WSOP 2017: The Ultimate Poker Dream Starts Tomorrow! Will Team India Bring a Bracelet This Year?

With barely a day to go for the 48^th World Series of Poker (WSOP), excitement is flush in the air and all roads will end at Las Vegas, for poker players across the globe, including Indians, who now seem ready for the global challenge and eager to bring the gold bracelet home.

The series will be held once again amidst the deluxe environs of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino with a luscious array of 74 official bracelet events. Available in a range of buy-ins and wide variety of formats, the longest-running poker fest will culminate with the final table of its signature $10,000 Main Event, which will now play down to a winner on July 22 after WSOP altered the age-old November Nine concept.

Nearly 500 poker tables will be set up across more than 100,000 square-feet of ballroom space to accommodate the players from around the world who attend poker’s annual pilgrimage.

Last year Raghav Bansal cashed $69K at the series with many other notable scores by our country mates. Aditya Sushant made a deep run in the Main Event finishing 216^th for $42,285, Amit Jain ended the series in spectacular fashion with a 14^th place finish in the Little One Drop for $27,714. Antony Pereira won a Rio DeepStack event for $4,606 and Kunal Patni, Shashank Jain & Akash Malik all made inroads in other side events.

This year, the series will again be very special for more reasons than one, as one of the largest Indian contingents-ever is heading to Vegas.

For India, WSOP hopes are poised on the brink of a breakthrough, with a bracelet for the country, considering the increasing impact our players have begun to make at international events in the recent past.

The timing is right and our players are primed to claim their place in the global poker sun, with confidence at an all-time high; we have the talent and the skills, all we need is that one moment where all combine with luck to get that golden bracelet home!

2017 Indian Team Headed to WSOP

Looking at the team headed to Vegas this year, with his pioneering skills and regular participation at other global tournaments, the most renowned poker face of the country and the sole Team PokerStars Pro from India, Aditya Agarwal will again be a hot favorite to clinch a bracelet for the country. Agarwal has been attending the series for almost a decade now and has already cashed five times in the main event even making a deep 71st place finish for $96,445 among a field of 6,420 entries in 2015 proving his ability to sustain amongst the toughest. He is by far the most experienced among the lot, with the skills to go the distance. Agarwal is extremely comfortable in international fields and as a seasoned online scorer the volume he has played, has given him the edge to handle difficult spots with ease. He has already reached Vegas along with his better half Shuchi Chamaria Agarwal who recently signed up as the brand ambassador of India facing online poker site PokerMet. The power couple is all prepped up and set to join the action at the series.

Agarwal will start his WSOP grind with the Tag Team Championship event with his team mates and good friends Chris Dombrowski & Jim Collopy.

Joining him at the series will be a large contingent of talented and raring-to-go players, many mentored by Agarwal himself.

A lot of tournament regulars have been selling their WSOP action on social media including Aditya Sushant, Vikram Kumar, Paawan Bansal, Amit Jain, Kunal Patni, Akash Malik and Sumit Sapra.

Raghav Bansal is another solid consistent player who is one of the most disciplined players in the circuit today. Extremely hardworking, Bansal has been putting in a lot of work on his game with personal coaching from some of the top pros and even mental coaching from an expert. His experience in big international events and his deep runs at previous WSOP makes him a solid contender to get the bracelet home.

Samay Parikh is still a probable attendee at the series and will be a hot pick to bring home the bracelet if he attends. He was off to a good start pretty early in his career when he won the ₹50,000 PokerGuru Tour High Roller Event back in 2011. One of the most feared cash games players and among the best Omaha players in the country, Parikh is a Vegas regular, who is not intimidated playing against the biggest sharks at the felts, but sails forth aggressively. The pro has been making the annual trip regularly, attending high stakes cash games with the international best, cashing four WSOP events in his very first visit in 2014.

Aditya Sushant is another hot pick for the bracelet and will be attending the series for the fourth time. Sushant has been in a tremendous form recently having scored a number of deep finishes. He surely will be looking to extend his scores in WSOP and the Main Event in particular as he made a deep run in the same last time.

PokerBaazi Pro Vikram Kumar will be attending the extravaganza for the first time. Las Vegas holds special significance for Kumar who picked up the game there when he first visited Sin City years back. He shared his plans with us saying “I would be leaving end of May and be chilling in Los Angeles a few days before heading to Vegas for the series. Expectations are huge with respect to preparations been putting in lot of volume on the tables and watching Rio videos 🙂 there are lot of top Indian sickos making it to the series and have a feeling it’s the year for the Indian contingent. Every single player from India is a bracelet contender for sure but my lungi pick will Raghav Bansal”

Amit Jain has time and again proven his mettle scoring notable results both online and live. He even made a deep run in last year’s Little One Drop event finishing 14^th for $27,714. Jain will be one of the top picks for the bracelet for anyone who is aware of the talent this soft-spoken pro possesses.

