This Week in Poker: October 14 – 20

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring to you the weekly round up of the biggest online scores by Indian MTT players along with the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit.

Here are this week`s top stories

It has been another hectic week with big news pouring in from both, the domestic and international arenas. In India, after a successful IPC Oct edition in Goa, the beach state will host a new event tomorrow with the HiFi Tour, along with the launch of a new app, HiFi Goa.

Bengaluru is not far behind with some big developments that include an alliance between the IPA and the Stars Poker Room, as well as the announcement of a new ‘Avengers’ themed tournament series in Nov by the Cardrack Poker Room.

Moving on to Nepal, Casino Pride has started operations in the country on Oct 17 and the facility also features a poker room, providing players another destination for live action. In other international news, WSOP Europe played out in Berlin, with India`s Arsh Grover making his international debut count. Grover cashed in Event 2 and is going strong on Day 2 of the Main Event.

The Asian circuit gets busy with the APT Cambodia taking flight today and Team Thrill Pro Dhaval Mudgal will certainly be looking to extend his recent great form on to this series. Rajat Sharma, another domestic regular, is expected to join the action alongside Mudgal.

In the online section, Amit ‘bblacklegend’ Jain is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week.” Jain is an online juggernaut hard to contain, and the online phenom continued his rule with another major cash from a 3^rd place finish in the PokerStars $1,050 Super Tuesday.

Finally, Amaya and PokerStars continue to remain in the news, this time with a celebratory light show and their sacrifice to regain entry into the US market. And, the final ANZPT in Melbourne found a champion in Lin Shi.

Online Railbird Report

The “Super Tuesday” seems to have become super lucky for Amit ‘bblacklegend’ Jain, as he has now made three – top 5 finishes in this tournament in the past 20 months! Jain first collected $46,816 for a 4th place finish in the Super Tuesday in Feb, 2014. Just last month, he improved on that with a career-best score from a 3^rd place finish in the WCOOP Event 53 – $2,100 NLHE (Super Tuesday, Special Edition). Now, Amit has once again made a 3^rd place in the PokerStars $1,050 Super Tuesday this week, that makes him the best online performer and our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

Another big sweat came from Team PokerStars pro Aditya Agarwal. Aditya came close to the final table of the PokerStars ‘$215 Sunday Millions, $1M GTD’, but as has been his luck in some of the biggest tournaments this year, he was unable to seal the deal. Aditya was eliminated in 14^th place for $4,919. He was 2^nd in chips with 14 players remaining, when he got coolered with Ax Qx against an opponent’s Ax Kx.

The other scores this past week include:

– Armaan ‘armaan007’ Kochhar who won $2,822.10 for 1^st place in the PokerStars ‘$51 NL Hold’em [Hyper-Turbo], $10K GTD’.

– Kartik ‘pegasus1505’ Ved made two scores, first from his 7^th place finish for $1,397.97 in PokerStars ‘The Big $22, $45K GTD. He followed that up with a runners-up finish in the PokerStars ‘$11 NL Hold’em [8-Max], $6K GTD for $1,149.04.

– ‘rajesh_asi’ won PokerStars The Hot $4.40 [Turbo], $10K Gtd for $1,891.07.

– Raghav ‘Rossoneri23’ Bansal won $1,132.53 for 50^th place in the PokerStars ‘Knockout Week Main Event: $215 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout], $500K GTD’.

– Kunal ‘kcdesi’ Chandra won $3,015.00 for 15th place in the PokerStars ‘$530 Sunday 500, $250K GTD’.

– Akash ‘Buddhaluv’ Sanghvi won $2,404.05 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘$82 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo], $6K GTD’.

In other online news, the IOPC received a thunderous response within just 2 days of its newly revamped series on Spartan Poker. Now condensed into a 1 week competition, the series has 26 events with a full INR 12 lakhs in guarantees and is set to run from Oct 19 – Oct 25.

Casino Pride Starts Operations in Nepal

Nepal`s gambling industry just got a boost, with the launch of the Casino Pride, which officially launched its first casino in the country on Oct 17. The new Casino Pride also houses a poker room, besides its other entertainment and gaming options. The new casino is situated in the Hyatt Hotel and will be the third such gaming house in Nepal, after the Silver Heritage and Casino Mahjong.

Arsh Grover Making His Presence Felt at WSOPE Berlin

The 2015 WSOP Europe is now into Day 2 of its €10,450 Main Event. Young Gun Arsh Grover, who is on his first international outing, is the sole notable Indian at the series.

In Event 2 – €550 Oktoberfest NLH, Arsh made 24^th place for €6,455. The event drew 2,144 entries and Dietrich Fast was the ultimate champion for €157,749.

Read the complete story here.

In Event 7 – €550 Pot-Limit Omaha, UK veteran Barny Boatman collected his 2^nd WSOP bracelet, along with the top prize of €54,725. The event drew 503 entries and created a prize pool of €243,955.

Event 8 – €1,100 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em with Re-entry saw Georgios Sotiropoulos collecting his 3^rd bracelet, besides €112,133 in prize money.

The Main Event completed its 2 entry-flight days and Day 2 of the event is underway. Grover participated in Day 1A and has made it to Day 2. In all, 313 players registered through both days leading to a prize pool of €3,067,400.

Read the complete story here.

‘Avenger’ Themed Tournament Series Announced By Cardrack Poker Room

The Cardrack Poker Room in Bengaluru has announced its first in-house theme-based tournament series, ‘The Stack War of Avengers‘, which is based on fantasy heroes such as Thos, Ironman and the Hulk. The tournament is slated to run from Nov 5 to 7 and features three events, with buy-ins ranging from ₹1K to 5K.

IPA – Stars Poker Room Partnership

Poker in Bengaluru is booming! The IPA Poker Room and Stars Poker Room have joined hands to form a new alliance called IPA – Stars, giving the game a further fillip in the city. The alliance will first begin its operations at the Ulsoor property, but is expected to expand to 4 or 5 more rooms across Bengaluru.

Read the complete story here.

PokerStars Celebrates a Decade of Operations in Isle Of Man

PokerStars decided to celebrate its decade of operations at the Isle of Man and did it great style. The brand released a beautifully crafted video of its operations. The video displays a spectacular laser light show, with drumming music, symbols and its logo.

Read the complete story here.

Amaya’s Sacrifice For US License

Reports state that Amaya had to sack four of its executives to appease the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). PokerStars and Full Tilt had been banned after the Black Friday episode in 2011 and the DGE had specifically asked that the four senior officers, who were associated with site during the scandal, to be removed if the license was to be granted.

Read the complete story here.

2015 ANZPT Melbourne Main Event Won By Lin Shi

The ANZPT Melbourne is the last event of the brand, which will merge with the APPT from Jan, 2016. The event drew 520 players and local player Lin Shi (Lenny) was the champion for AU $170,641.

Read the complete story here.

That wraps up this edition of our weekly recap. But keep your browsers pointed this way same time next week, as we return with all the top stories from the world of poker.