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WPT India: PokerGuru Staking’s Madhav Gupta Takes Down ₹20K MegaStack

It’s been a great month for Team PokerGuru, with many of our lads running deep in multiple events. Less than two weeks ago, PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan missed out on claiming the Baazi Poker Tour (BPT) ₹100K High Roller title, finishing runner-up for ₹27.57 Lakhs. Last night, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Munot did even better by taking down the most sought-after event of the 2019 World Poker Tour (WPT) India schedule, the ₹55K Main Event for a jaw-dropping ₹63.48* Lakhs! However, Munot wasn’t the only PokerGuru Ambassador who claimed a WPT trophy, as PokerGuru Staking’s very own Madhav ‘Maddy’ Gupta (cover image) closed out the series in style by bagging his first-ever live title in the ₹20K MegaStack for a cool ₹5.33 Lakhs!

A reputed poker room operator, Gupta has blossomed as a poker player over the last few years under the mentorship of poker icon and PokerStars India Team pro Aditya Agarwal. He was last seen in action at the 50th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP), where he posted a total of five scores for a cumulative $15,528 (~₹10.99 Lakhs) in winnings. Before that, he had final tabled the WPT Vietnam Kickoff Event in March, finishing fourth for VND 316,910,000 (₹9.39 Lakhs).

Gupta was in commendable form on the MegaStack final table last night as he took out Saurabh Arora, Ankit Jajodia, Somashekhar KM, and eventual runner-up Amit Dhall, en route to capturing his career-first live title!

 

Final Day Recap

The ₹20K MegaStack kicked off at 3 PM on October 21, and a ton of well-known faces were in the fray at Casino Deltin Royale, including BPT Big Bounty winner Gokul Krishna and his wife Suni Sunder, defending champion Siddarth Singhvi, latest WPT India Kickoff champion Gurukumar G, Mayank Agarwal, celebrity poker player Minissha Lamba, Yohan Patel and PokerGuru Ambassador Faiz Alam.

Following eight levels of play, late registrations were closed, with the tournament clocking in 88 entries, of which only the top 11 were assured at worst a min-cash of ₹46,400.

Gangadhar Raaj became the bubble boy of the event and busted in 12th place when Saurabh Arora opened from UTG, and Raaj announced all-in holding . Arora calling tabling pocket nines which stayed good on the jack-high board.

The first one to bust in the money was Sanchit Pande. Somashekhar KM opened, and Pande moved all-in holding . Somashekhar quickly called showing and took down the pot on the runout, eliminating Pande in 11th place for ₹46,400.

After that, Kiran Kumar departed as the final table bubble in 10th place for ₹49,680, when he shoved with pocket sevens and got called by Arora, who tabled . Arora flopped a pair of jacks to take down the pot, eliminating Kumar in the process.

With Kumar gone, the final table was redrawn. It was a star-studded final table that comprised of Madhav Gupta, Amit Dhall, Ankit Jajodia, Somashekar KM, Saurabh Arora, Maria Kirloskar, Gokul Krishna, Samit Mehta, and Naveen Sagar.

WPT India ₹20K MegaStack Final Table
WPT India ₹20K MegaStack Final Table

 

Final Table Recap

The first to fall out of the final table was Samit Mehta. The hand in question saw Somashekhar KM opening the pot with , and Mehta moved all-in with a better which got called. Mehta was looking in good shape for a double-up, but Somashekar spiked a queen on the board and took down the pot.

Somashekhar KM’s next victim was Naveen Sagar. He raised and Sagar shoved all-in with . Somashekar called tabling and once again got lucky as the board ran .

BPT Big Bounty champion Gokul Krishna was on the prowl eyeing his second title in less than a week but hit the rail in seventh place after getting unlucky. Krishna jammed holding , and Somashekhar KM called with . Somashekar rivered two pair to eliminate Krishna from the event.

The next casualty of the table became Maria Kirloskar, who was last seen finishing seventh in the BPT Main Event for ₹8.66 Lakhs, and her bustout was again courtesy Somashekhar KM. Kirloskar shoved with and Somashekhar called with . The poker gods obliged Somashekhar who rivered two pair yet again to bust Kirloskar in sixth place.

