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This Week in Poker: November 3 – 9
Poker Streaming – A Trend Fast Catching On in India
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This Week in Poker: November 3 – 9
In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker,’ we bring you the weekly roundup of the most significant online scores by Indian MTT players and the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit. Here are this week’s top stories!
The penultimate month of the year has been exciting for poker fans, with Team India taking the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) by storm. Even though the Indian participation at the WSOP is smaller this year, the Indian players in Las Vegas have kept the team`s scorecard ticking, but we`ll get to that in a bit. First, let’s check out what happened on the domestic virtual felts this past week.
The winningest MTT player in the country, Young Gun Gaurav Sood, dominates the weekly charts yet again – all but cementing his place at the top of the annual rankings. If all goes to plan, he will successfully close out the year at the top of the annual charts for a second consecutive year. On Sunday, the dentist-turned-poker pro won the two biggest tournaments underway – Adda52’s DOPT Highroller and Spartan Poker’s The Prestige – banking ₹23.65 Lakhs overall. No surprises then that Sood is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
PokerGuru Ambassadors were not too far behind, with teammates Arjanveer Singh Chadha and Ankit Wadhawan chopping PokerStars India’s Diwali Rush Series Main Event title heads-up. While Chadha walked away with the title and ₹13.49 Lakhs top prize, Wadhawan settled for an equally commendable ₹11.60 Lakhs in second place.
Another PokerGuru Staking stalwart Mithun Mahesh is next among the week`s top winners with ₹12.51 Lakhs to his name. Mahesh won two titles this week: PokerStars India’s Diwali Rush-06 Super Highroller for ₹7.65 Lakhs and PokerStars India’s Highroller for ₹2.39 Lakhs. He also placed runner-up in Adda52’s Godfather Junior for ₹1.62 Lakhs.
Rising Star Ritwik Khanna, Sandeep Thakral, Suraj N Yadav, Prakash Gupta, Abhishek Chaurasia, and Harshad Barve featured among the week`s other top scorers.
With the post-Diwali celebrations out of the way, PokerBaazi has come out with a fantastic new tournament for the low to mid-stakes players, the “₹10 Mein 10 Lakhpati.” Running for three weeks from November 15 to December 5, the site will be running daily qualifiers for ₹10, and the top 10 finishers in the weekly finale on Sunday will collect ₹1 Lakh each!
And as promised, coming to the WSOP updates, Team India picked up four scores this week. Vikranth Anga posted the most significant WSOP score by the team so far this year with an eighth-place finish in Event #64: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha for $53,824 (~₹40.05 Lakhs). Vidur Sethi finished 24th for $17,923 (~₹13.33 Lakhs).
MPL Poker Ambassador Dhaval Mudgal bagged his career-best WSOP finish in Event #61: $600 Deepstack Championship NLHE, placing 30th for $7,120 (~₹5.30 Lakhs). The former bracelet winner, PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved, picked up his first cash at this year’s WSOP in Event #65: $1,00 Mini Main Event, placing 77th for $5,305 (~₹3.93 Lakhs).
Coming to the holy grail of poker tournaments, the WSOP Main Event, we once again saw several Indians in the fray. Abhinav Iyer (410,900), poker superstar Aditya Agarwal (217,000), Vidur Sethi (183,400), Shashank Jain (103,600), and two-time bracelet champion Nipun Java (50,100) have already made it to Day 3 in the Main Event.
Additionally, Kalyan Chakravarthy (156,600), Kunal Punjwani (149,500), the husband-wife duo Yudhishter Jaswal (85,000) & Muskan Sethi (84,700), Ankit Ahuja (75,500), and Young Gun Siddharth Karia (39,500) will be playing Day 2CEF on Wednesday.
Kunal Patni (86,100) and Dhaval Mudgal (33,700) might have busted the Main Event, but both of them have made Day 2 in Event #68: $1,111 Little One for One Drop.
Online Railbird Report
The ranked #1 player in the country for 14 consecutive weeks, Young Gun Gaurav Sood, has all but guaranteed to take the lead to a 15th week after netting a jaw-dropping ₹23.65 Lakhs this week. Sood championed the two biggest tournaments running on Sunday, Adda52’s DOPT Highroller (₹13.50 Lakhs) and Spartan Poker’s The Prestige (₹9.25 Lakhs) to top the weekly charts, also bagging our “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title!
PokerGuru Ambassadors didn`t do too bad either, and three of them featured among the top five winners this past week. PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan banked ₹13.65 Lakhs for chopping PokerStars India’s ₹75 Lakhs GTD Diwali Rush-23 Main Event title with teammate Arjanveer Singh Chadha for ₹11.60 Lakhs.
His top finishes include:
> 2nd in PokerStars India’s Diwali Rush-23 Main Event for ₹11.60 Lakhs.
> 6th in Spartan Poker’s The Elite for ₹1.38 Lakhs
His teammate Arjanveer Singh Chadha added a hefty ₹13.49 Lakhs to his kitty. Chadha displayed top form in the Diwali Rush-23 Main Event that he won for ₹13.32 Lakhs.
Another one of PokerGuru Staking’s top talent, Mithun Mahesh, completed the trio of champions from the stable. Like Gaurav Sood, Mahesh won two titles this week and placed runner-up in another event to collect ₹12.51 Lakhs cumulatively.
