table Results (Including Bounties)
- Aniruddha ‘Pocketacesaj69’ Joshi – ₹2,32,805
- Rdx1111-1 – ₹1,18,386
- Rahul ‘rahulskul’ Kumar – ₹82,925
- Ashit ‘Cringing’ Sharma – ₹76,654
- Myron ‘khAAbib’ Pereira – ₹50,650
- Amar ‘PsykoEko’ Iyer – ₹76,485
The other Battle Ground Series title winners of the day included ‘tiltinnn’ (Won ₹3 Lakhs GTD BG#24 Friday Fighter for ₹73,614) and ‘jul1u592’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD BG#22 Friday Sunsetter for ₹29,341).
‘gosanta’ won the ₹60K GTD Hangover for ₹11,712.
₹50 Lakhs GTD BG Main Event – Qualifier 12
Q12 > Entries – 39| Survivors – 5 | Chip Leader – ‘radaa44’ (263,878)
Combined > Entries – 540| Survivors – 62 | Overall Chip Leader – ‘SaajanDhadialaa’ (522,112)
Adda52
The Ballers – ₹17.50 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹8,050
Entries – 84
Re-entries – 71
Rebuys – 4
Prize Pool – ₹17,50,000
Places Paid – 23
Adda52 is definitely shaking things up right now. With the big player pool merger with A23 Poker getting closer (following the acquisition news), India’s longest-running poker platform has seriously revamped its tournament lineup, rolling out new featured events almost daily.
Friday night was another prime example of this fresh energy. Alongside the staple ₹17.50 Lakhs GTD The Ballers, the schedule featured the new Friday Mystery Bounty. Add the upcoming Golden Freerolls (April 13 & 20) and the first-ever Burstfire multi-flight bounty tournament packing a massive ₹1 Crore GTD prize pool (April 16-20), and it’s clear Adda52 is pulling out all the stops. They’re clearly making a run at the current market leader, PokerBaazi, and the consistent overlays lately are just making an already valuable setup for players even sweeter.
And speaking of value, Friday’s biggest clash on Adda52, The Ballers, played out like a classic poker comeback story, with Sahil ‘imhighishove’ Mahboobani deservedly taking centre stage. Gurugram-based poker vet had been hunting hard for a win since his last title grab in PokerBaazi`s Big PLO-5 in January. He’s been on an incredible run – hitting 11 final tables, including tough second-place finishes in the Adda52 Millions and Mystery Bounty just last month, plus a fifth place in PokerBaazi’s The Summit only last week – but somehow that top spot kept dancing just out of reach.
His NPS India 2025 campaign was similarly strong. Mahboobani jumped into 170 tournaments, cashed in 81, and pulled in ₹21.25 Lakhs in total winnings from the series. He reached three final tables during that run and also snagged a Bronze Medal in the NPS#188 Sunday Marathon.
His persistence finally met its reward last night. Mahboobani put on a clinic in The Ballers, conquering the 8 PM headliner for the third time in his career. Outplaying a determined field of 159 entrants (84 unique), he seemed to be playing with a chip on his shoulder and took it all the way down. After a tense heads-up deal was agreed upon, he collected a handsome ₹3.23 Lakhs for his victory. Adding a little extra to his Friday night haul, Mahboobani also cashed in 32nd place over on PokerBaazi in The Quest, adding another ₹13,293 to his take and pushing his total Friday winnings just shy of ₹3.37 Lakhs.
Sahil Mahboobani’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹16.52 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹5.58 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #2
The heads-up clash for The Ballers title was a real nail-biter, featuring another formidable player, Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja (opted out of our tracking). Ahuja, a familiar face from PokerBaazi’s ‘The Circuit’ and riding high from a strong NPS India 2025 performance of his own, showed exactly why he remains one of the most consistent names in the game.
This Chandigarh-based pro cashed in an astounding 123 out of the 190 tournaments he entered at this year`s NPS, even snagging Gold in NPS#22 (4-Max) Hyper and finishing second on the Chandigarh State Leaderboard with 10 points, just behind Ankit Wadhawan. His relentless grind also saw him finish at #32 on the overall NPS Series Leaderboard, earning him an extra ₹75,000!
He’d already warmed up with a sixth-place finish in PokerBaazi’s Big PLO-5 last week and hit the same spot in Adda52’s new Head Hunter on Wednesday. Ahuja came incredibly close again in last night`s The Ballers, ultimately taking ₹3.15 Lakhs from the heads-up deal for his runner-up finish. Ahuja was on full throttle throughout the night! He also came close to grabbing a title in Adda52’s brand-new Friday Mystery Bounty, finishing runner-up for ₹1.02 Lakhs—₹30,050 of that coming from bounties alone. He chipped in a 32nd-place finish in The Quest, adding another ₹13,293 to the mix. With all his Friday scores combined, Ahuja raked in over ₹4.30 Lakhs by the end of the session.
The Ballers’ final table was arguably the toughest one running all night. It featured heavy hitters like Tuesday’s Daily Last Chance winner and last week’s biggest earner, the red-hot Abilash ‘steelbala’ Bala (3rd for ₹2.06 Lakhs); Thursday’s Godfather champion and current 2025 POY #3 Ankit ‘imluckbox’ Bajaj (4th for ₹1.55 Lakhs); and the ‘SPRINT King’ Pradip ‘Nit2Donk’ Ghosh, who’s already won the Supreme twice this month (5th for ₹1.16 Lakhs).
With its ₹8,050 buy-in, The Ballers promised ₹17.50 Lakhs in the prize pool, but the turnout left it a glaring ₹6.37 Lakhs short of meeting the guarantee. That meant a glaring overlay of over 36% – the value on offer was simply off the charts. The top 23 finishers shared in the guaranteed prize money, and even the min-cash was ₹24,954, more than three times the buy-in.
Between the expanded, richer tournament schedule, the exciting events coming up, and the pure value flowing from these overlays, Adda52 is seriously dishing out massive rewards this month. Honestly, missing out feels like leaving free money on the table.
Final Table Results
- Sahil ‘imhighishove’ Mahboobani – ₹3,23,353*
- Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja – ₹3,14,820*
- Abilash ‘steelbala’ Bala – ₹2,06,039
- Ankit ‘imluckbox’ Bajaj – ₹1,54,892
- Pradip ‘Nit2Donk’ Ghosh – ₹1,16,442
- JackNotMa – ₹87,537
*denotes a heads-up deal
Friday Mystery Bounty – ₹10 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹4,200
Entries – 130
Re-entries – 121
Total Prize Pool – ₹10,00,000
Regular Prize Pool – ₹5,00,000
Bounty Prize Pool – ₹5,00,000
Places Paid – 35
Adda52 is going guns blazing right now! They’ve seriously revamped their MTT schedule, especially the majors, rolling out enticing new headliners all week – think the Inception on Monday, Tuesday Takedown, Wednesday’s Head Hunter, and Thursday Thunder. Throw in the upcoming Golden Freerolls (April 13 & 20) and the first-ever Burstfire multi-flight bounty tournament packing a massive ₹1 Crore GTD prize pool (April 16-20), and it’s crystal clear Adda52 is pulling out all the stops.
Friday night shone bright, with the brand-new ₹10 Lakhs GTD Friday Mystery Bounty joining forces with the regular ₹17.50 Lakhs GTD The Ballers. Adda52 is putting some serious muscle behind its new Mystery Bounty format!
The new Friday Mystery Bounty pulled in 251 hopefuls (130 unique), all looking for a shot at glory. When the dust settled, two of the most respected names in the Indian poker scene found themselves heads-up – a clash that had real edge-of-your-seat energy. Arjanveer ‘arjan30’ Singh Chadha was the one who ultimately took the crown. Just five days after shipping PokerBaazi’s (6-Max) BSS SPRINT, the player who finished #3 in the 2022 Player of the Year race reminded everyone why his name stays near the top. This victory added another flagship title to his growing 2025 collection, making it his second major score in less than a week.
You really can’t discuss Indian online poker without Chadha’s name popping up. With over ₹16 Crores in total earnings logged, he’s been a dominant presence for years. Just look back at 2024 – two Indian Poker Masters titles in August, a twin-title run in October, and another pair in November. After a quieter end to that year, Chadha came back firing in February and March, and now he’s landed another knockout blow in April. His profit graph seems to know only one direction – up.
The 7 PM Friday Mystery Bounty wasn’t just another notch on his belt. Chadha seemed locked in from the start, needing only one bullet and looking like a man on a mission as he navigated the field. After nearly seven hours of intense play, he closed out the tournament in style, bagging ₹1.76 Lakhs, including a hefty ₹78,195 scooped up in mystery bounties.
But his Friday action continued. Chadha also cracked the final table of Adda52’s Friday Bounty, finishing third for ₹32,284. Two deep runs on PokerBaazi added to a strong Friday grind, boosting his day’s total near ₹2.23 Lakhs. Even more significantly, it pushed him past the impressive ₹6 Crore profit mark in tracked online winnings. That milestone felt like it was a long time coming for the pro.
> 1st in Adda52’s Friday Mystery Bounty for ₹1,75,967* (₹78,195 in bounties)
> 3rd in Adda52’s Friday Bounty for ₹32,284
> 80th in PokerBaazi’s The Quest for ₹10,128
> 113th in PokerBaazi’s WTF for ₹4,511
Arjanveer Singh Chadha’s online stats (excluding Junglee Poker, PokerStars India, and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹16.98 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹6.02 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #4
The heads-up clash was a fascinating battle between two players who are best friends (and roommates!) off the felt. Standing opposite Chadha was Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja (opted out of tracking), the #2 finisher in the 2022 Player of the Year race – and he was putting together a monster Friday session himself. Known from PokerBaazi’s ‘The Circuit’ and carrying momentum from a Gold Medal finish in NPS22 (4-Max) Hyper at NPS India 2025, Ahuja kept the heat on all night long. He was deep in the action in both the Adda52 flagships, the Friday Mystery Bounty and The Ballers – and incredibly, almost pulled off a double himself, finishing second in the Mystery Bounty for ₹1.02 Lakhs (₹30,050 in bounties) right before taking runner-up in The Ballers for ₹3.15 Lakhs following a heads-up deal.