Working along the sidelines, Madav Gupta got to work by announcing all-in with . Saurabh Arora woke up with pocket jacks and made the call at the risk of elimination. The board brought out two more aces, and Gupta scooped up the pot, railing Arora in fifth place.

BPT ₹20K PLO runner-up Ankit Jajodia’s dream run ended next in fourth place when his lost to Gupta’s .

Gupta’s elimination streak continued, and he took out Somashekhar KM in third place. In a blind vs. blind confrontation, Gupta completed his small blind, and Somashekhar shoved from the big blind holding . Gupta called showing and took down the pot on the rundown .

With that, the heads-up match between Madhav Gupta and Amit Dhall started, and in the end, Gupta lifted the trophy.

WPT India ₹20K MegaStack Heads-Up Between Amit Dhall & Madhav Gupta
WPT India ₹20K MegaStack Heads-Up Between Amit Dhall & Madhav Gupta

On the final hand of the event, Dhall matched his small blind, and Gupta checked his option to see the flop open . Dhall decided to shove holding pocket sevens, and Gupta quickly called showing for flopped two pair. Gupta further improved to a full house on the runout to win his first WPT title and an impressive ₹5.33 Lakhs in prize money!

Madhav Gupta
Madhav Gupta

Final Table Results (INR)

1. Madhav Gupta – ₹5,33,990

2. Amit Dhall – ₹3,22,880

3. Somashekhar KM – ₹2,00,700

4. Ankit Jajodia – ₹1,35,800

5. Saurabh Arora – ₹1,03,500

6. Maria Kirloskar – ₹82,800

7. Gokul Krishna – ₹68,710

8. Naveen Sagar – ₹57,950

9. Samit Mehta – ₹53,400

Content & Images Courtesy: Online Poker News, India

Baazi Poker Tour: Gokul Krishna Takes Down ₹20K Big Bounty Title For ₹5.16 Lakhs

The penultimate event of the Baazi Poker Tour (BPT) comeback series, the ₹20K Big Bounty, concluded after a nearly six-hour-long final table. Claiming top honors in this event was seasoned pro Gokul Krishna (cover image)! The 37-year-old co-founder of the Emerald Poker Tour (EPT) cash game festival has numerous deep runs to his name but had never won a live title before today. This is, in fact, his first-ever live title and it came with a cash reward worth ₹5.16 Lakhs.

Krishna had entered the final table placed around the middle of the pack, holding the fifth-biggest stack. On his way to the top, he eliminated Vinayak Bajaj and Gangadhar Raaj, before meeting Rachita Salla in the heads-up play. Salla, who is a live cash game regular from Hyderabad, presently living in Chennai, was making her first-ever final table appearance. Despite her inexperience, Salla did well to make it to the heads-up stage where she ultimately lost out to the more experienced Krishna.

PokerGuru caught up with the Big Bounty champion after his win and talking about the same, Krishna said, “I have been having quite a few deep runs but was not able to close out earlier. Feels good to finally do it. Closing it in BPT is even special as Vikram [Vikram Kumar], and Navi [Navkiran Singh] are very close friends. My wife [Suni Sunder] always keeps trolling me that she has a title, and I don’t. Now she can’t do it!”

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Gangadhar Raaj – 741,000

2. Gurukumar G – 526,000

3. Yuvraj Singh – 454,000

4. Vivek Rughani – 412,000

5. Gokul Krishna – 304,000

6. Ritwik Khanna – 251,000

7. Vinayak Bajaj – 237,000

8. Sudeep Godara – 175,000

9. Rachita Salla – 138,000

10. Aayush Agarwal – 63,000

BPT ₹20K Big Bounty Final Table
BPT ₹20K Big Bounty Final Table

 

Final Table Recap

Shortest stack Aayush Agarwal was predictably the first player to be eliminated when his ran into Gurukumar G’s . The board bricked, eliminating Agarwal in tenth place.

Aayush Agarwal
Aayush Agarwal

The next player to depart was Vinayak Bajaj. He had been sitting with a short stack for a while, and after Gokul Krishna moved all-in from the small blind with , Bajaj was almost auto all-in from the big blind holding . The runout was of no help to Bajaj, ousting him in ninth place.