His top finishes include:
> 1st in PokerStars India’s Diwali Rush-06 Super Highroller ₹ for ₹7.65 Lakhs
> 1st in PokerStars India’s Highroller for ₹2.39 Lakhs
> 2nd in Adda52’s Godfather Junior for ₹1.62 Lakhs
Rising Star Ritwik Khanna FT-ed three flagship tournaments, which comprised the significant chunk of the ₹11.49 Lakhs he earned over the week.
His top finishes include:
> 3rd in Adda52’s DOPT Highroller for ₹6.25 Lakhs
> 2nd in Adda52’s DOPT Epic for ₹2.95 Lakhs
> 4th in Adda52’s DOPT Tuesday Feature for ₹1.20 Lakhs
Sandeep Thakral (Runner-up in DOPT Highroller), Suraj N Yadav (Won ReCharge, 3rd in Destiny, and 4th in The Elite), Prakash Gupta (3rd in Diwali Rush-23 Main Event), Abhishek Chaurasia (Won Sunday Superstack), and Harshad Barve (Runner-up in The Prestige and DOPT Warm-up) were the other top scorers of the week.
Notable Winners of the Week
Player | Prize Amount | Event | Poker Site |
---|---|---|---|
Gaurav ‘gauravarod’ Sood | ₹13.50 Lakhs | DOPT Highroller ₹50 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Arjanveer 'ballistik310' Singh Chadha | ₹13.31 Lakhs | Diwali Rush-23 Main Event (₹15 Lakhs for 1st) ₹75 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Gaurav 'mozzie17' Sood | ₹9.25 Lakhs | The Prestige ₹50 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Mithun 'ThePokeRajaIN' Mahesh | ₹7.65 Lakhs | Diwali Rush - 06 [Super Highroller] ₹35 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Abhisek 'Bittur' Chaurasia | ₹6.70 Lakhs | Sunday Superstack ₹30 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
“ranksster” | ₹6.22 Lakhs | The Elite ₹22 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
"Happyfish" | ₹5.20 Lakhs | DOPT Epic ₹20 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Vinayak 'salmanbhai' Bajaj | ₹3.63 Lakhs | The Weekly HighRoller ₹12 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Jyoti Ranjan 'joey260186' Nayak | ₹3.38 Lakhs | The Ballers Junior ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Nitesh 'Batmanpok' Katiyar | ₹3.29 Lakhs | Trending Thursday ₹16 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Raghav ‘mrbean98’ Ananth | ₹3.03 Lakhs | DOPT Tuesday Feature ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
“erace” | ₹2.78 Lakhs | Godfather Junior ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Tanmay ‘tsb2127’ Sanjay Bhalerao | 2.75 Lakhs | Mega Stack – Millionaire Bubble ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Abhimanyu 'PsychoDrama' Mittal | ₹2.71 Lakhs | DOPT 6-Max Monday Feature ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Bharat 'MojoJojo2193' Vasan | ₹2.44 Lakhs | Bounty Builder HR ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Mithun 'ThePokeRajaIN' Mahesh | ₹2.39 Lakhs | Highroller ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Myron 'priyankAAchoprAA' Pereira | ₹2.26 Lakhs | The Endeavour ₹12 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Pradip ‘Nit2Donk’ Ghosh | ₹2 Lakhs | DOPT Ultimate ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Suraj 'MR.BEAST' N Yadav | ₹1.95 Lakhs | ReCharge ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Suraj 'MR.BEAST' N Yadav | ₹1.93 Lakhs | ReCharge ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Kuldeep ‘Bacchapro’ Jorwal | ₹1.81 Lakhs | The Big Show ₹7.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
"peacelover" | ₹1.75 Lakhs | DOPT Grand Duke ₹7 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Tanmay ‘PlusEv’ Benara | ₹1.54 Lakhs | DOPT Frenzy ₹7 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Sanchit 'scofield1210' Nag | ₹1.36 Lakhs | Money Heist ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
“Amaan12_9” | ₹1.24 Lakhs | Futuristic ₹7 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Aniket 'WhiteRabbit' Sharma | ₹1.21 Lakhs | Friday Bounty Junior ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Clinton 'Clinton Tavares' Tavares | ₹1.17 Lakhs | Diwali Rush - 08 [Uppercut Mini] ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
“tcs41194” | ₹1.16 Lakhs | Monster Turbo Junior ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
“Yomme” | ₹1.05 Lakhs | Diwali Special ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Debneil ‘ChhotaDon’ Mukherjee | ₹1.02 Lakhs | The Race 5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
“ShaktiMaan” | ₹86K | Diwali Rush-22 [Final Warm-up] ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Ishan 'neatvat' Tipre | ₹84K | Deepstack ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Mukesh 'Mukesh Surana'Surana | ₹84,799 | Weekend Punch ₹5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Karan ‘karannthakker’ Thakker | ₹84,000 | DOPT Warm Up ₹3 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Shubhadip ‘mig22’ Dasgupta | ₹83,400 | DOPT Warm Up ₹3 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Aditya 'konstantinn' Singh | ₹82,005 | Deepstack ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Aditya 'konstantinn' Singh | ₹81,627 | Deepstack ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Shawn ‘spanktastic’ Chatterton | ₹75,385 | DOPT Jaqk ₹3 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