Ahuja also found more success, running deep in PokerBaazi`s The Quest (32nd for ₹13,293) and taking his total Friday earnings past ₹4.30 Lakhs. On a night of strong performances, these two seasoned pros and good friends ensured the spotlight stayed firmly on them.
The legendary three-time POY Young Gun Gaurav ‘BuildPuntOK’ Sood, who was runner-up in PokerBaazi’s The Quest last night, finished fourth in the Friday Mystery Bounty for ₹1.47 Lakhs (₹1.07 Lakhs in bounties). Thursday’s Adda52 Monster Turbo PKO third-place finisher Lakshay ‘lakshayadhikari’ Adhikari placed seventh for ₹81,299 (₹65,283 in bounties), and satellite qualifier Akhil ‘Akhilc16’ Choudhary finished eighth for ₹11,847.
Like some other events on Adda52’s Friday schedule, the ₹3,450 buy-in Friday Mystery Bounty fell short of its ₹10 Lakhs guarantee, missing by ₹83,850. This meant extra value spread among the 35 players who cashed. And with those juicy mystery bounties up for grabs on every elimination once in the money, the action was truly explosive. Expect more nights like these ahead, with the Mystery Bounty format clearly gaining traction on Adda52.
Final Table Results (Including Bounties)
- Arjanveer ‘arjan30’ Singh Chadha – ₹1,75,967
- Ashish ‘rocky3705’ Ahuja – ₹1,02,376
- Ghachak25 – ₹1,08,297
- Gaurav ‘BuildPuntOK’ Sood – ₹1,46,667
- dragon55 – ₹89,974
- pokermercy – ₹21,653
- Lakshay ‘lakshayadhikari’ Adhikari – ₹81,299
- Akhil ‘Akhilc16’ Choudhary – ₹11,847
Babu ‘babuajaykumar’ Ajay Kumar PN (Won ₹5 Lakhs GTD Friday Bounty for ₹97,472), Bijay ‘jarvis590’ Sarkar (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Daily Deep Dive for ₹49,699), ‘LuckboxingLife’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD The Ballers Lite for ₹37,037), Dhaval ‘faizal1506’ Doshi (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Nighttide DST Adda for ₹34,668), Sharad ‘zimbawe’ Haridasan (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Afternoon Bounty for ₹32,529), ‘Gummy007’ (Won ₹55K GTD Bounty Adda for ₹25,248), and ‘amit2224’ (Won ₹50K GTD Sundown Adda for ₹16,302) won the other Friday marquees on Adda52.
₹50 Lakhs GTD Big Whale – Day 1B
Day 1B > Entries – 60 | Re-entries – 24 | Rebuys – 0 | Survivors – 6 | Chip Leader – Rishabh ‘rishabh002’ Gupta (387,669)
Combined > Entries – 129 | Re-entries – 65 | Rebuys – 3 | Survivors – 13 | Overall Chip Leader – Rishabh ‘rishabh002’ Gupta (387,669)
Spartan Poker
‘Rayeesuddin’ (Won ₹4 Lakhs GTD Supreme for ₹76,400), ‘Undertaker21’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Spotlight for ₹35,271), ‘platinumm’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Monster Turbo for ₹33,300), ‘Tiger49’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Monster Stack for ₹28,650), ‘RKROYAL’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Daily Kickoff for ₹17,097), and ‘Lakshay143’ (Won ₹50K GTD Dark Knight for ₹14,800) won the Friday marquees on Spartan Poker.
Keep following PokerGuru for daily updates on the biggest winners across the major domestic networks!
NPS India 2025 Day 28 Recap: Sagar Raj, Sahil Mahboobani, Abhishek Parikh & Himalaya Tarani Strike it Rich on Sunday – the Penultimate Day of the Record-Smashing Series!
We’re in the endgame now! After four weeks of shattered records, exploded guarantees, and poker action that’s redefined the Indian scene, the National Poker Series India 2025 is down to its final, heart-stopping act – the grand finale of the colossal ₹10 Crores GTD NPS#191 Main Event and the ₹1 Crore GTD NPS#190 Golden Rush!
Day 28, the last Sunday of this 29-day poker odyssey, proved yet again why this series is a game-changer. Even with two IPL 2025 clashes screaming for attention, poker die-hards across India logged in, and the virtual felt practically hummed with energy. Players were starving for one of those last few precious medals from the five events on offer, those make-or-break leaderboard points – all chasing the dream of those 12 golden tickets to the National Poker Showdown in Goa!
The turnout was bonkers. A mind-blowing 7,922 entries flooded the PokerBaazi tables, sending the day’s prize pool soaring to a staggering ₹2.82 Crores—demolishing the ₹2.65 Crores guarantee by a sweet 6%!
With just one day to go, NPS India 2025 has already carved its name into poker history. The numbers are simply mind-boggling: 253,938 total entries and an earth-shattering 93.41 Crores in total prize money already paid—pulverising the ₹83.25 Crores in cumulative guarantees so far. And tonight, the grand finale erupts, with the Main Event and Golden Rush ready to anoint their champions! While both these giants have overlays (a whopping ₹2.41 Crores in the Main Event and ₹13.65 Lakhs in the Golden Rush), the final tally has reached an unbelievable ₹104.41 Crores across the festival – a paradigm-shifting moment for Indian poker.
In a climax befitting the sheer spectacle of the NPS India 2025, Hrishikesh Kulkarni from Maharashtra seized the spotlight on this penultimate day. After eight long years of relentless grinding, Kulkarni captured his first-ever NPS medal (and it was Gold!) in the NPS#188 Sunday Marathon, notching his second career flagship title. His victory, which included a career-defining ₹11.47 Lakhs payday (after a three-way deal), wasn`t just a personal triumph; it’s a beacon of hope for all those long-time grinders chasing that elusive breakthrough. Adding even more shine to his legendary Sunday, he snagged another small score, with his total Sunday haul reaching nearly ₹11.53 Lakhs—making him the day’s undisputed cash king!
Adding serious heat to the leaderboard drama, Sagar Raj, a familiar name who finished #18 in the 2024 POY race, came agonizingly close to clinching his third NPS Gold. Instead, he grabbed a Silver Medal and a massive ₹8.62 Lakhs in the NPS#188 Sunday Marathon, his second-biggest score to date on PokerBaazi. This performance made him one of only 37 players to win three or more medals in the series. This victory catapulted Raj to the top of the Madhya Pradesh leaderboard, tied in points with Saransh Garg but ahead due to his insane volume of 119 cashes. With the series nearing its end and Raj sitting at #13 on the NPC Leaderboard, he faces a crucial test. Having booked a seat for both the NPS Main Event and the Golden Rush, he needs a medal (preferably Gold!) in one of these events to have a shot at making that NPC showdown in Goa.
Sahil Mahboobani, an accomplished poker veteran with previous NPS glory, finally snagged a medal this series, taking third in the NPS#188 Sunday Marathon for the Bronze and a cool ₹8.29 Lakhs!
Abhishek Parikh was another Sunday hero who had a major breakthrough, shaking off a year-long dry spell by clinching his first-ever victory on PokerBaazi in the NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff. Parikh’s stellar play not only earned him a coveted NPS Gold Medal but also a handsome ₹7.89 Lakhs—quadrupling his previous highest score and significantly reducing his cumulative losses. This win launched him to #10 on the Tamil Nadu State Leaderboard, making him the state’s tenth Gold Medalist.
Lalit Gulvani delivered a breakthrough performance of his own, finishing second in the Sunday Kickoff for his first-ever NPS medal—a gleaming Silver—and a personal-best ₹5.43 Lakhs. This impressive feat nearly wiped out all his past losses on PokerBaazi, sending him soaring to #9 on the Gujarat State Leaderboard. And not to be overlooked, Chethan C K fought like a warrior to finish third, capturing his first NPS medal (Bronze) along with ₹4.03 Lakhs, his third-largest payout on the platform. Remarkably, everyone on the podium was celebrating their first-ever NPS medal!
Himalaya Tarani also joined the first-medal club, winning Gold in the NPS#186 Marathon and a career-high ₹4.77 Lakhs. His Sunday win not only earned him a spot at #16 on the Delhi State Leaderboard but also a significant comeback, erasing nearly a fifth of his previous losses. Tarani’s total Sunday earnings climbed to almost ₹4.94 Lakhs across three deep runs.
Vikhyat Ahlawat, a true powerhouse in the online poker scene, has been on a breakout tear at this year’s NPS India. And he gave his chance at making the NPC showdown a major boost with a runner-up finish in the NPS#186 Marathon for ₹3.29 Lakhs and the Silver Medal – his fourth medal of the series, making him one of only 22 players to earn four or more medals this year. This remarkable achievement rocketed Ahlawat to the top of the Uttar Pradesh State Leaderboard with 30 points, breaking a four-way tie and positioning him as a frontrunner for the coveted National Poker Champion showdown, currently sitting #6 on the NPC Leaderboard. Throughout NPS India 2025, Ahlawat has displayed exceptional dedication and skill, playing in all scheduled events, and he raked in over ₹3.40 Lakhs from three deep runs just yesterday. His consistent performance has earned him a well-deserved #10 spot on the NPS Series Leaderboard, and he now also ranks #25 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 Player of the Year Leaderboard.