Vinayak Bajaj
Vinayak Bajaj

Finishing in eighth place was Vivek Rughani. He had moved all-in with a short-stack of 145,000 from the hijack, and both Gangadhar Raaj and Ritwik Khanna called. The flop came , Khanna jammed and Raaj called.

Vivek Rughani

Gangadhar Raaj

Ritwik Khanna

The and completed the board, and Khanna raked in the pot with his pocket cowboys, while Rughani was sent to the rail. Raaj too took a hit as his stack came down to 580,000.

Vivek Rughani
Vivek Rughani

Less than 30 minutes later, Sudeep Godara shoved all-in for 248,000 with and Raaj re-shoved with , covering Godara. The board brought sets for both players, but Raaj’s set of kings overpowered Godara, ending his run in seventh place.

Sudeep Godara
Sudeep Godara

The play continued for two more levels before the next elimination took place. Raaj opened, and Gurukumar G committed his entire stack to the pot with . Raaj called with . The rundown saw Raaj river a set of sixes and Gurukumar bounced out in sixth place.

Gurukumar G
Gurukumar G

It did not take too long for Yuvraj Singh to join Gurukumar at the rail. Having become the shortest stack at the table, Singh jammed with . Raaj, who was one of the more active players on the table, called yet again tabling . The pocket rockets won the pot eliminating Singh in fifth place.

Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh

Five minutes later, Ritwick Khanna moved all-in with and the lone female player at the table, Rachita Salla, called with . Salla clipped a top pair on the board , resulting in Khanna’s fourth-place exit.

Ritwick Khanna
Ritwick Khanna

Start of the final table chip leader Gangadhar Raaj had looked in dominating state throughout the day. After final tabling the ₹15K Kick-Off and picking up a score in the Main Event, Raaj was on his third deep run in the series. A frontrunner for the title at one point, Raaj did well to make it to third place. On his last hand of the tournament, his ran into Gokul Krishna’s . The board ran dry.

Gangadhar Raaj
Gangadhar Raaj

The heads-up began with Gokul Krishna (2,230,000) in the lead against Rachita Salla (1,070,000). Compared to the overall fast-paced nature of the event, the heads-up was relatively slower, and in the end, the more experienced Krishna came out on top.

Rachita Salla
Rachita Salla

On the final hand, Salla opened for 200,000, and Krishna moved all-in. Salla called and tabled against Krishna’s . The community cards spread out , and even with a rivered full house, Salla came in short to Krishna’s flopped quads. And just like that Gokul Krishna claimed his career-first live title, along with an impressive ₹5.16 Lakhs payday!

Gokul Krishna
Gokul Krishna

Final Table Results (INR)

1. Gokul Krishna – ₹5,16,000 (Includes 6 Bounties)

2. Rachita Salla – ₹3,79,200 (Includes 6 Bounties)

3. Gangadhar Raaj – ₹3,15,600 (Includes 11 Bounties)

4. Ritwick Khanna – ₹1,72,200 (Includes 2 Bounties)

5. Yuvraj Singh – ₹1,74,200 (Includes 6 Bounties)

6. Gurukumar G – ₹1,91,400 (Includes 10 Bounties)

7. Sudeep Godara – ₹95,900 (Includes 2 Bounties)

8. Vivek Rughani – ₹1,50,800 (Includes 9 Bounties)

9. Vinayak Bajaj – ₹1,05,500 (Includes 6 Bounties)

10. Aayush Agarwal – ₹43,300 (Includes 1 Bounty)

Keep following PokerGuru for more exciting updates from the Baazi Poker Tour!

Emerald Poker Tour to Visit the PokerBaazi LIVE in Goa From Sep 25-29, Bryn Kenney Invited as Special Guest

The Emerald Poker Tour has established itself as the premier cash game festival for Indian poker players, and the good news is that the EPT is now all set to make its debut on Indian soil! Starting on September 25, the festival will be hosted at the brand-new PokerBaazi LIVE poker room onboard the luxurious Casino Pride 2 and following five days of non-stop action, the festival will wrap up on September 29.