007.devashish | ₹69,849 | DOPT Frenzy ₹2.50 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Siddharth ‘CARDashian66’ Kadel | ₹60,390 | DOPT Deep Dive ₹2.20 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Ronima1978 | ₹60,390 | DOPT Deep Dive ₹2.20 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
monk5555 | ₹55,766 | Holdem BOOST ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Mohak 'Tiltin' Kapoor | ₹53,648 | BSS ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
‘gokugg’ | ₹52,000 | DOPT Royale PKO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Prashant ‘prashant031’ Pandagre | ₹51,295 | Holdem BOOST ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
‘TheBlack(3’ | ₹46,281 | Diwali Rush-29 Ultrasonic ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Shawn ‘spanktastic’ Chatterton | ₹45,926 | DOPT Suites ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Alok 'chhavi013' Kumar | ₹40,184 | BSS Night Sprint ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
capzeus | ₹38,763 | Reloaded ₹1.75 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
‘Mohitk’ | ₹37,000 | Big Bang ₹1 Lakh GTD | Khelo365 |
Takkar.singh | ₹36,768 | Sunday Night Rider ₹1.65 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
JumboJetPack | ₹36,683 | Sixth Sense ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Amit 'walker90' Jaiswal | ₹33,908 | BSS Kickoff ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
fishcake104 | ₹32,950 | Ultrasonic ₹1.25 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
‘The Unicorn’ | ₹32,599 | DOPT Daily Kickoff ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
vinay2203 | ₹31,293 | DOPT Flint ₹1 Lakh GTD | Adda52 |
RAV1619 | ₹29,932 | Deepstack ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
‘chunu79’ | ₹27,939 | DOPT Flint ₹1 Lakh GTD | Adda52 |
'anshgang' | ₹27,856 | BSS Afternoon Sprint ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerBaazi |
‘Zamindar1’ | ₹26,701 | Diwali Rush-27 Sunday Storm ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
‘Chinchan0524’ | ₹23,043 | Diwali Rush-24 6+ Deepstack ₹1 Lakh GTD | PokerStars India |
Gurpal 'twizelll' Singh | ₹18,182 | Afternoon on Stars ₹60K GTD | PokerStars India |
‘RltoDope′ | ₹15,120 | Dominator ₹50K GTD | Khelo365 |
BuddyAAA | ₹15,038 | The Centurion ₹75K GTD | Spartan Poker |
‘MoonMagic1998’ | ₹14,022 | Diwali Rush-28 Omania ₹40K GTD | PokerStars India |
Siddhanth ‘Liu Kang’ Kapoor | ₹13,500 | Last Chance ₹45K GTD | Spartan Poker |
Sandeep 'effuno007' Varma RS | ₹13,495 | Bigstack Turbo ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
sanam bewfa9351' | ₹13,019 | Deepstack ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
aav007 | ₹11,240 | Primetime Grind ₹50K GTD | PokerStars India |
'ziya12' | ₹10,996 | Daily 5-Max ₹50K GTD | PokerBaazi |
EKKADOUBLE | ₹9,768 | Omania ₹30K GTD | PokerStars India |
‘Warriori08’ | ₹8,941 | Diwali Rush-25 Bounty Builder ₹40K GTD | PokerStars India |
gameplay_changed | ₹6,563 | Epic ₹25K GTD | Spartan Poker |
‘theCodedguy’ | ₹6,402 | Diwali Rush-21 The Hot ₹40K GTD | PokerStars India |
Mohit ‘imohitahuja21’ Ahuja | ₹5,348 | PBBS#4 ₹20K GTD | PokerBaazi |
Prof.HK | ₹3,938 | Unstoppable ₹15K GTD | Spartan Poker |
‘dhamiabhis’ | ₹3,700 | Quick Freeze ₹10K GTD | Khelo365 |
‘Breakingbread93’ | ₹3,425 | PBBS#3 ₹15K GTD | PokerBaazi |
‘mallupocker’ | ₹3,342 | PBBS#5 ₹15K GTD | PokerBaazi |
‘vtvishal’ | ₹3,092 | PBBS#2 ₹12K GTD | PokerBaazi |
Akilesh ‘lashxtreme’ Kurunghat | ₹1,667 | PBBS#1 Turbo DST ₹7.5K GTD | PokerBaazi |
PokerBaazi Announces “10 Mein 10 Lakhpati” (November 15 – December 5)
PokerBaazi has announced a brand-new weekly tournament, the “₹10 Mein 10 Lakhpati,” offering 10 players a chance at becoming a Lakhpati for just ₹10 each week.
The event will run over three consecutive weeks from November 15 to December 5, with ₹10 buy-in Qualifiers running three times every day, from Monday to Saturday. All surviving qualifiers will get to play the weekly finale at 8 PM on Sunday. The top 10 finishers of the finale will win ₹1 Lakh each, and the bubble boy (11th place) will win a OnePlus Nord.
Read the complete report here
WSOP 2021
The 52nd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) is now 43 days past us, and the wait is finally over – the much-awaited Event #67: $10K Main Event World Championship has hit the ground running! But before the Main Event got started, PocketFives head and Event #39: $1,500 PLO champion Josh Arieh grabbed the headlines for the second time at the ongoing series. Arieh won his fourth bracelet (his second at the series) in Event #66: $10K PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for $484,791.
Read the complete report here
Another eye-catcher was the news of Dan “Jungleman” Cates finally entering the WSOP bracelet winners club. The newly minted Run It Once coach trounced a 63-player field in Event #60: $50K Poker Players Championship to collect $954,020. Ryan Leng`s chase for a fifth career bracelet ended in a runner-up finish.
Read the complete report here
Running alongside the starting flights of the Main Event was Event #65: $1,00 Mini Main Event. Georgios Sotiropoulos shipped the tourney for his third WSOP bracelet
PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved was the only Indian to make Day 2 in the event, and he placed 77th for his first cash at the series worth $5,305 (~₹3.93 Lakhs).