Ankush Narang grabbed the Bronze in the NPS#186 Marathon, notching his second medal of the series and boosting his bankroll with ₹2.50 Lakhs. This put him at #2 on the Punjab State Leaderboard, trailing leader Sumit Sapra.
Other players seizing NPS Gold Medals on Sunday included Maharashtra’s Karan Sitlani (Won NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹3.23 Lakhs) and Tamil Nadu’s Aditya Sushant (Won NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹3.21 Lakhs).
The National Poker Champion (India) Leaderboard is burning up as top players battle to lead their states into the prestigious NPC showdown. Seven states and their top dogs are near-locks for the top 12 spots: Karnataka’s Bhanu ‘Chennaino1’ Prakash KC, Gujarat’s Mohit ‘bullets777’ Bohra, Delhi’s Saahib ‘Junta’ Bawa, Kerela’s Sreekanth ‘n0thing’ Narayan, Haryana’s Snehil ‘GTORanges’ Aggarwal, Uttar Pradesh’s Vikhyat ‘supersaiyan57’ Ahlawat, Maharashtra’s Gopal ‘AiDarwin’ Bajaj, and Rajasthan’s Anish ‘Fishlover001’ Vijayvergiya.
The remaining five finalists will be decided after tonight’s Main Event and Golden Rush. Top contenders include Tamil Nadu’s Aditya ‘gangajal’ Sushant, Chandigarh’s Ankit ‘d00mtr00p3r’ Wadhawan, West Bengal’s Goonjan ‘gmtesting’ Mall, Arunachal Pradesh’s Wilson ‘kalingkaling’ Yomso, Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar ‘BustedAA’ Raj, Goa’s Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh, Punjab’s Sumit ‘boronyx’ Sapra, and Bihar’s Abhijeet ‘ERROR404’ Kumar.
On the NPS Series Leaderboard, Bhanu Prakash KC has all but guaranteed himself the top spot and the grand ₹30 Lakhs top prize, with a colossal 38,074 points from 156 cashes. Vinay Rajpal is second with 36,070 points from a staggering 164 cashes and will be taking home ₹20 Lakhs. Rising Star Aman Parakh holds onto third place with 34,213 points from 146 cashes, which will land him ₹15 Lakhs. These top three (and several others in the top 20) showed incredible endurance and consistency, having played nearly every single event in this month-long poker extravaganza!
As NPS India 2025 races to a close, the poker community remains riveted by the unfolding drama, with players across other top platforms like Natural8 India and Adda52 also making significant strides.
First impressions matter—and ‘Tegridy’ made a monster one on Natural8 India last night! Diving straight into the action in the high-octane Sunday Bounty Warm-Up 88, the newcomer outlasted a jaw-dropping 2,644-entry field to finish fourth, banking a massive ₹8.92 Lakhs. After a nine-month break from Natural8 India, Saurabh Rohila announced his return with fireworks! Entering the Zodiac Main Event, he shook off the rust in style, clinching a runner-up finish for a site-best ₹7.75 Lakhs.
Natural8 India’s Executive Director and Brand Ambassador, Kunal Patni, stormed into Adda52’s Sunday Head Hunter with determination, claiming his first victory in this event and pocketing ₹4.58 Lakhs. This win is his second-largest score of 2025, breaking a three-month title drought. Patni also cashed in three NPS events, boosting his total earnings for the day to ₹5.24 Lakhs.
Aniruddha Joshi, Anmol Narang, Gunisha Sinha, and Janish Jain also scored big wins in the other Sunday flagships across major platforms.
Here are the Sunday highlights!
PokerBaazi
NPS#188 Sunday Marathon – ₹1 Crore GTD
Buy-in – ₹10,350
Entries – 627
Re- entries – 590
Prize Pool – ₹1,09,53,000
Places Paid – 201
As they say, it ain’t over ’til it’s over! The past four weeks have been a history-making, earth-shaking ride for Indian online poker, with the National Poker Series India 2025 lighting up the scene like nothing before! And this final Sunday of the 29-day poker marathon, the penultimate day of India’s biggest-ever tournament series, delivered a serious wallop – even with two electrifying IPL 2025 matches vying for attention! While cricket fans were glued to their screens, the poker action hit a fever pitch, with players refusing to miss out on grabbing one of those last few precious medals and those all-important leaderboard points, all in pursuit of those 12 golden tickets to the National Poker Showdown in Goa next month!
Day 28 was another full-throttle, no-holds-barred spectacle, with five tournaments running concurrently with the final two flights of the gargantuan ₹10 Crores GTD NPS#191 Main Event and the ₹1 Crore GTD NPS#190 Golden Rush! It was non-stop, heart-pounding action from the first deal to the last river!
The turnout was, once again, off the charts. A mind-blowing 7,922 entries flooded PokerBaazi, sending the day’s prize pool skyrocketing to a staggering ₹2.82 Crores—smashing the ₹2.65 Crores guarantee by a cool 6%!
With just one day left, NPS India 2025 has already etched its name in the record books. The numbers are insane: 253,938 total entries and an earth-shattering ₹93.41 Crores in total prize money—crushing the ₹83.25 Crores in cumulative guarantees. And tonight, the grand finale explodes, with the Main Event and Golden Rush set to crown their champions! While both these monsters have overlays (₹2.41 Crores in the Main Event and ₹13.65 Lakhs in the Golden Rush), the final numbers will undoubtedly reach a colossal ₹104.41 Crores across the festival – a watershed moment for Indian poker!
Sunday nights are reserved for thrillers—and this one was a classic! With the NPS India 2025 hurtling towards its climax, the ₹1 Crore GTD NPS#188 Sunday Marathon took centre stage. As the series’s 20th eight-figure guaranteed prize pool event, it became the crown jewel of an already action-packed evening, drawing poker gladiators from all corners of the country.
At the heart of this high-stakes drama was Maharashtra’s Hrishikesh ‘Balanar’ Kulkarni, a long-time grinder who spent eight years in the trenches and finally had his moment of glory.
Firing two bullets in the 7 PM Sunday Marathon, Kulkarni stared down a monstrous 1,217-entry field (627 unique) in a brutal, 10-hour, 17-minute war of attrition. And at the first light of dawn on Monday morning – 5:17 AM, to be precise – the relentless grind paid off in the most spectacular way imaginable. Kulkarni captured his second career flagship title, his first of the year, and, most importantly, that gleaming, coveted, dream-come-true Gold Medal (his first-ever NPS medal!) – and he did it on the second-to-last day of the grandest poker tournament series India has ever seen!
The win came with a career-redefining ₹11.47 Lakhs payday (after a three-way deal)—1.34X larger than his previous best, last year’s BSS SuperStack win, worth ₹8.58 Lakhs. The timing was impeccable – ending a six-month title drought with a resounding bang! With this monumental win, Kulkarni became the 35th player from Maharashtra to strike Gold this year and shot up to #25 on the Maharashtra State Leaderboard.
Adding even more fire to his incredible Sunday, Kulkarni also cashed in the NPS#187 Sunday Smash (135th for ₹5,866) and punched his ticket to Day 2 of the ₹1 Crore GTD NPS#190 Golden Rush, boosting his overall Sunday winnings to a scorching almost ₹11.53 Lakhs and making him the day’s undisputed cash king!
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#188 Sunday Marathon for ₹11,46,884* (three-way deal)
> 135th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹5,866
> Made Day 2 in PokerBaazi’s NPS#190 Golden Rush (Qualifier 9 – Turbo)
Hrishikesh Kulkarni’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹55.94 Lakhs | Site Profits: ₹15.89 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #1 | Moves to #25 on the Maharashtra State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Gold| Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹15.45 Lakhs
Adding to the late-game leaderboard drama was the ever-dangerous Sagar ‘BustedAA’ Raj, who finished #18 in the 2024 Player of the Year race. Raj has been on fire, riding a wave of momentum after clinching Gold in the NPS#135 (7-Max) SPRINT and Silver in the NPS#144 (7-Max) Hyper. His latest attempt to grab his third Gold (second of this series) almost materialised in the NPS#188 Sunday Marathon. After firing three bullets, he narrowly missed the top spot but still walked away with a well-deserved Silver—his second silver of the series and fourth NPS medal overall—along with a handsome ₹8.62 Lakhs runner-up payout, part of a three-way deal. This also represents his second-largest score on PokerBaazi.
This phenomenal run made Raj one of only 37 players to win three or more medals in this series, but, in a game-changing twist, it catapulted him to the top of the Madhya Pradesh leaderboard. Though tied at 15 points with Saransh Garg, Raj’s super volume of 119 cashes (compared to Garg’s 94) gives him the edge. He still has a fighting chance at making that National Poker Champion showdown, rocketing to #13 on the NPC Leaderboard. With two grand events remaining—and having already made Day 2 in both—Raj has a make-or-break opportunity today to punch his ticket to that NPC showdown in Goa, where the top 12 players will fight for the first-ever National Poker Champion title. He needs a medal tonight to make the cut – a monumental task considering the depth of talent and the inherent variance, but Raj will have to summon all his skill, experience, and maybe even a little luck to get there.
But Raj’s Sunday was more than just that Silver Medal. He scored in two more NPS events and also cashed in two more on Adda52, raking in a massive over ₹8.94 Lakhs for the night. To keep those NPC dreams alive, he also punched his ticket to the Day 2 finale of the NPS#191 Main Event via Qualifier 9 – Turbo. This Sunday rampage also pushed Raj past the magical ₹6 Crores in tracked online winnings!