The brainchild of the husband-wife duo, Gokul Krishna and Suni Sunder, along with Vikram Kumar, the Emerald Poker Tour has already hosted three successful editions in the island-country of Sri Lanka. Now, for the first time ever, the festival will be making its way to the poker capital of India – Goa.

Along with coming to India for the first time, the festival has also roped in another long-time poker operator and passionate poker player Bhuvan Bansal as a partner.

But that’s not all. International poker superstar Bryn Kenney, on the invitation of his close friends, PokerStars India Team pro Aditya Agarwal and Emerald Poker Tour co-partner Vikram Kumar, will also be attending the cash game festival!

Emerald Poker Tour – September 25-29

A well-loved cash game festival, Emerald Poker Tour, will be hosting its upcoming fourth edition for the very first time in Goa from September 25 to 29. Helmed by a competent management team comprising of long-time operators like Gokul Krishna, Suni Sunder, Vikram Kumar, the cash game festival will take place onboard the PokerBaazi LIVE poker room at Casino Pride 2.

The past three editions of the festival were all hosted at Casino Bellagio in Sri Lanka. However, with live poker booming in India, it was a logical decision for the management team to shift base to the coastal state of Goa. Additionally, with the political environment not having completely recovered from the terror blasts that shook Sri Lanka in April 2019, Goa seemed like an obvious choice.

Talking to PokerGuru, Gokul commented on the management’s decision to move the festival to Goa, saying, “We hosted three events in Colombo so far. Colombo is a good destination for poker, but there were some limitations there. A major limitation was the number of available tables. We had access to 4 or 5 tables only, which meant that we had to limit the number of players who wanted to come for the event. In Goa Baazi Live Poker Room in Pride 2 is a beautiful poker room. With access to a higher number of tables and Goa being so easily accessible from any part in India, we are now able to increase the number of players for the event. We are looking at around 80 players who will be coming down for the cash fest.”

Gokul Krishna - Emerald Poker Tour
Gokul Krishna

Suni, who is in charge of marketing and hospitality activities, shared her views regarding the upcoming festival. “Emerald Poker Tour is going to focus on mid-stakes cash games. Within the next 18 months, our focus is on becoming the number one cash game festival in all of Asia. With the kind of response we are getting in every event, I am sure we are well and truly on our way to achieving that sooner rather than later. We also plan to have a low to mid stakes open for all events very soon.”

Suni Sunder - Emerald Poker Tour
Suni Sunder

Newest Addition – Bhuvan Bansal

As the Emerald Poker Tour prepares to make its India debut, the festival has also roped in Bhuvan Bansal. A well-known poker operator and experienced cash game player, Bansal is a much-welcome addition to the team.

Bhuvan Bansal - Emerald Poker Tour
Bhuvan Bansal

Talking about Bansal’s addition to the management team, Gokul said, “Emerald Poker Tour has come a long way since its inaugural event a year back in Colombo. Numbers have constantly been increasing, and people look forward to playing in it. Bhuvan Bansal has been an operator for a while now. We roped him into the festival because his vision as an operator matches the festival’s vision and his active participation in organizing the event will make sure that the Emerald Poker Tour lives up to its expectation even when handling a higher number of players. We want players to have access to the best cash games possible with top-notch hospitality along with personalized attention to each and every player.”

Bansal, too, expressed his delight on becoming a part of the cash game festival and said, “I am thankful to Suni [Suni Sunder], Vikram [Vikram Kumar] and Gokul [Gokul Krishna] for giving me this opportunity. The Emerald Poker Tour has already conducted three successful editions, and all of them have been a wonderful experience for players and organizers alike. I am glad to be a part of this venture. My focus will be to make the mid-stakes games more attractive and enjoyable for the players. We promise to make the festival a fun-filled experience for mid-stakes players which previously only high stakes players used to enjoy.”

Bryn Kenney to Attend the Emerald Poker Tour

Over the past few years, the Indian poker market has increased in leaps and bounds, and this has not escaped international attention. From Patrik Antonius attending Delta Corp’s 10th-anniversary celebrations, onboard Casino Deltin Royale to the self-proclaimed ‘King of Instagram’ Dan Bilzerian participating in private high stakes cash games during the recently concluded India Poker Championship (IPC), India has been attracting some of the biggest names in the business lately.