Read the complete report here
There were many first-time bracelet winners too. Twenty-two-year-old college graduate Cole Ferrao walked away with his first WSOP gold in Event #61: $600 Deepstack Championship NLHE. Eriz Zhang, Kevin Gerhart, Eelis Parssinen, and “Incel4life” also joined the bracelet winner’s club.
Player | Event | Prize Amount (USD) |
---|---|---|
Dan Cates | Event #60: $50K Poker Players Championship | $954,020 |
Eelis Parssinen | Event #64: $5,000 Mixed NLHE/PLO | $545,616 |
Josh Arieh | Event #66: $10K PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship | $484,791 |
Incel4life | WSOP Online Event #7: $3,200 HR | $318,889 |
Cole Ferrao | Event #61: $600 Deepstack Championship NLHE | $252,491 |
Kevin Gerhart | Event #62: $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo 8 Or Bettter | $186,789 |
Eric Zhang | Event $63: $500 Salute to Warriors | $102,465 |
Team India posted a litany of deep runs this week. One of the more prominent of them was MPL Poker ambassador Dhaval Mudgal`s 30th place finish in Event #61: $600 Deepstack Championship NLHE worth $7,120 (~₹5.30 Lakhs).
Vikranth Anga set the benchmark for the team this year with his eighth-place finish in Event #64: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha for $53,824 (~₹40.05 Lakhs). Fellow countryman Vidur Sethi placed 24th for $17,923 (~₹13.33 Lakhs).
Now about the WSOP Main Event! The pinnacle tournament on every poker player`s bucket list, the Main Event turnout this year has been better than predicted. Five Indian players made it through Day 2ABD, with India`s first solo bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (410,900) leading the charge. WSOP veteran Aditya Agarwal (217,000), Vidur Sethi (183,400), Shashank Jain (103,600), and two-time bracelet champion Nipun Java (50,100) are the other Indians already confirmed for Day 3.
Even as five Indians have already secured their seat into Day 3 (to be played on November 11), another batch of five Indians will be playing Day 2CEF on Wednesday. Kunal Punjwani (149,500) leads this group, with the poker-playing couple Yudhishter Jaswal (85,000) and Muskan Sethi (84,700) also making it further. The U.S.-based Ankit Ahuja (75,500) and Young Gun Siddharth Karia (39,500) also found bags for Day 2CEF that got underway at 11 AM (local time) on November 10.
Another bracelet sweat is developing for Team India in Event #68: $1,111 Little One for One Drop, where Kunal Patni (86,100) and Dhaval Mudgal (33,700) have qualified from Day 1A, while Sanjay Sharma (36,800) made it through Day 1B. The final starting flight, Day 1C, is scheduled for November 10.
Read the complete report here
With this, we conclude this week’s roundup of the latest news updates and developments from the world of poker. We will return again next week with our weekly report. Stay tuned.
Poker Streaming – A Trend Fast Catching On in India
Poker streaming is a trend that had very few takers in India until very recently. In fact, up until a few years back, the list of Indian poker streamers was limited to just a very few poker pros.
All that is changing rapidly now. There’s been a sudden onslaught of players that have taken up live-streaming recently. Hardly does a week go by when we don’t see fresh, energetic live-streams from Young Gun Siddharth Karia, Raj Juneja, Anujkumar Kodam, Kshitij Kucheria, and Shobhit Bhargava, Aditya Wadhwani, Chirag Sodha, Jaideep Sajwan, and others.
Is this lockdown-induced poker streaming craze a value-adding pastime? Possibly for some, but the rage has undoubtedly caught on, and it’s also changing the poker industry’s dynamics. Sensing an opportunity, online poker brands are roping some of these players to live-stream their tourneys.
For this feature, we caught up with a few of our own ‘desi’ streamers. Let’s find out what drives them to stream and their views on this thoroughly fun activity, which presents a gold mine of learning for upcoming players.
Streaming Picking Up Pace in India
From industry old-timers to seasoned regs and upcoming pros, the list of Indian poker streamers is growing every week. But does this signify a tectonic shift in the domestic poker sector, or is it just a temporary, lockdown-pushed trend?
Star commentator Aditya Wadhwani feels streaming is here to stay. “It was always going to pick up, the lockdown was a catalyst to the current state surely,” he said.
Season 1 of his talk show ‘It’s Your Turn (IYT) With Aditya Wadhwani’ was just the starting point, and he plans to live-stream very regularly, along with “big schemes in the works” for IYT Season 2, once his at-home studio is set up.
Chirag Sodha, who has hosted four live streams on PokerBaazi`s YouTube channel, echoed the same thought. “I feel that the lockdown definitely pushed more people in this direction, but now that we can see its merits, it should continue to grow in popularity.”
He tried out streaming from his own Twitch channel first. “I wanted to know what it would be like! We eventually figured that a few of us could get on board and stream on the PokerBaazi channel so that we can reach more people, and it’s been great so far.”
A New Breed of Poker Streamers Emerging
Be it regs, newbies, or upcoming players, a whole new bunch of players have taken up live-streaming their poker sessions, and are going full-throttle about it!
For Kshitij Kucheria, streaming started as a means of warding off boredom and personally motivating himself to play. He has been streaming for three months and getting consistently better at it.
“I saw a lot of people playing online poker because of the lockdown, but very badly… so I thought that I should just create some content so that people tune-up and learn,” said Kucheria.