Raj’s consistency has him sitting pretty at #27 on the NPS Series Leaderboard, with 27,046 points from 119 cashes (out of a remarkable 186 events played – missing just three). He’s also climbed to #16 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard, making it clear—Raj isn’t just playing for titles; he’s playing for poker immortality.
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#188 Sunday Marathon for ₹8,61,708* (three-way deal)
> 22nd in Adda52’s MMA Main Event for ₹11,528
> 17th in Adda52’s MMA Highroller for ₹9,591
> 104th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹7,936
> 215th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹3,736
> Made Day 2 in PokerBaazi’s NPS#191 Main Event (Qualifier 9 – Turbo)
Sagar Raj’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹6.08 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.80 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #4 | Moves to #1 on the Madhya Pradesh State Leaderboard | Moves to #13 on the NPC Leaderboard | Moves to #27 on the NPS Series Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 2 Gold & 2 Silver | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹51.86 Lakhs | Moves to #16 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard
Right there in the thick of it all was Sahil ‘ImHighIshove’ Mahboobani, a battle-tested poker vet who entered NPS India 2025 with two previous NPS medals (one Silver and one Bronze)! He’s been grinding hard, playing in most of the NPS events (168, counting last night’s tournaments), and even had two near-podium finishes – fifth place in both the NPS#25 (PLO-4) and NPS#57 (PLO-4)! And last night, he finally got the medal he’d been craving, taking third place in the NPS#188 Sunday Marathon, snagging the Bronze and a hefty ₹8.29 Lakhs as part of that three-way deal. In addition to his podium finish, he also made Day 2 of the NPS#191 Main Event through Qualifier 9 – Turbo!
Sahil Mahboobani’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹16.41 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹5.52 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #1 | Moves to #27 on the Haryana State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Silver & 2 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹42.91 Lakhs | Moves to #99 on PokerBaazi’s POY Race
The NPS#188 Sunday Marathon final table was further lit by ‘TheExplorer’ (4th for ₹5.07 Lakhs), the current March Leaderboard topper and 2025 POY #3 Ankit ‘Psycorp’ Bajaj (5th for ₹3.63 Lakhs), ‘Shravsmanth’ (6th for ₹2.66 Lakhs), the four-time medallist at NPS India 2025, PokerBaazi Team Pro Laksh ‘boomtlt23’ Pal Singh (7th for ₹2.07 Lakhs), and NPS#72 Knockout (KO) Silver Medallist Kritarth ‘AgentJack’ Pant (8th for ₹1.57 Lakhs).
Other poker luminaries with deep runs included NPS#148 Megadive Gold Medallist Sashi ‘Suterisateri’ Datta (9th for ₹1.28 Lakhs), Maharashtra State Leaderboard #4 Vishal ‘Vishzz’ Bajaj (10th for ₹1.28 Lakhs), Young Gun Aayush ‘Learnnwin’ Arya (11th for ₹1.28 Lakhs), Onas ‘papatumhare’ Malhotra (12th for ₹1.28 Lakhs), Satyam ‘AnakinSkywa1keR’ Verma (14h for ₹1.01 Lakhs), Jyotindra ‘JacksPaaro’ Dubey (15th for ₹1.01 Lakhs), Raghav ‘maddytilt’ Madan (17th for ₹1.01 Lakhs), NPS#170 (7-Max) SPRINT Silver Medallist Suraj ‘MR8BEAST’ N Yadav (18th for ₹1.01 Lakhs), NPS India 2025 double Gold Medallist and Arunachal Pradesh State Leaderboard topper Wilson ‘kalingkaling’ Yomso (19th for ₹74,480), and NPS#98 Megadive Silver Medallist Avish ‘thehorse7’ Sharma (20th for ₹74,480).
The last Sunday of NPS India 2025 was another scorcher, with guarantees crushed again across the board (except for one tiny hiccup)! The day`s featured attraction, the ₹10,350 buy-in NPS#188 Sunday Marathon, was a huge part of that success, smashing its ambitious ₹1 Crore guarantee and generating a prize pool of nearly ₹1.10 Crores. The top 201 finishers got paid with even a min-cash worth ₹17,525, proving that the action and the rewards keep flowing in this groundbreaking series, with the biggest explosion to come tonight!
Final Table Results
- Hrishikesh ‘Balanar’ Kulkarni – ₹11,46,884*
- Sagar ‘BustedAA’ Raj – ₹8,61,708*
- Sahil ‘ImHighIshove’ Mahboobani – ₹8,29,331*
- TheExplorer – ₹5,07,124
- Ankit ‘Psycorp’ Bajaj – ₹3,62,544
- Shravsmanth – ₹2,66,158
- Laksh ‘boomtlt23’ Pal Singh – ₹2,07,012
- Kritarth ‘AgentJack’ Pant – ₹1,56,628
*denotes a three-way deal
NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff – ₹70 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹4,600
Entries – 901
Re-entries – 852
Prize Pool – ₹70,12,000
Places Paid – 270
The NPS India 2025 – the series that’s been tearing up the rulebook, making wallets weep with joy, and turning both seasoned pros and wide-eyed newcomers into poker legends this past month – is finally down to its LAST DAY! The final Sunday of this 29-day poker marathon delivered a shot of pure, unbridled adrenaline, all focused on that one burning desire: to grab a seat at the National Poker Champion showdown in sun-soaked Goa.
Five flagship events exploded across the PokerBaazi tables, alongside the last, frantic dashes for those precious spots in the gargantuan ₹10 Crores GTD NPS#191 Main Event and the ₹1 Crore GTD NPS#190 Golden Rush finale. This whole series has been an untamed, glorious monster—and Sunday kept that ferocious energy rampaging with another round of guarantees getting totally obliterated!
While Aditya Sushant‘s repeat Gold Medal performance was certainly a headline grabber, four other players snagged their first-ever NPS Gold Medals on the series’ penultimate day – three of them striking Gold for the very first time ever!
One of these breakout stars was Abhishek ‘Soap9’ Parikh, a sporadic PokerBaazi player who’d been riding a brutal downswing since March 2023, grinding through over 100 tournaments this series without even sniffing a final table. But last night, everything aligned.
The NPS action kicked off 30 minutes earlier than usual, at 2 PM, with the gigantic ₹70 Lakhs GTD NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff, and played down to a dramatic two-man battle between determined players. This included Parikh, who pulled off the run of his life! Fighting tooth and nail through a monstrous field of 1,753 entries (901 unique) in a gruelling, 10-hour-49-minute brawl that stretched long past midnight, Parikh seized his first-ever PokerBaazi victory and a coveted NPS Gold Medal. The prize was a breathtaking ₹7.89 Lakhs – over four times his previous biggest score – and over a quarter of his losses were reversed with this single captivating win. This epic win also boosted Parik to #10 on the Tamil Nadu State Leaderboard, making him the state’s 10th Gold Medallist.
Abhishek Parikh’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹39.50 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #1 | Moves to #10 on the Tamil Nadu State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Gold | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹9.43 Lakhs
Right behind Parikh was Lalit ‘lalit00761’ Gulvani, who made a powerful statement of their own in the NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff, delivering a stunning runner-up performance. After a rocky start requiring four buy-ins, Gulvani charged through the ranks, collecting a site-best ₹5.43 Lakhs – a payday six times greater than their prior best. This unbelievable run also earned Gulvani his first-ever NPS medal (a shiny Silver). It practically wiped out his past PokerBaazi losses, sending Gulvani rocketing to #9 on the Gujarat State Leaderboard.
Lalit Gulvani’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹8.88 Lakhs | Moves to #9 on the Gujarat State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Silver | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹5.72 Lakhs
Then there’s Chethan ‘FoldMasterCK’ C K, who finally broke through to a final table after 66 tournaments in this year’s NPS. That elusive NPS medal had been a tantalizing dream – until last night. Chethan fought hard for a third-place finish in the NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff, capturing his first-ever NPS medal (Bronze) and a sweet ₹4.03 Lakhs after entering twice. That’s his third-biggest payday ever on the platform!
Chethan C K’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹78.64 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹17.16 Lakhs | Moves to #31 on the Karnataka State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹9.54 Lakhs
The NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff final table also saw other accomplished Bazigaars finding the spotlight, including NPS#17 Deepdive Bronze Medallist ‘AilaGaya’ (4th for ₹3.02 Lakhs), Narendra ‘khudde’ Singh (5th for ₹2.11 Lakhs) and NPS#162 (PLO-4) HighRoller Bronze Medallist Sreeprakaash ‘fitzmagic’ Seetharaman (6th for ₹1.52 Lakhs).
With Sunday being the second-to-last day of the series, the tension was electric, the excitement through the roof, and the clock was ticking down to zero – making these last few opportunities to climb those state leaderboards for a shot at the NPC showdown absolutely crucial. Players went for broke! Even the NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff was a monster success, squeaking past its advertised guarantee and creating a stunning ₹70.12 Lakhs prize pool. A whopping 270 players cashed, each grabbing at least ₹7,012, adding even more intensity as this epic series reaches its grand finale.