So, it was about time that the poker legend, Bryn Kenney, came to India. Kenney needs no introduction. The US-based pro is the undisputed topper of the prestigious All-Time MTT Money List. Kenney is the king of the super high rollers and had famously won back-to-back titles at the Triton Poker High Roller Series in Montenegro in May 2019, namely, Event #2: HK$500,000 NLHE 6-Handed for HK$11,230,000 and Event #5: HK$1M NLHE Main Event for HK$21.30 Million. He also finished runner-up in the most expensive live poker tournament in history – the ‘Triton Million – A Helping Hand For Charity,’ banking a jaw-dropping payday of £16,890,509! Kenney’s present total live earnings stand tall at an astronomical $55,505,630.

Bryn Kenney - Emerald Poker Tour
Bryn Kenney

Vikram, on whose invitation Kenney has agreed to attend the festival, shared his excitement stating, “To have a player of Bryn’s stature visit the Emerald Poker Tour is a dream come true moment…Hoping for some fun-filled weekend at PokerBaazi LIVE in Goa….Onion fritters with Bryn.”

Vikram Kumar - Emerald Poker Tour
Vikram Kumar

Gokul also shared his views on Kenney’s upcoming visit, saying, “Bryn is a very close friend of Vikram and Adi. Interacting with someone like Bryn would be like a dream come true for poker players. In our constant endeavor towards providing the players with the best, we thought it would be nice we ask Bryn to come for the event. I’m sure players are going to have a lot of fun interacting with a legend like him. Time permitting we are also planning to have a small get together for players with Bryn post-event depending on schedules.”

Here is what Kenney had to say about visiting the Emerald Poker Tour.

With the Emerald Poker Tour now being hosted in Goa, the management team is confident that this edition’s attendance will be even better than the previous festivals. Gokul believes that apart from the festival regulars, a lot of new players who do not generally travel abroad for poker will also be able to participate in the festival.

“It’s always exciting to see new faces travel for poker, which is an indication that poker is growing as a sport,” added Gokul.

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates on the Emerald Poker Tour!

WSOP 2019 Daily Spotlight – July 5

In this daily feature, we will bring you the key highlights of the 50th World Series of Poker (WSOP) to keep you abreast with the ongoings at the ‘World’s Biggest Poker Festival.’

The last and final starting flight of the 2019 WSOP $10K No-Limit Hold ‘em Main Event World Championship is now in the books and as expected it registered the largest number of entries in comparison to the first two starting flights. Day 1C pulled in 4,879 entries, with the overall player pool now standing tall at 8,129 entries. With late registrations open till the start of play on Day 2, the number of entries is expected to increase and may even surpass the current record of 8,773 entries that was set at the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

In a day that had all the ingredients of a Bollywood masala flick, a total of 23 Indians carried their stacks forward from Day 1C, with Vivek Rughani leading the group with 171,300 (214 big blinds) in chips. The group of Indians heading to Day 2C comprises of an ideal amalgamation of established names like Raghav Bansal (96,900 – 121 big blinds), Abhishek Rathod (83,200 – 104 big blinds) and PokerStars India Team pro Aditya Agarwal (41,300 – 52 big blinds), along with emerging talents like Akshay Nasa (166,900 – 209 big blinds), Sriharsha Doddapaneni (134,200 – 168 big blinds) and PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved (81,500 – 102 big blinds).

Team India Chip Counts For Day 2C

Player Chip Count
Vivek Rughani171,300
Akshay Nasa 166,900
Tarun Goyal147,600
Sriharsha Doddapaneni134,200
Ankush Agarwala 134,000
Shravan Chhabria114,800
Kunal Punjwani 112,300
Jaideep Sajwan111,600
Madhav Gupta99,200
Raghav Bansal96,900
Naresh Veeravalli 89,600
Abhishek Rathod 83,200
Kartik Ved 81,500
Siddharth Mundada 80,100
Sajal Gupta78,900
Shashank Jain 77,600
Aditya Sushant47,000
Akash Malik42,400
Aditya Agarwal41,300
Dhaval Mudgal39,800
Goonjan Mall37,000
Gokul Parvathaneni36,500
Paawan Bansal27,400

 

While these 23 Indians will be returning to play Day 2C on July 7, a group of Indians led by Yudhishter Jaswal (193,400 – 242 big blinds) will be seen in action on Day 2AB which will commence 11 AM (Pacific Time Zone) on July 6.