Jaideep Sajwan had travel vlogging on his mind when he started his YouTube channel New World Nomads. After realizing that the COVID-19 pandemic was going to dampen his year’s travel and WSOP plans, he decided to dedicate two months to creating poker content “Initially I planned to make a few fun episodes on poker, and streaming just got added on.”
Sajwan’s streams are lively, and he often invites other guests like Chirag Sodha and Sumit Sapra on air. Even though Sajwan insists that this was just a two-month content creation adventure that has come to an end, his streams are very popular, and chances are bright that he will persist with streaming.
Apart from the usual poker regs, there are upcoming players like Shobhit Bhargava from New Delhi who has been playing poker for only a year and a half but has a natural flair for streaming. His streams are energetic and entertaining, and it’s very evident that he puts in the extra effort in editing to churn out content.
Bhargava is also one of the more active streamers as he streams on YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram from his channel ‘569poker’ thrice a week. “After falling in love with poker about 1.5 years back, I have been following a lot of poker streamers; however, finding a regular ‘Indian’ poker streamer was impossible. So that got me wondering what it takes to put up a decent quality stream,” Bhargava told us, emphasizing that he also wants to clear the myth that streaming is only for the pros.
Poker Streaming is Fun!
When Siddharth Karia began live-streaming his tournament grind on PokerBaazi, it was like an experiment starting out and an add-on to his daily poker regime.
It turns out, Karia is quite a natural to the genre, and he admits he’s enjoying it so far. “I thought that I can entertain and play my game, and I have started to look forward to my weekly Tuesday streams.”
Fun, you say?! Yeah, that, and a lot of hard work, according to MoneyMaker champion, Anuj Kodam.
“It’s a unique experience, quite daunting the first time, cause for hours, you just talk to yourselves. Who does that in real life? And keep people entertained with no person to react to. And delayed streams get tricky,” said Kodam, adding that it all comes down to one`s comfort groove, and streaming, in general, is a booming space that will add to the exposure of the game.
Kodam, who runs his own YouTube channel for “Poetry, Poker and everything in between,” is nowadays live-streaming his Saturday tourney runs on PokerBaazi. “I like playing poker and talking to people, streaming is the best of both worlds. I’ve been wanting to make content for a while, streaming was the low hanging fruit, so when (Poker) Baazi asked me, I was all in.”
The Challenges
No, poker streaming is not easy; take it from the former streaming ambassador for PokerStars India, Sharad Rao.
The talented poker pro from Pune has been away from the poker scene for a while, but when we spoke to him on the subject, he was quick to point out, “Streaming is not for everyone. Streaming and being in public space needs a special set of skills. But people who’ve got it- there’s a lot of potential to grow IMO. Everyone should give it a shot, see if it’s something they enjoy and if they think it’s their calling- invest hours. Being regular and following a schedule is the key!”
Inadequate response is another problem for streamers chipped in Kucheria. “The viewership is not good, and it is challenging to organically grow, though now I have got some permanent audience for myself…” says Kucheria, who has been streaming for three months. He is planning to shift his focus towards audiences who have not heard of the game.
Sajwan seemed to have a similar opinion and conceded that although the response to his streams has been amazing, he was expecting it to be better. Streaming has also affected his poker regime more than he expected.
“It’s too much hard work. Adding to the part that you gotta play poker and utilize those aspects, then you gotta stream and be entertaining enough. It definitely degrades your game. I thought this content adventure for two months would reduce my volume by 30% but ended up reducing it by 70-75%. So that was a huge loss for me for sure, and I don’t see that happening too much in the future,” Sajwan said, adding that he is planning to stop streaming to focus on the WSOP Online series and WPT Online.
Who is Everyone’s Favorite Streamer?
And the award for the best poker streamer goes to……Well, there are quite a few deserving candidates, to be honest. We asked our Indian streamer who they took inspirations from when creating content. While many international names popped up, a few Indian names were thrown in as well.
Muskan Sethi’s favorite international streamer is Lex Veldhuis, whereas Aditya Wadhwani’s top pick is Spraggy (Ben Spragg). As far as Indian streamers are concerned, Wadhwani feels, “In India, I think it’s important we check out everyone at this point, as it’s still a young crew. “
But if you take a vote, Sajwan is hands-down the most popular, at least among the Indian streamers we spoke to.
“There is nobody who is creating content (in India) at JDSaz’s (Jaideep Sajwan) level,” Kshitij Kucheria said. His international favorites are Matt and Jaime Staples, and for the strategy aspect, he likes to watch streams by Jonathan Little.
For Kodam – Sajwan, and Poker Bootcamp India are the ones to watch, “JD is doing a great job in building the scene…” Kodam said, adding that he also follows Charlie Carrel and Ginge Poker.
So, who are Sajwan’s favorite Indian streamers? “I usually stick to streams of my friends, like Chirag Sodha, Anuj Kodam, and Siddharth Karia, whom I know personally and can relate to.”
Streaming – Helping Grow the Game
This sudden spike in interest for poker streaming in India is definitely good for the mind sport`s growth. There is no denying the fact that the world lives and breathes on social media. It is quite easy to lose oneself down the YouTube rabbit hole. An upsurge of poker-related content on such platforms will make it easier for the game to reach the masses, while also helping upcoming players hone their skills.