Final Table Results
- Abhishek ‘Soap9’ Parikh – ₹7,88,850
- Lalit ‘lalit00761’ Gulvani – ₹5,42,729
- Chethan ‘FoldMasterCK’ C K – ₹4,03,190
- ‘AilaGaya’ – ₹3,01,516
- Narendra ‘khudde’ Singh – ₹2,11,061
- Sreeprakaash ‘fitzmagic’ Seetharaman – ₹1,52,160
- ashwathamautg – ₹1,20,606
- anandita1691 – ₹98,168
NPS#186 Marathon – ₹40 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹3,450
Entries – 536
Re-entries – 583
Prize Pool – ₹40,00,000
Places Paid – 194
It was a Sunday charged with anticipation! Cricket fanatics were glued to the IPL 2025 double-header, while poker zealots dove headfirst into the penultimate day of the NPS India 2025. Everyone was chasing those last few coveted medals and the massive paydays from the ₹2.65 Crores in guarantees spread across the day’s five tournaments. And did they ever deliver – with a whopping ₹2.82 Crores dished out to players before the grand finale of the NPS#190 Golden Rush and the NPS#191 Main Event tonight! This was the final push for many poker warriors, the last chance to snag one of those coveted 12 seats to the National Poker Champion showdown in Goa next month!
While the ₹1 Crore GTD NPS#188 Sunday Marathon and the ₹70 Lakhs GTD NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff were the main attractions, the ₹40 Lakhs GTD NPS#186 Marathon became the perfect afternoon battleground. Running alongside qualifiers for the gigantic Main Event and Golden Rush, it drew quite a crowd. But when the dust settled, Himalaya ‘pahaadisheep’ Tarani stood tall, pulling off a stunning victory to grab his first NPS medal (a glorious Gold!) and a career-best ₹4.77 Lakhs. He fired three bullets in the 3:30 PM flagship, his first entry won through a ₹345 satellite, and outlasted a field of 1,119 entries (536 unique) in a nine-hour poker war.
Tarani has been a consistent presence this series, grinding through 141 events and cashing in 43. He tasted the final table in the NPS#159 Slamdunk last week, but a podium finish eluded him. This time, he made it count. His Sunday triumph earned him a direct entry to the #16 spot on the Delhi State Leaderboard. Saahib Bawa, with his phenomenal double Gold run recently, still holds the top spot with 35 points, seemingly a lock for the NPC showdown – unless one of the other top contenders pulls off a major upset in tonight’s two NPS showstoppers.
Even with a stack locked up for the NPS#191 Main Event finale, Tarani is not even close to being a contender to make the NPC finale in Goa. But Sunday’s performance was a monumental breakthrough, erasing almost a fifth of his previous losses, as he walked away with nearly ₹4.94 Lakhs across three deep runs.
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 Marathon for ₹4,76,800
> 111th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff for ₹13,323
> 243rd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹3,451
Himalaya Tarani’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52, PokerStars India and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹40.19 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #2 | Moves to #16 on the Delhi State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Gold | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹11.41 Lakhs
The late state leaderboard shakeups we’d been expecting arrived courtesy of Vikhyat ‘supersaiyan57’ Ahlawat, an online powerhouse who’s been absolutely crushing it all series. Sunday just added more fuel to his fire. Already flaunting Gold Medals from the NPS#12 Monday Marathon and NPS#29 (7-Max) SPRINT, plus a Silver from the NPS#123 (PLO-6) Deepdive, Ahlawat snagged another Silver (his fourth medal of the series and an incredible eighth overall), finishing runner-up in the NPS#186 Marathon for ₹3.29 Lakhs after firing two bullets. This makes him among 22 players with four or more medals in this year’s NPS.
This latest run has made Ahlawat the undisputed king of the Uttar Pradesh State Leaderboard with 30 points, breaking the four-way tie with Bharat Vasan, Arush Pratap, and Nitesh Katiyar, all at 25 points. This final surge has landed him squarely at #6 on the NPC Leaderboard, making him a very strong contender for the NPC showdown. And, with qualifying stacks already locked in for both the Main Event and the Golden Rush, Ahlawat has an outside chance to add another medal (or two, if he pulls off something insane tonight!) to his already impressive collection. But Bharat Vasan, also armed with fighting stacks for both NPS showstoppers tonight, is lurking in the shadows, meaning the Uttar Pradesh Leaderboard could still deliver a shocking twist on the final day!
Like he’s done all series, Ahlawat played the entire NPS schedule, raking in over ₹3.40 Lakhs across three deep runs! And with only the final two NPS behemoths left to conquer tonight, Ahlawat’s ranked a commendable #10 on the NPS Series Leaderboard (with 30,720 points from 146 cashes across 187 tournaments played) and now sits at #25 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard.
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 Marathon for ₹3,28,800
> 78th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹7,936
> 201st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹3,736
Vikhyat Ahlawat’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52, PokerStars India and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹6.49 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.69 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Moves to #1 on the Uttar Pradesh State Leaderboard | Moves to #10 on the NPS Series Leaderboard | Moves to #6 on NPC Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 2 Gold, 3 Silver & 3 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹70.93 Lakhs | Moves to #25 on PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard
Ankush ‘ank4u’ Narang rounded out the podium, capturing his first Bronze Medal in the NPS#186 Marathon, his two-entry investment netting him ₹2.50 Lakhs. Having previously claimed the Silver Medal in the NPS#55 (7-Max) SPRINT, this was his second-biggest score of 2025 and the fourth-largest of his career!
This second medal now places Narang at #2 on the Punjab State Leaderboard with seven points, trailing Sumit Sapra (1 Gold & 1 Silver), who leads with 15 points. But Punjab’s unlikely to be represented in the NPC showdown in Goa next month, as the current frontrunner, Sapra, sits well outside the 12-player cutoff at #15 on the NPC Leaderboard.
Narang also picked up a small score in NPS#189 Afterparty (65th for ₹8,334), bringing his Sunday earnings to just under ₹2.59 Lakhs.
Ankush Narang’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52, PokerStars India and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹48.15 Lakhs | Lifetime Profits: ₹16.38 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #1 | Moves to #2 on the Punjab State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Silver & 1 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹13.93 Lakhs
The final table of the NPS#186 Marathon also featured strong performances by Akshay ‘powershell’ Asawa, who finished fifth for ₹1.34 Lakhs, and the 2024 POY #6 Shreyansh ‘halifax7701’ Sharma, already holding a Silver and a Bronze Medal this series, who placed sixth for ₹99,200.
While the penultimate day of the NPS India 2025 was an all-out war, the ₹3,450 buy-in NPS#186 Marathon was a rare exception, falling a tiny ₹6.43 Lakhs short of its guarantee. Nevertheless, the ₹40 Lakhs prize pool showered payouts on the top 194 finishers, each receiving at least ₹6,800 – almost double the buy-in! As the National Poker Series races towards its grand finale, the competition is reaching a fever pitch on all fronts – leaderboard standings, career-defining scores, and the race to the Main Event crown. And it all gets decided tonight.
Final Table Results
- Himalaya ‘pahaadisheep’ Tarani – ₹4,76,800
- Vikhyat ‘supersaiyan57’ Ahlawat – ₹3,28,800
- Ankush ‘ank4u’ Narang – ₹2,50,400
- kissmyaxe – ₹1,87,200
- Akshay ‘powershell’ Asawa – ₹1,34,400
- Shreyansh ‘halifax7701’ Sharma – ₹99,200
- deep1221 – ₹77,600
NPS#187 Sunday Smash – ₹30 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,070
Entries – 882
Re-entries – 1035
Prize Pool – ₹34,50,600
Places Paid – 295
It’s showtime! The final curtain call for NPS India 2025, with just two colossal events left to determine their champions tonight before this history-making series wraps up! This past Sunday, the final Sunday of this epic 29-day poker marathon, delivered another adrenaline-fueled thrill ride that had the virtual felt sizzling. Five flagship events blazed across the PokerBaazi tables, alongside the nail-biting qualifiers for the monstrous ₹10 Crores GTD NPS#191 Main Event and the ₹1 Crore GTD NPS#190 Golden Rush. This series has been a non-stop, high-stakes, white-knuckle ride, and Sunday kept that insane momentum going—pedal to the metal, full speed ahead, no looking back!
Standing tall amidst a storm of incredible performances was a familiar face: Karan ‘Collingwood’ Sitlani. A true “High Roller Specialist,” Sitlani has been one of the most explosive names in the game, racking up at least 17 title wins in 2024 alone, including an insane nine high-roller victories – hence the well-earned nickname. He came into 2025 with sky-high expectations, kicking things off by winning The Quest Lite. But since then, he had endured a frustrating string of near-misses – ten final table appearances without a title, including agonizingly close calls just last week in the NPS#184 (7-Max) SPRINT and the NPS#167 Marathon, plus that Silver Medal in the NPS#87 (7-Max) Friday Freestyle in early March. But after all that heartbreak, that agonizing title drought finally came to a crashing end last night – and on the biggest stage imaginable!
Sitlani’s moment of glory arrived in PokerBaazi’s ₹30 Lakhs GTD NPS#187 Sunday Smash, where he pocketed a handsome ₹3.26 Lakhs after a heads-up deal! Fighting through a guarantee-crushing 1,917-entry field (882 unique) in the 6:30 PM flagship, he put on a poker masterclass across the 9.5-hour showdown, collecting his second medal of the series (a gleaming Gold Medal – his second NPS Gold, having previously won the 2023 NPS#17 Deepdive, and his fifth NPS medal overall!).
With two additional scores in the NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff (106th for ₹16,828) and the NPS#189 Afterparty (287th for ₹2,874), Sitlani’s Sunday earnings added up to a sweet sum of just over ₹3.42 Lakhs in his PokerBaazi account.
Karan Sitlani’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.61 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹84.45 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #2 | Moves to #8 on the Maharashtra State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 2 Gold, 2 Silver & 1 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹46.36 Lakhs
Last night’s heads-up battles were the stuff of legends, and the Sunday Smash delivered another classic, with Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh coming this close to his second NPS Gold Medal. After his headline-grabbing NPS#168 Super HighRoller victory last week, Shaikh brought that same fire to the NPS#187 Sunday Smash, leaving it all on the virtual felt.