Team India Chip Counts For Day 2AB

PlayerStarting FlightChip Count
Yudhishter JaswalDay 1B193,400
Aditya SystlaDay 1B162,700
Siddharth KariaDay 1B123,300
Ankit AhujaDay 1B111,100
Minissha LambaDay 1B83,500
Abhinav Iyer Day 1A79,500
Kunal PatniDay 1B66,500
Satchit KapurDay 1A59,100
Vikram Kumar Day 1A45,300
Rohan DhawanDay 1A23,000
Jasven SaigalDay 1A18,600

 

James Henson (316,100 – 396 big blinds) emerged as the chip leader on Day 1C and will be leading the 3,665 survivors to Day 2C.

The only bracelet event to crown a winner on July 5 was Event #71: $500 SALUTE TO WARRIORS No-Limit Hold’em which was taken down by Susan Faber, who claimed her first-ever WSOP bracelet, along with a career-best score of $121,161.

 

Event #73: $10,000 Main Event Championship – Day 1C

Smashing the single-day attendance record of the WSOP Main Event, the third and final starting flight, Day 1C, pulled in 4,879 entries, registering an overall 8,129 entries at the Main Event so far. Following five levels of play, the field was whittled down to 3,664 participants and among them were a group of 23 Indians.

Topping the list of 23 Indian challengers was Vivek Rughani who amassed an impressive stack of 171,300 (214 big blinds).

Vivek Rughani
Vivek Rughani

Other notable stacks include Shravan Chhabria (114,800 – 144 big blinds), PokerGuru Staking’s Madhav Gupta (99,200 – 124 big blinds), Raghav Bansal (96,900 – 121 big blinds), PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved (81,500 – 102 big blinds), Aditya Sushant (47,000 – 59 big blinds), PokerStars India Team pro Aditya Agarwal (41,300 – 52 big blinds), Dhaval Mudgal (39,800 – 50 big blinds) and Paawan Bansal (27,400 – 24 big blinds).

James Henson (316,100 – 396 big blinds) bagged the Day 1C chip lead and will be headlining the 3,665 survivors at the start of Day 2C on July 7.

James Henson
James Henson

Read the complete report here

 

Event #71: SALUTE TO WARRIORS – $500 No-Limit Hold’em – Day 3

The final eight players of the 1,723-strong field got back to the felts on Day 3 and emerging as the winner was Susan Faber who pocketed her career-best score of $121,161. Faber, who is the wife of an army veteran and a WSOP circuit regular, defeated Rob Stark heads-up to capture her maiden live title.

Susan Faber
Susan Faber With Her Husband

Two Indians – Aditya Systla (14th for $5,819 – ₹4 Lakhs) and Sachidananda Sivakumar (141st for $865 (~₹59,552) had posted scores on Day 2.

Aditya Systla

Read the complete report here

Content & Images Courtesy: World Series of Poker

Keep following PokerGuru for daily updates from the 2019 WSOP!

Online Rankings

i Top Ranked Poker Players in India
Member Won
Member Won
Member Won
₹1,29,29,197
₹1,25,88,313
₹1,21,00,140
₹1,20,22,333
5.Vinay B Vinay B
₹1,15,16,843
6.M L M L
₹1,14,45,592
₹1,09,13,473
₹1,05,83,948
₹99,75,577
₹99,60,672
Member Profit
Member Profit
Member Profit
₹55,77,649
₹50,59,154
₹47,48,174
₹46,35,740
₹44,93,503
₹43,56,316
₹43,24,686
₹42,41,254
₹41,92,614
₹41,05,805
Member Points
Member Points
Member Points
43,040
36,048
28,827
4.N K N K
28,769
26,548
25,649
24,726
24,446
9.M L M L
23,604
23,352

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