Sodha recalled, “Streamers like Adi (Aditya Wadhwani) and JD (Jaideep Sajwan) were probably the first ones to bring streaming to light. Recently we have seen so many streamers like Kshitij (Kucheria), 569poker (Shobhit Bhargava), Siddharth (Karia), Anuj (Kodam), Poker Bootcamp coaches Abhishek Goindi and Tanmay, Nikita (Luther) and many others.”
He emphasized that in the end, this will help grow poker. “It’s great to see! Personally, I feel good about being able to help people who are still new to the game – that’s where I believe my streams are doing some justice.”
Karia opined that streaming gives a feel of what poker players are experiencing, and will help make poker more popular amongst the masses. “People will be able to get a feel of what so many players are experiencing and going through while playing poker…Will surely depend on what kind of audiences are attracted to it. It will be fun to see how it unfurls!”
Wadhwani underlined how perspective helps get better at the game. “Watching different poker players go through their process in real-time, no matter the level of skill is a great way to see how differently this game can be played and enjoyed. Genuine engagement is a great source of inspiration in my opinion.”
Conclusion – Poker Streaming a Growing Space
We asked PokerStars India Team Pro Muskan Sethi her take on the new crop of Indian streamers, and she said, “I love it! I have immense respect for all the upcoming streamers of the Indian poker community. They say that whenever we step out of our comfort zone, great things happen!”
Sethi has had a lot of practice with content creation, running her “Off the Felt” video podcast, and streaming as the next big stop isn’t ruled out.
Bhargava is confident that a whole new industry is waiting to boom, though it may take a while.
Wadhwani made a pertinent observation. “I’ve noticed a definite upswing in support of poker content online from poker brands. Lockdown was a catalyst not just for the creators, the companies now require a source of the sport being showcased somewhere since live events are on hold. Since streaming is a digital medium like online poker is, the relationship should be symbiotic in theory.”
Verdict: Indian streamers have a lot to catch up on, to come to par with international streamers, but like poker itself, even poker streaming holds all the promises to become much bigger and better in the country. Let’s show some love to this passionate bunch of streamers, by watching their poker streams, and keep them motivated to create quality content for the fast-growing Indian poker community!
Team Ukraine Defends IFMP Nation’s Cup World Championship Title, Team India Finishes 4th
The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) Nation’s Cup is arguably one of the most action-driven and ‘sportified’ global platforms among all the poker leagues in the sport. With the COVID-19 caused hiatus for live stops, the Nation`s Cup, too, had to be held online to meet the dates that were announced. Using CISCO`s Webex digital platform to conduct the proceedings, the IFMP Nation’s Cup World Championship played out over the weekend on May 30 & 31, with 120 players from 12 countries coming together to battle it out for the prestigious title!
In the end, it was the reigning champions Ukraine who went two for two by defending the title. Ukraine had debuted in the competition last year, where they dethroned reigning champions Ireland to claim the top spot with 1,837 points. Repeating much of that dominating form, the team took an early lead and held on to it to win the title with 1,369 points.
IFMP congratulated the team on their remarkable victory!
CONGRATULATIONS to Team UKRAINE!!! Current world champions retain the world championship in the Nations Cup! #AllInTogether pic.twitter.com/WXd7THLPeN
— International Federation of Match Poker (@IFPoker) May 31, 2020
There was a sizable virtual rail rooting for Team India. Captained by Gaurav Gala and comprising of eight other team members, namely, Tanmay Bagga, Rishab Jain, Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Krina Gala, Zubin Panthaki, Vidur Singhal, Anujkumar Kodam and Kalyan Chakravarthy, Day 1 saw wild swings in the team standings. India was placed fourth at the end of Day 1, a position it retained going into the finals. As it turned out, the team eventually finished in fourth place with 1,270 points.
Team Australia collected 1,320 points for a second-place finish, with Team Lithuania placing third with 1,281.5 points.
IFMP tweeted the official results.
Final team standings after at the end of the Nations Cup! Fantastic performance by Team Ukraine, Australia and Lithuania! pic.twitter.com/FIY1vIslE7
— International Federation of Match Poker (@IFPoker) May 31, 2020
The Indian arm of the IFMP congratulated the Indian team for its commendable performance.
It's been a challenging & highly competitive #MatchPoker Nations Cup, with #TeamIndia finishing in 4th place! We are extremely proud of every member of our team for doing their best, fighting till the very end and representing our nation with pride & honour. #AllInTogether pic.twitter.com/MMMHl6NTmx
— Indian Fed. Poker (@IndianFedPoker) June 1, 2020
IFMP Nation’s Cup
The Nation’s Cup is the marquee event on Match Poker’s annual calendar. Alongside defending champions Team Ukraine, the competition was attended by the European champion`s Spain, Singapore, Australia, Belarus, Lithuania, Ireland, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Poland, and Asian champion`s India. In all, there were 120 poker players from 12 counties who participated in the Nation`s Cup.
IFMP had confirmed on April 17 that the competition would be moved online to a digital platform due to the COVID-19 health pandemic. Test sessions were conducted with every team to ensure that things go smoothly during the tournament.
Team India’s Performance
Team India created history last year in November when it won the IFMP Asian Nation’s Cup for the first time. The winning team comprised of Tanmay Bagga, Rishab Jain, Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Prateek Mishra, Krina Gala, and Taran Mundkar and was captained by Gaurav Gala.
The team’s composition was changed for the finale, and while ‘Bitti’ was making an appearance in the contest for the third time, Mishra and Mundkar were replaced by Zubin Panthaki, Vidur Singhal, Anujkumar Kodam and Kalyan Chakravarthy, making for a total of nine players who represented the country in the Nation`s Cup.