A respected name on the circuit, known for his The MoneyMaker 85.0 championship bracelet and for playing a key role in Deccan Aces‘ recor-extending victory in the Pocket52 PSL Season 6 last year, Shaikh has really turned up the heat in the late stages of this year’s NPS. While he just missed the top spot in the Sunday Smash, his efforts were richly rewarded with the lion`s share of the prize pool, a hefty ₹3.26 Lakhs from a heads-up deal with Sitlani— his third-largest score ever on the platform — and his first NPS Silver Medal (his second medal overall). But Shaikh’s hot streak didn’t end there.
Demonstrating that same indomitable spirit and carrying his incredible form over to Adda52, he almost conquered Adda52’s MMA Main Event! Again, he missed the title by a hair’s breadth, finishing runner-up for ₹3.01 Lakhs. It was a bittersweet day of near-victories for Shaikh but undeniably a very profitable one, with his total Sunday plunder reaching just under ₹6.45 Lakhs — another monster night for one of the most consistent crushers in the game.
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹3,26,321* (heads-up deal)
> 2nd in Adda52’s MMA Main Event for ₹3,00,611
> 127th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 Marathon for ₹6,800
> 50th in Adda52’s MMA HighRoller for ₹6,353
> 171st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹4,886
Mohsin Shaikh’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.05 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.46 Crores | Titles Won in 2025:#3 | Moves to #1 on the Goa State Leaderboard | Moves to #14 on the NPC Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Gold & 1 Silver | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹47.46 Lakhs
Mayank ‘starbhai’ Taluja, the NPS#82 Mega Rush finalist, also made some serious noise in the NPS#187 Sunday Smash, clinching his first-ever NPS medal with a stellar third-place finish. Taluja walked away with the Bronze Medal and a cool ₹1.95 Lakhs — a fantastic return on his three bullets fired, giving him his third-largest score on the platform to date.
Mayank Taluja’s PokerBaazi stats: Site Winnings: ₹1.17 Crores | Site Profits: ₹94.16 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Ranked #28 on the Haryana State Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹18.61 Lakhs
The NPS#187 Sunday Smash final table featured several other accomplished players, such as the five-time medallist at the NPS India 2025 and the Gujarat State Leaderboard topper (who’s guaranteed a seat in the NPC showdown) Mohit ‘Bullets777’ Bohra (5th for ₹1 Lakh), Niket ‘Danivey04’ Shah (6th for ₹69,357), NPS#101 Marathon finalist Kunal ‘symbolic champ’ Agrawal (7th for ₹56,935), and Philip ‘Philister’ Jude (8th for ₹45,893).
It was another wild, record-breaking Sunday at the NPS India 2025, with all but one event obliterating its guarantee. With a modest ₹2,070 buy-in, the NPS#187 Sunday Smash was one of the day’s bigger success stories, racking up a massive ₹34.51 Lakhs prize pool — blowing past its advertised promise. A whopping 295 players made it into the money, each taking home at least ₹3,451, adding to this groundbreaking series’s legend.
Final Table Results
- Karan ‘collingwood’ Sitlani – ₹3,22,737*
- Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh – ₹3,26,321*
- Mayank ‘starbhai’ Taluja – ₹1,94,959
- 666GOAT666 – ₹1,43,890
- Mohit ‘Bullets777’ Bohra – ₹1,00,067
- Niket ‘Danivey04’ Shah – ₹69,357
- Kunal ‘symbolicchamp’ Agrawal – ₹56,935
- Philip ‘Philister’ Jude – ₹45,893
*denotes a heads-up deal
NPS#189 Afterparty – ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹1,725
Entries – 917
Re-entries – 999
Prize Pool – ₹28,74,000
Places Paid – 295
It’s almost unbelievable, but after four weeks of poker pandemonium, record-smashing action, and enough headlines to fill a library, the NPS India 2025 is nearly in the rearview mirror! Sunday, Day 28, saw the last of the scheduled events play out – a loaded, five-tournament lineup and those final, precious qualifiers for the NPS#190 Golden Rush and the NPS#191 Main Event for those still dreaming of poker immortality. Only those two behemoths remain, waiting to crown their champions before the whole circus packs up and heads to the sun-drenched beaches of Goa for the National Poker Champion showdown in mid-April!
As always, PokerBaazi rolled out the ₹25 Lakhs GTD NPS#189 Afterparty as the final scheduled event of the day (and technically, the series, not counting the two remaining giants). But in a twist, the event kicked off way ahead of the usual 9:30 PM slot, starting at 8 PM.
But even with that early start, this one was a slog. A nine-hour-and-19-minute marathon that finally wrapped up after 5 AM this morning! And who was the last one standing, soaking up the glory (and the Gold Medal) was Aditya ‘gangajal’ Sushant, one of our original Young Guns, India’s first-ever WSOP bracelet winner, and a two-time The MoneyMaker champion! This was his second Gold of the series!
Sushant is a straight-up poker beast – one of those naturally gifted players who took to online poker like a fish to water, so effortlessly that he even inspired the whole Young Gun concept! And while his track record is littered with epic scores on PokerStars from way back (before PokerStars India even existed), his resume speaks for itself. But this Chennai-based crusher hadn’t been the most active on the virtual felt lately. It’s like he had been hibernating, and the NPS India 2025 was his wake-up call. He’s played most of the tournaments, landed on five final tables, and even snapped a six-month title drought on Friday, grabbing his first Gold Medal of the series (and his first medal of the year, adding to two previous Silver Medals) in the NPS#171 (PLO-5) Knockout (KO). He even came dangerously close to another medal, finishing sixth in Saturday’s NPS#184 (7-Max) SPRINT.
And, last night, he struck Gold again. Entering the NPS#189 Afterparty with a single bullet, he outlasted a gigantic field of 1,916 entries (917 unique), doubling his Gold Medal count for the series (his fourth medal overall) and pocketing a juicy ₹3.21 Lakhs!
This win was a game-changer for Sushant, catapulting him into the exclusive club of just 19 players with two or more Gold Medals this series! He’s also leapfrogged the formidable Ashish Munot (17 points) to seize the top spot on the Tamil Nadu State Leaderboard (now boasting 20 points), and just in the nick of time – on the penultimate day, in the very last scheduled event. This repeat victory has launched Sushant to #9 on the NPC Leaderboard, all but guaranteeing him a seat at that National Poker Champion faceoff in Goa next month unless one of the other top contenders pulls off a miracle by winning one of the two remaining NPS giants tonight!
Sushant’s Sunday was a poker clinic. His total haul for the day flirted around the ₹4.07 Lakhs mark, powered by deep runs in three NPS events! This surge has also propelled him to #20 on the NPS Series leaderboard, with a staggering 28,532 points from an unbelievable 120 cash finishes (out of 186 events played – that’s a solid 65% cash rate!).
> 1st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹3,21,026
> 9th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff for ₹77,130
> 106th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 Marathon for ₹9,200
Aditya Sushant’s NPS stats: Moves to #1 on the Tamil Nadu State Leaderboard | Moves to #20 on the NPS Series Leaderboard | Moves to #9 on the NPC Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 2 Gold & 2 Silver | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹40.31 Lakhs
But Sushant had to overcome a fierce final foe to reach the state leaderboard summit. Standing in his way was Sriharsha ‘Ivey2’ Doddapaneni, one of the most respected players in the country and the NPS India 2024 Sunday Kickoff Gold Medallist, who was hunting for his first medal of this series. He came agonizingly close to the Gold, too. He’s another one of those relentless grinders, and he’d already notched a near-podium finish earlier in the series, taking fifth in NPS#114 Mini HighRoller.
Doddapaneni came locked and loaded in the NPS#189 Afterparty, and he gave it everything he had. While he couldn’t quite close out the heads-up match, he finally snagged that NPS medal he’d been craving – a Silver (his first medal of the series and third overall) – and a sweet ₹2.20 Lakhs.
Sriharsha Doddapaneni’s NPS stats: Moves to #45 on the NPS Series Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Gold, 1 Silver & 1 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹43.56 Lakhs
The NPS#189 AfterParty podium was a who’s-who of regulars. Pranav ‘MeenakshiSundareshwar’ Khandalkar, a banker and poker regular with a previous Bronze, had been medal-less in this series until last night. He snatched the Bronze (his second medal overall) and ₹1.62 Lakhs.
Khandalkar also went deep in Adda52’s MMA Main Event (87th for ₹7,321), taking his total Sunday winnings close to ₹1.70 Lakhs.
Pranav Khandalkar’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52, PokerStars India and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹9.53 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.40 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #4 | NPS Medals Won: 1 Silver & 1 Bronze | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹25.75 Lakhs
With most of the sharks circling the NPS waters hard on the second-to-last day, the NPS#189 Afterparty final table was overflowing with familiar faces, including the NPS#25 (PLO-4) Gold Medallist Arunav ‘Frankie08’ Mittal (4th for ₹1.20 Lakhs), Kashish ‘realkdpoker’ Durgiya (5th for ₹83,346), NPS#62 Slamdunk Gold Medallist Navin ‘4headpoker’ (6th for ₹57,767), NPS#56 Deepdive Silver Medallist Dhrooval ‘Senseikid’ Verma (7th for ₹47,421), and Sandeep ‘Effuno’ Varma RS (8th for ₹38,224).