Kunal Patni has been a regular in the Asian circuit for quite some time now and will be attending WSOP for the third time this year. He shared his plans saying “It’s my third time at the WSOP. The first one was a washout but last year was much better where I broke even for the series. I am expecting to do much better this time as I obviously have got a lot more experience in the last one year. All the big names are joining for the series. Similar to last time and would be awesome to be with the Indian contingent again. In fact, Amit Jain, Dhaval Mudgal, Romit Advani and me are sharing a house in Vegas. Raghav Bansal and Aditya Sushant based on current form definitely are my two top picks. But having said that all the other top players from India are quality players and could easily run deep and get a bracelet”

Muskan Sethi will be attending the series for the sixth consecutive year and has been busy travelling. We spoke to Sethi and the stoked lady said, “Reached London. Getting to Vegas on 14^th. Will play some bracelet events and the Main. I learnt a lot at the PSL and have been working with my coaches Elliot Roe and Grayson Nichols who is from the states and doing a lot of yoga and meditation. Scoop pumped my bankroll for Vegas so will be adding some more events to my schedule. I’m going with my husband and a few more friends from the Indian poker community. We all know what they are capable of and I can tell you the bracelet is coming home for sure!”

Delhi lad Akash Malik has also been making consistent trips every year to the Mecca of poker and will be attending the WSOP for the fifth time this year. He feels the most comfortable playing in United States because he believes it’s by far the softest field as compared to anywhere else in the world. His experience among large and pressurizing fields makes him a hot pick for the bracelet especially given his good form after a successful PSL debut.

Sumit Sapra, a regular in the domestic circuit is often seen in action at Asian events, this will be a natural extension for his poker bio as he attends the series for the second time moving to bigger territories, seeking larger scores. We spoke to Sapra who confirmed, “Getting to Vegas on the 9th June, playing the Millionaire Maker on the 10^th. One more tournament after that and then taking a break for a week or so. Then I’m back in Vegas around 24^th and will play WPT Aria first. And then around 5-6 tournaments at the WSOP.

Recently signed PokerMet pro Dhaval Mudgal also confirmed his attendance at the series and will definitely be a hot pick for the bracelet. PokerBaazi pro Jasven Saigal will also be in attendance at the series.

We spoke to Rohan Dhawan who will join in the later stages of the series and he said, “I will be leaving Delhi on the 28th June and will be playing the following events: 29th June 4-day event 5k buy in, 30th 3-day event 1500 buy in, 5th 3-day event 1500 buy in, 6th 3-day event 3000 buy, 8th main event 10k. It’s my first time to WSOP so super excited. Have been taking training online and watching a lot of stuff. Don’t really get the time to practice online or live tourneys though. Satchit Kapur is going with me. Raghav Bansal and Akash Malik should kill it!! Cheers !!”

Antony Pereira managed to clinch a side event title last year when he took down the $135 Rio Daily DeepStack event for $4,606 and will be attending the series. Sharing his plans Pereira said, “This year I would be playing some events including 888 and 1500. Planning to fly alone and meet my Indian buddies there. I will be flying to California very soon and have to do some personal stuff out there. Once I am done with it I will be flying to the Vegas. Right now, my plan is to play 888, 1500 mix and 1111 little one drop. Will be playing ME (main event) satellites too. Will keep PokerGuru posted if I play the ME.”

Jaideep Sajwan said, “In the States for 50 days but Vegas would be limited to 20 days. Rest of the days I have road trips planned for west coast all the way from Seattle to Vegas. Yellowstone, Grand Canyon. Vegas would be 5 or so tourneys and rest cash and SNG’s.Rooming with Sushi (Aditya Sushant) all the time even on some trips. For the main event grind have taken a house with Sushi, Vinod Megalmani and Vidwath Shetty.Have been playing less and working on my game for last 2 months. Top pic for bracelet will be Raghav Bansal. Our PSL Bengaluru team captain and mentor.”

Vidwath Shetty is another pro confirmed to be in attendance at the series along with Vinod Megalmani. Shetty is scheduled to reach on June 24^th and is slated to play total tournaments worth $25,000 including the Main Event. We spoke to the confident pro – “I did not do much preparation as such as I don’t really want to stress myself out. Vinod is coming with me and meeting Jdsaz and Sushant there.”

Bhavesh Nainani is one of the many Indian players who will be making his WSOP debut this year along with Varun Gupta who will also be in attendance thanks to a Fly2Vegas promotion hosted by Poker Ninja.

This is just an indicative list of attendees from India and we hope to see many more players – pros and amateurs alike joining the series later this summer.

Stay tuned on PokerGuru for the latest updates from WSOP 2017.