Day 1
Day 1 began at 1.30 pm (IST) on May 30. The 12 teams played a total of four sessions, each session consisting of 50 hands.
While Team Taiwan closed out Session 1 on the top, by the end of Session 2, Ukraine had catapulted to the top, with Singapore and Australia in hot pursuit.
Team India was in sixth place after Session 1 but pushed back to the ninth spot after Session 2. The team rallied up to fourth place by the end of Session 3, a position it maintained through Session 4.
With Day 1 in the books, it was Team Ukraine in the lead with 1,412.5 points, followed by Singapore (1,386.5 points), Australia (1,349 points), and India (1,337points).
IFMP tweeted the end of Day 1 results.
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY ONE!!! We are #AllInTogether! pic.twitter.com/1htrBeaCWV
— International Federation of Match Poker (@IFPoker) May 30, 2020
Day 2
The teams played two more sessions of 50 hands each, completing a total of 300 hands before the draw for the finals took place.
At the end of Session 1 on Day 2, Team Ukraine had maintained its lead with 1,736.5 points, but Australia (1,709 points) had improved to push Singapore to the third position. India (1,659.5 points) stayed put in fourth place.
Team Singapore recovered fast and closed out Session 2 on the top with 2,074 points, with Ukraine, Australia, and India all close behind each other.
With 300 hands completed, the top six teams made it to the IFMP Nation’s Cup finals!
WOW what a last session and incredible effort by all 12 teams! Here are the standings after the group stages – many Congratulations to the top 6 who qualify to the finals. 2 more sessions to crown our Nations Cup Champion! #AllInTogether pic.twitter.com/enp4sZqo2o
— International Federation of Match Poker (@IFPoker) May 31, 2020
The Finals
The finals comprised of two sessions of 75 hands each.
Leading the final six teams into the final session of the IFMP Nation’s Cup was Team Singapore (1,037 points), followed by the teams from Ukraine and Australia. India managed to make it to the finals with 1,005 points, while Taiwan and Lithuania were the last two on the points tally.
Position | Country | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Singapore | 1037 |
2 | Ukraine | 1029 |
3 | Australia | 1022.5 |
4 | India | 1005 |
5 | Taiwan | 977.75 |
6 | Lithuania | 974.5 |
Denying Australia the win, Team Ukraine once again took on the winner’s mantel with a staggering 1,369 points. It also remained a reasonable distance ahead of Team Australia that finished second with 1,320 points, and Team Lithuania (1,281.5 points) that took third place. Team India led by Gala finished in fourth place with 1,270 points.
Position | Country | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Ukraine | 1369 |
2 | Australia | 1320 |
3 | Lithuania | 1281.5 |
4 | India | 1270 |
5 | Taiwan | 1268.25 |
Incidentally, this is the third time Team India has participated in the IFMP Nation’s Cup. The first Indian team to represent the country at this contest was in 2017, where the Harman Baweja-led Mumbai All Stars finished fifth at the competition. Team India led by Gala finished had finished fifth at last year in this contest.
A Roundup of the Key Achievements of Indian Players at the WSOP Over the Years
Before the COVID-19 outbreak sent the world scuttling indoors, 2020 bore all the promises of being another great year for live poker. Had things gone on as usual, we would have been only weeks away from the most extravagant poker series – the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP)!
Hotel bookings would have started filling in right about now, and Vegas would be lit up in preparation to welcome the hordes of poker players who visit Sin City each year for the annual series. The excitement for the upcoming WSOP, like at most places globally, would have been at its peak back home as well. Many Indian players, pros and recreational ones alike would have already finalized their travel plans, and social media groups would be abuzz with player’s buying/selling action or discussing travel and hotel arrangements!
Unfortunately, none of it is happening this summer as the global health emergency arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the WSOP to postpone its plans, and the official word is that the 51st annual series will still take place sometime later this year. But for now, with Nevada on a complete shutdown, and international travel an absolute no-no, it’s going to be a non-WSOP summer.
The WSOP has tried to make up for this by announcing a new WSOP Super Circuit Online Series that kicks off on GGPoker on May 3. Nonetheless, even a record-shattering $100 Million guaranteed across 595 events cannot compensate for the delay of the annual live series that is the most-awaited poker festival for poker players the world over!
This is sadly a missed opportunity for us as well to report on our Indian players at the WSOP, at least these next two months. We have tried to fill in a part of that void by recounting some of the most prominent achievements by Team India at the WSOP in this feature!
There can be no debate that Indian players have been consistently setting a new benchmark at the WSOP with each passing year. Still, the last three years have been extraordinarily spectacular for Team India. The turnout of Indian players at the mega festival has increased drastically, and so have the results. Underlining this is the fact that Team India has brought back the gold bracelet without fail the last three editions!
Getting India its first gold bracelet was the dynamic duo of Nipun Java and Aditya Sushant in 2017. Nikita Luther won the shiny gold bracelet in 2018, with Young Gun Abhinav Iyer becoming the first Indian to win a solo WSOP bracelet last year.
There are more inspiring WSOP stories outside these bracelet victories as well. One of the most prominent of these has been scripted by poker veteran Aditya Agarwal, who has cashed the WSOP Main Event an incredible eight times already and boasts of 44 bracelet event cashes!
Nishant Sharma is another player who has done the country proud by becoming the first Indian to make a top 50 finish in the WSOP Main Event, finishing 34th in the prestigious tournament in 2018.
Here is a complete rundown of all the significant achievements of Indian players at the WSOP from recent memory!