And just like the other NPS events of the day, the ₹1,725 buy-in NPS#189 Afterparty didn’t just hit its ₹25 Lakhs guarantee; it obliterated it by ₹3.74 Lakhs (that’s almost 15% over!). It was a payday bonanza for the 295 players who cashed, with everyone walking away with at least ₹2,874 – nearly 1.7 times the buy-in. The NPS India 2025 is clearly going out with a deafening BANG!
Final Table Results
- Aditya ‘gangajal’ Sushant – ₹3,21,026
- Sriharsha ‘Ivey2’ Doddapaneni – ₹2,19,574
- Pranav ‘MeenakshiSundareshwar’ Khandalkar – ₹1,62,381
- Arunav ‘Frankie08’ Mittal – ₹1,19,846
- Kashish ‘realkdpoker’ Durgiya – ₹83,346
- Navin ‘4headpoker’ – ₹57,767
- Dhrooval ‘Senseikid’ Verma – ₹47,421
- Sandeep ‘Effuno’ Varma RS – ₹38,224
₹10 Crores GTD NPS Main Event – Qualifier 9 (Turbo)
Q9 > Entries – 1,192 | Re-entries – 439 | Survivors – 265 | Chip Leader – ‘amitrai112000’ (876,000)
Final > Entries – 5,247 | Re-entries – 2,347 | Survivors – 702 (unique) | Overall Chip Leader – ‘Pocket_aces’ (1,533,000)
₹1 Crore GTD NPS Golden Rush – Qualifier 9 (Turbo)
Q9 > Entries – 862 | Re-entries – 495 | Survivors – 258 | Chip Leader – Sachin ‘browguy26’ Raj (372,000)
Final > Entries – 5,248 | Re-entries – 3,387 | Survivors – 996 (unique) | Overall Chip Leader – ‘Joeadam’ (788,000)
Junglee Poker
JK#8 – ₹15 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,750
Entries – 268
Total Prize Pool – ₹15,00,000
Regular Prize Pool – ₹8,30,000
Bounty Prize Pool – ₹6,70,000
Places Paid – 29
The IPL 2025 frenzy is in full swing, and the cricket fever is contagious! But the heat isn’t just on the cricket pitch. PokerBaazi’s gigantic ₹100 Crores GTD NPS India 2025 is in its final throes, barreling towards a dramatic conclusion tonight, with the last two NPS showstoppers set to crown their champions!
But, if you’re not in the thick of the NPS final battles, fear not; there are still plenty of opportunities. Junglee Poker has cranked up the volume with the return of its Junglee Knockout Series. This third edition is throwing down the gauntlet with over ₹1.50 Crores in guaranteed prizes. The ten-day poker extravaganza, running March 21-30, already delivered a weekend of fireworks; one player, in particular, absolutely crushed it.
We’re talking about Anmol ‘presidentkanye’ Narang, a player in a serious role. After ending 2024 strong with victories in Summit Lite, Maverick, and Sunday Big Slick, this former The Millionaire champion has clearly hit the ground running in 2025 and is not stepping on the break. He came this close to taking down The Summit in January, finishing a heartbreaking second, and scooped up a win in the Sunday Special Knockout just a month ago. His NPS campaign, while medal-free so far, has been loaded with near misses – a sixth place in the NPS#164 (PLO-6) Knockout (PKO) last Thursday and a fourth-place finish in the NPS#57 (PLO-4) three weeks back show he’s right there in the mix. But last night, he scored his second title of the year on Junglee Poker, proving that he’s a true bounty-hunting specialist.
Firing two bullets in the ₹15 Lakhs GTD JK#8, Narang faced a field of 267 other hopefuls in the 7:30 PM knockout battle. It was a marathon eight-and-a-half-hour grind, but Narang’s aggressive style paid off in spades! He seized his second victory of the year, stuffing his pockets with ₹3.02 Lakhs – and a mind-blowing ₹1.86 Lakhs of that came purely from bounties!
And the man wasn’t finished. Narang backed up the win with scores in three more events, including two NPS cashes. All told it was a pretty epic Sunday, resulting in almost ₹3.32 Lakhs added to his account. That performance puts him tantalizingly close to joining the elite ‘₹5 Crores Club’ in tracked online winnings. And get this – he’s also sitting on a nice stack for the gigantic NPS#191 Main Event finale tonight.
> 1st in Junglee Poker’s JK#8 for ₹3,02,494* (₹1,85,878 in bounties)
> 50th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 Marathon for ₹17,200
> 44th in Adda52’s MMA Highroller for ₹6,353
> 142nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹5,866
> Made Day 2 in PokerBaazi’s NPS#191 Main Event (Qualifier 8)
Anmol Narang’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.89 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹67.04 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #2 (across all platforms)
While Narang was busy writing his winner’s tale, the mysterious ‘the_kid90‘ was making some serious moves. The two went head-to-head for the JK#8 title, with ‘the_kid90’ eventually taking the runner-up spot, good for a very impressive ₹1.29 Lakhs – their personal best on the site (₹13,047 in bounties).
Meanwhile, mid-stakes expert Manish ‘manish jangid’ Jangid, riding high from a Saturday Head Shot Bounty win on Adda52, kept the good times rolling. He snagged a fourth-place finish in the JK#8, raking in ₹77,269 (₹9,375 in bounties).
The ₹5,750 buy-in JK#8 delivered some serious bang for the buck with a juicy ₹1.60 Lakhs overlay. The top 29 players got a slice of the ₹8.30 Lakhs prize pool, and the KOs collected from a tempting ₹6.70 Lakhs bounty pool. It all added to another Sunday of pure poker adrenaline on Junglee Poker, and – brace yourselves – there’s an entire week of non-stop bounty-hunting action still to unfold!
Final Table Results (Including Bounties)
- Anmol ‘presidentkanye’ Narang – ₹3,02,494
- the_kid90 – ₹1,29,496
- serbronn – ₹1,21,892
- Manish ‘manish jangid’ Jangid – ₹77,269
- vabss – ₹76,528
- harsh566-1 – ₹55,353
- roronoa – ₹55,925
- mangat765 – ₹29,573
The other Knockout Series title winners of the day included ‘dracogossa33’ (Won ₹4 Lakhs GTD JK#9 for ₹1 Lakh), ‘silly guy’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD JK#7 for ₹42,084).
‘sdnmv7’ won the ₹60K GTD Hangover for ₹11,712.
Adda52
MMA Main Event – ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹2,200
Entries –659
Re-entries – 351
Rebuy – 31
Survivors – 133
Prize Pool – ₹25,00,000
Places Paid – 133
Even outside the insane frenzy of PokerBaazi’s ₹100 Crores GTD NPS India 2025, Adda52 served up a week-long poker feast, bringing back the ₹1.50 Crores GTD Masterminds Arena, and it all wrapped up in an explosive Sunday finale.
With nine tournaments and a whopping ₹44.75 Lakhs in guaranteed prizes, the MMA finale was a true poker spectacle. And with over a dozen other signature events firing off on #Adda52, the total guarantees for Sunday soared past a phenomenal ₹90 Lakhs!
But the real headliner who stole the show was Aniruddha ‘Pocketaces69’ Joshi, the popular poker streamer on a mission to conquer a ₹1 Crore profit challenge in 2025! And on Sunday, he took a big step forward by demolishing the ₹25 Lakhs GTD MMA Main Event! This tournament was a beast, attracting a gigantic field of 1,041 entries (659 unique) across nine starting flights (March 17 to 23). The 133 survivors converged for the finale at 10 PM last night, and Joshi, like a true poker warrior, outlasted them all in an epic showdown, claiming his fourth title of the year and a sweet ₹4.18 Lakhs payday.
But Joshi wasn’t finished. He kept his foot on the gas, adding another cash in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 #Marathon (160th, for ₹6,800), pushing his total Sunday haul to an impressive almost ₹4.25 Lakhs.
Aniruddha Joshi’s online stats (excluding Natural8 India, Junglee Poker and Pocket52): Lifetime Winnings: ₹2.69 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹55.49 Lakhs | Titles Won in 2025: #4
Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh has been on a breakout run in March, and he kept that blazing momentum going on Sunday. He’s already snagged his career-best win in NPS#168 Super High Roller last Wednesday. In the MMA Main Event, he came this close to another massive victory, finishing runner-up for a still very respectable ₹3.01 Lakhs.
A well-known name in the poker circuit, a former The MoneyMaker 85.0 champion who played a pivotal role in Deccan Aces‘ record-breaking victory in the Pocket52 PSL Season 6 last year, Shaikh has really cranked up the intensity in the late stages of this year’s NPS. Not long after his MMA Main Event near-miss, he almost clinched the Gold Medal in PokerBaazi’s ₹30 Lakhs GTD NPS#187 Sunday Smash, striking a heads-up deal with “High Roller Specialist” Karan Sitlani to walk away with the lion’s share of the prize pool, a hefty ₹3.26 Lakhs—his third-biggest score ever on the platform—and his first NPS Silver Medal (his second medal overall). But Shaikh still wasn’t done.
Shaikh kept the party rolling, adding three more deep runs to his already impressive Sunday resume, with his total winnings that one day just shy of ₹6.45 Lakhs, and also locked up a seat for Day 2 in PokerBaazi’s NPS#191 MainEvent!
> 2nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹3,26,321* (heads-up deal)
> 2nd in Adda52’s MMA Main Event for ₹3,00,611
> 127th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 Marathon for ₹6,800
> 50th in Adda52’s MMA High Roller for ₹6,353
> 171st in PokerBaazi’s NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹4,886
> Made Day 2 in PokerBaazi’s NPS#191 Main Event (Qualifier 9 – Turbo)
Mohsin Shaikh‘s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52 and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹4.05 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹1.46 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #3 | Moves to #1 on the Goa State Leaderboard | Moves to #14 on the NPC Leaderboard | NPS Medals Won: 1 Gold & 1 Silver | Lifetime NPS Winnings: ₹47.46 Lakhs
Guneet ‘guntz’ Kwatra, a recreational player who crushed it as the August 2020 AOPS Mini Main Event champion, rounded out the MMA Main Event podium in third place, banking a cool ₹2.16 Lakhs. And just for kicks, he also crashed the Adda52 Millions final table, finishing sixth. With another deep run, his Sunday earnings totalled almost ₹3.52 Lakhs.