Bracelet Wins
Winning a WSOP gold bracelet is on the top of the wish list for most poker players. Making that wish come true and also going down the history books as the first Indians to do so was the dynamic duo of Aditya Sushant, and U.S.-based Nipun Java, who won the $1,000 Tag Team in June of 2017 for $75,319 (~₹51.55 Lakhs) each. Java would go on to take down his second bracelet the very next month in the $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Championship.
It was Nikita Luther, who entered the elite bracelet winner’s club in 2018. Incidentally, she won the bracelet in the same $1,000 Tag Team as her fellow countrymen the year before, effectively defending the title for Team India. Sharing the victory with her was teammate Germany’s Guiseppe Pantaleo.
Young Gun Abhinav Iyer is the most recent bracelet winner from the country. He won The Closer in 2019. Even though he is the third Indian to have won a WSOP bracelet, he still holds the distinction of being the only one from the country to have done so in a solo event (barring Java who won an online bracelet).
Biggest Single Score
And topping this category is none other than Abhinav Iyer! The Mumbai resident decimated a field of 2,800 entries at the 2019 WSOP Event #84: The Closer that included his heads-up rival, Sammy Lafleur. Iyer pocketed a windfall of $565,346 (~₹3.87 Crores) for the win, which continues to remain the single-largest score by an Indian at the WSOP!
Paawan Bansal is a close second behind Iyer in this category. Call it coincidence, but ironically Bansal`s score also came from The Closer. Bansal placed runner-up in the event after losing the bracelet fight to former World Champion Joe Cada in 2018, but a runner-up finish fetched him a very generous $378,765 (~₹2.60 Crores) in prize money.
Nipun Java (runner-up at 2015 WSOP Event 46 – $3,000 PLO 6-Handed for $270,509 – ₹1.87 Crores), and Nishant Sharma (34th at WSOP 2018 Event #65: Main Event for $230,475 -₹1.58 Crores) round out the other top Indian scores at the WSOP over the years!
Most ITM Finishes
The poker boy for Indian poker, Aditya Agarwal, tops the list of Indian pros for accumulating the maximum number of ITM finishes at the WSOP. Agarwal’s WSOP tally is as long as 44 ITM finishes that add up to a staggering $580,782 (~₹4.44 Crores*) in live winnings. One of the earliest Indians to represent the country at the prestigious series, Agarwal, is also known for regularly playing most of the NLH events (barring the High Rollers) on the WSOP schedule each year. He collected his first WSOP cash way back in 2007, placing 116th in the $2,000 NLHE for $29,883 (~₹20.71 Lakhs).
Running through his long WSOP scorecard, Agarwal’s best score to date remains his 71st place finish at the 2015 WSOP Main Event that fetched him a whopping $96,445 (~₹66.85 Lakhs).
Most Final Table Finishes (Including Bracelet Wins)
The Delhi-born California resident Nipun Java and Chennai`s Aditya Sushant share the distinction of having final tabled the most bracelet events – three each.
Java’s first WSOP final table finish was in 2015 when he finished runner-up in Event #46 $3,000 PLO Six-Handed for $270,509 (~₹1.87 Crores). He had a breakout 2017 that saw him taking down two bracelets in Event #10: WSOP $1K NLHE Tag Team for $75,318 and Event #71: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Championship for $237,688 (~₹1.64 Crores), respectively.
Sushant, a former mentee of Aditya Agarwal, has been a great ambassador for poker in India. After winning the bracelet with Java in the $1,000 Tag Team event in 2017, Sushant came close to a second bracelet a few weeks later, finishing eighth in Event #66 $1,500 NLHE for $44,255. In 2018, Sushant placed ninth in the $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE NLHE Championship for $20,969 (~₹14.35 Lakhs) for his third FT finish in a bracelet tournament.
Most Main Event Cashes
Dominating this category and by some margin in once again Aditya Agarwal. The former PokerStars India Team Pro has been a regular at the WSOP since 2006 and has made the annual pilgrimage to the mega-series for 14 years straight! While he has been eyeing the gold bracelet for well over a decade, he’s been consistently cashing in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event World Championship as well. With an incredible eight Main Event cashes, he is closing in on the current world record of 10 cashes presently held by Berry Johnston.*
The first time that Agarwal picked a score at the Main Event was in 2007, where he finished 450th for $29,883. The $96,445 (~₹66.85 Lakhs) that he won for his 71st place finish in 2015 is his best Main Event finish to date.
Deepest Main Event Run
Nishant Sharma was the biggest revelation at the 2018 WSOP as he went on to place 34th place out of a massive 7,874-player field in the $10,000 Main Event. This remains to date the deepest run by an Indian at the Main Event. In addition to the bragging rights, Sharma pocketed a life-changing $230,475 (~₹1.58 Crores) for his phenomenal deep run! The back-story to this win was equally inspiring. Sharma had won a Vegas package on 9stacks and converted that into the life-changing opportunity!
While a top 100 finish in the Main Event was a distinction that only Aditya Agarwal (2015 WSOP – 71st for 96,445 – ₹66.85 Lakhs) enjoyed till then, the same year, Vivek Rughani (88th for $77,695 – ₹53.48 Lakhs) also joined this elite list.
Agarwal’s protégé and PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved (128th for $57,010 – ₹39.24 Lakhs) was another standout performer at the 2018 WSOP Main Event. He did even better the next year as he finished 51st for a whopping $173,015 (~₹1.18 Crores)!