> 3rd in Adda52’s MMA Main Event for ₹2,16,266
> 6th in Adda52 Millions for ₹1,24,071
> 12th in Adda52’s MMA Highroller for ₹11,474
The MMA Main Event final table was a shark tank featuring heavy hitters like the recent NPS#182 Saturday Slamdunk finalist Samyak ‘stonedurr’ Sethi (4th for ₹1.56 Lakhs), last night’s NPS#186 #Marathon finalist Young Gun Shardul ‘vamos96’ Parthasarathi (5th for ₹1.12 Lakhs), the always dangerous Mohak ‘sparkie’ Kapoor (6th for ₹80,6670), and Mayank ‘AreyBetaRaise’ Maruka (7th for ₹58,125).
Like the other Adda52 headliners, even the MMA Main Event, despite its accessible ₹2,200 buy-in, recorded a massive ₹5.85 Lakhs in overlays! This meant insane value for everyone who participated, with the promised ₹25 Lakhs prize pool showering prizes on the top 133 finishers. Everyone who cashed got a sweet piece of the action, with even a min-cash earning a respectable ₹6,364 – almost triple the buy-in! It was a spectacular finish to another wildly successful Masterminds Arena series.
Final Table Results
- Aniruddha ‘Pocketaces69’ Joshi – ₹4,18,022
- Mohsin ‘gongo’ Shaikh – ₹3,00,611
- Guneet ‘guntz’ Kwatra – ₹2,16,266
- Samyak ‘stonedurr’ Sethi – ₹1,55,622
- Shardul ‘vamos96’ Parthasarathi – ₹1,12,018
- Mohak ‘sparkie’ Kapoor – ₹80,667
- Mayank ‘AreyBetaRaise’ Maruka – ₹58,125
- DilipKumar007 – ₹41,917
Sunday Head Hunter – ₹20 Lakhs GTD
Buy-in – ₹5,750
Entries – 161
Re-entries – 153
Re-buys – 10
Total Prize Pool – ₹20,00,000
Regular Prize Pool – ₹11,90,000
Bounty Prize Pool – ₹8,10,000
Places Paid – 47
While the IPL 2025 doubleheader and the high-octane penultimate day of the NPS India 2025 were sucking up all the oxygen on Sunday – with players scrambling like mad for those last precious medals and leaderboard points to get to the National Poker Champion showdown in Goa, Adda52 still managed to throw a haymaker with its own menu of Sunday signature tournaments. Sure, the MMA Main Event and the Adda52 Millions were the main attractions, but the ₹20 Lakhs GTD Sunday Head Hunter also turned heads—not just for the prize money, but for the sheer star power it attracted.
And in this 8 PM slugfest, it was none other than the incredibly popular veteran, Natural8 India’s Executive Director and Brand Ambassador, Kunal ‘FloatToMyBoat’ Patni, who finally landed that knockout blow! Like many in the Indian poker scene, Patni’s been on a relentless quest for NPS glory, coming so close with a Silver in the NPS#46 (PLO-4) Megadive and a Bronze in the NPS#108 Monday Medley! But that Gold Medal had been taunting him, staying just out of reach. So, on Sunday, Patni decided to shake things up, jumping into a few Adda52 tournaments – and BAM! – that decision was pure gold.
He charged into the 8 PM Sunday Head Hunter and steamrolled a field of 324 entries (161 unique), taking it down for the first time and pocketing a sweet ₹4.58 Lakhs. This included a hefty ₹2.31 Lakhs in bounties! This was his second-largest score of 2025, and it finally broke the title hex that had been dogging him for three long months, a period filled with heartbreaking near-misses.
It was a banner day all around for Patni, as he also cashed in three NPS events, resulting in a total haul that danced around the ₹5.24 Lakhs neighbourhood.
> 1st in Adda52’s Sunday Head Hunter for ₹4,57,623* (₹2,31,396 in bounties)
> 53rd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#188 Sunday Marathon for ₹43,812
> 32nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹12,358
> 57th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹10,006
Kunal Patni’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52, PokerStars India and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹11.67 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹3.23 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #1 | Annual Winnings: ₹33.08 Lakhs
Adding even more firepower to the Sunday Head Hunter’s final showdown was the legendary three-time POY and the winningest player on our tracked database, Young Gun Gaurav ‘BuildPuntOK’ Sood, who’d already snagged that Gold Medal in NPS#106 (PLO-5) just two weeks ago. Like Patni, Sood was gunning for his first Sunday Head Hunter title, but he had to settle for the runner-up spot again (he’d finished second in last Sunday’s Adda52 Millions), earning ₹2.18 Lakhs (₹51,955 in bounties).
But Sood’s a grinder through and through. He also went deep in the Adda52 Millions, aiming for redemption, but fell just three spots short of the top, collecting ₹2.17 Lakhs for his fourth-place exit. When all was said and done, Sood cashed in seven events, making his Sunday grind worth almost ₹4.97 Lakhs in total winnings.
> 2nd in Adda52’s Sunday Head Hunter for ₹2,17,783* (₹51,955 in bounties)
> 4th in the Adda52 Millions for ₹2,16,837
> 17th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#187 Sunday Smash for ₹26,224
> 21st in Adda52’s MMA Main Event for ₹11,528
> 102nd in PokerBaazi’s NPS#186 Marathon for ₹9,200
> 59th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#189 Afterparty for ₹8,335
> 264th in PokerBaazi’s NPS#185 Sunday Kickoff for ₹7,012
Gaurav Sood’s online stats (PokerBaazi, Adda52, PokerStars India and Spartan Poker): Lifetime Winnings: ₹23.35 Crores | Lifetime Profits: ₹12.08 Crores | Titles Won in 2025: #7 | Annual Winnings: ₹76.27 Lakhs | Moves to #18 on #PokerBaazi’s 2025 POY Leaderboard
The final table of the Sunday Head Hunter was a straight-up shark tank, packed with some of the most feared and consistent crushers in the Indian poker scene, including the four-time medalist at this year’s NPS, Shagun ‘sogani94’ Jain (3rd for ₹1.38 Lakhs), last week’s Sunday Head Hunter champion Rubin ‘kornkif’ Labroo (4th for ₹1.02 Lakhs), Siddharth ‘kab00m’ Gangwar (5th for ₹92,340), the ever-dangerous Myron ‘zzzzz369’ Pereira (6th for ₹60,840), Saturday’s Head Shot Bounty finalist Dhaval ‘faizal1506’ Doshi (7th for ₹46,027), and last night’s Adda52 Millions finalist Arun ‘ShahidKapoorAfridi’ Kumar (8th for ₹37,751).
With all the buzz around the NPS India 2025 and cricket fever pulling some players away from the tables, overlays were the name of the game, and even the ₹5,750 buy-in Sunday Head Hunter couldn’t escape, falling a substantial ₹3.80 Lakhs short of its ₹20 Lakhs guarantee. The value was insane, especially for the top 47 finishers who cashed, each walking away with at least ₹8,391 – over 1.5 times their initial investment. Bottom line: Adda52 once again delivered a weekend overflowing with action and insane value!
Final Table Results (Includes Bounties)
- Kunal ‘FloatToMyBoat’ Patni – ₹4,57,623
- Gaurav ‘BuildPuntOK’ Sood – ₹2,17,783
- Shagun ‘sogani94’ Jain – ₹1,37,646
- Rubin ‘kornkif’ Labroo – ₹1,01,597
- Siddharth ‘kab00m’ Gangwar – ₹92,340
- Myron ‘zzzzz369’ Pereira – ₹60,840
- Dhaval ‘faizal1506’ Doshi – ₹46,027
- Arun ‘ShahidKapoorAfridi’ Kumar – ₹37,751
‘Elaappa3388’ won the ₹25 Lakhs GTD Adda52 Millions for ₹5.01 Lakhs.
The other Masterminds Arena title winners of the day included Gunisha ‘obimikel’ Sinha (Won ₹10 Lakhs GTD MMA Highroller for ₹1.69 Lakhs), ‘Takut007’ (Won ₹3 Lakhs GTD MMA PKO 6-Max for ₹68,254), Janish ‘Janish1998’ Jain (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD MMA Monster Stack for ₹46,229), ‘Arch1806’ (Won ₹1.25 Lakhs GTD MMA Mystery Bounty for ₹27,560), ‘firoz11’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD MMA PKO for ₹21,183), ‘rjthegod’ (Won ₹50K GTD MMA PLO4 Bounty for ₹17,728), and ‘noobmonkey’ (Won ₹75K GTD MMA Turbo 6-Max for ₹15,149).
Pocket52
‘Rajlodhi’ won the ₹10 Lakhs GTD Pocket Kings for ₹2.21 Lakhs.
Spartan Poker
‘pokergur’ (Won ₹2 Lakhs GTD Spotlight for ₹44,400), ‘Neel18’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Monster Turbo for ₹33,300), ‘jaan99’ (Won ₹1.50 Lakhs GTD Moster Stack for ₹36,900), and ‘MisterCool’ (Won ₹1 Lakh GTD Daily Kickoff for ₹22,200) won the Sunday marquees on Spartan Poker.
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