Gaurav Gala
Screen Names
-
-
-
-
News Tagged
Recent Articles
Top 5 Interviews That Rocked 2019
This Week in Poker: November 6 – 12
Top Videos of the Week: November 1 – 7
Team India is the Latest IFMP Asian Nations Cup Champion!
Most Popular Articles
No articles found.
Top 5 Interviews That Rocked 2019
2019 was another fantastic year for the poker industry, and we were always on the front lines bringing you the inside scoop in exclusive interviews featuring industry leaders, the big winners, and upcoming poker talents. Based on the viewership, here are the top five interviews that really stood out in 2019.
This is not just a list, it is a meaningful reflection of the movers and shakers of the poker industry this year, setting the mood for an equally remarkable year ahead!
Anish Patra – Winning the Inaugural Millionaire Legends on Spartan Poker
November 10 was a fateful day for Anish Patra. The 27-year-old recreational poker turned semi-pro trounced a reg-laden field of 857 runners to win the first-ever The Millionaire Legends ₹2 Crores GTD on Spartan Poker following a heads-up deal with Vikranth Varma.
Patra pocketed a life-changing sum of ₹46.21 Lakhs for his win. Speaking to PokerGuru after his stellar run, Patra said, “The idea was always to play solid, pick my spots, and try and come in the top 2-3 places where all the money was. There was no pressure at all. I just wanted to play my ranges and take the mathematically correct decisions irrespective of the outcome.”
The Mumbai-lad, who now lives in Pune, entered the final table with the shortest stack amongst seasoned players like Sajal Gupta, Vikranth Varma, PokerGuru Ambassador Nadeem Basha, and Manish Lakhotia. “I started as the shortest stack and was down to about 5 big blinds at one point,” Patra recalled.
Patra charted an impressive climb to reach the heads-up play with Varma, where the duo quickly locked in a deal. Having had too many runner-up finishes in the past, as he describes as his “2nd place curse,” Patra was hell-bent not to miss out this time. “The pay jumps were significant, and entering a deal helped iron out the variance. ‘borntrouble’ [Vikranth Varma] is a solid player and big congratulations to him for playing the way he did. No regrets at all, and I was happy to share the prize money with him,” he said.
Read the complete interview here
Gaurav Gala – Leading Team India to Victory in the IFMP Asian Nation’s Cup
PLO specialist Gaurav Gala captained the six-member Team India comprising of Tanmay Bagga, Rishab Jain, Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Prateek Mishra, Krina Gala, and Taran Mundkar at the International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) Asian Nations Cup hosted at Taoyuan City, Taiwan in November. Gala was instrumental in strategizing the team’s spectacular performance that saw Team India lifting the IFMP Asian Nation’s Cup trophy for the first time this year!
In an exclusive interview with PokerGuru, Gala spoke about the winning strategy that helped them lift the cup. “Our initial plan was to finish in the top four and qualify for the world championships. Match Poker is a Team sport, one needs to follow a team strategy with discipline to succeed. To select the player with the right skill set who fits perfectly into the team strategy, that is what a ‘horses for courses’ strategy is,” Gala said.
Team India suffered a few setbacks in the first two sessions, and so after the third session, Gala decided to make a few changes. “Taiwan’s change in approach caught us on the wrong foot. Bitti [Aditya Agarwal] played well but faced the wrong side of variance, and we slipped to the third position. Prateek [Mishra] and I were following every team and their player’s gameplay, we had to counter Taiwan’s play and target the Singapore team who were playing kinda passive. The change bore fruit as we knocked off 20 points from the top.”
Under Gala’s stewardship, Team India will be seen competing in the World Championship slated for February 2020 in Peru. “We are motivated and egging to give it our best shot,” Gala added.
Read the complete interview here
Puneet Dua – BalleBaazi, PPL High Roller Run, Past Wins & More
Puneet Dua is a man of many talents, but one thing has remained a constant – his passion for poker. In 2016, he made heads turn when he took down the inaugural Baazi Poker Tour (BPT) ₹25K Main Event for ₹10 Lakhs. Three years later, Dua once again grabbed the spotlight when he stormed into the final table of PokerBaazi’s PPL #35 High Roller 6-Max ₹70 Lakhs GTD with over a third in chips. He eventually finished third, taking home ₹6.97 Lakhs.
“Luckily, the flips fell my side mostly. Players were exposing a very wide range, you expect that short-handed so had to adapt, picked more chips in the late stage when less than 25 players were left. I prefer playing short-handed, always,” Dua said, reiterating his run during a heads-up interview with PokerGuru.
Dua is currently the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the fast-growing fantasy cricket platform, BalleBaazi. “It’s been BalleBaazi for the last 27 months now, looking forward to being coached in January before becoming a frequent customer at the live tables. I have been spending whatever little cash game time I have at OFC tables, I really enjoy playing the progressive & ultimate format.”
Read the complete interview here
Co-Founder of Poker Dangal, Karan Gandhi – Talks About the Startup’s Journey So Far
In 2017, four passionate poker diehards got together to set up Poker Dangal. The site launched operations in 2018 and has been growing its player base steadily since. Co-founder Karan Gandhi, who heads the firm’s Business Development vertical talked to PokerGuru at length on the making of Poker Dangal and future plans.
“We are 4 co-founders in the company – Varun Mahna, Varun Puri, Shashwat Jain, and me. The team is a mix of IITians, BITSians, and XLRI graduates, so we know what we want to drive in terms of our customer experience and value proposition.”
Gandhi added, “We have achieved many firsts in the industry and are continuously learning and unlearning every day. From acquiring PokerMet to launching 5 Card PLO to successfully running Dangal Value Series, it has been a great learning curve for us.”
He admitted that acquiring the defunct site PokerMet helped the site gain players’ trust and was emphatic that the team is working committedly to offer a better poker playing experience to players.
“PokerMet was struggling because of many reasons, and we wanted to help the players who were facing the consequences of this struggle. The positive vibes and image we got post the acquisition have been invaluable. Constant product innovation is the key to customer delight, and we will make sure to keep evolving and innovating.”
Read the complete interview here
CEO of PokerBaazi, Navkiran Singh – Talks About a Trailblazing 2018, Baazi Rewards & ‘The Game Changer’
The past two years have been significant for PokerBaazi that has streamlined its software and player rewards system in a major overhaul. At the year’s outset, CEO Navkiran Singh spoke to us on the various factors that have helped position the site among the top-rung leaders in the domestic circuit.
“The growth has been great in these last 4 years. PokerBaazi now has a registered user base of over 5 Lac. The numbers have also grown 60-70% yearly,” Singh said, underlining how the software upgrade was a testimonial to the team’s passion and commitment for improvement.
“With this (software) revamp, we gave name to our core value of #NeverStopImproving. Now, our immediate focus is on polishing the beta version and getting out the complete version out asap.”
Singh also shared the idea behind The Game Changer that made its inaugural run from February 20-24 with a staggering ₹2 Crores in prize pool guarantee.
The site’s player trend-setting rewards system – Baazi Rewards was another game-changer for the brand. “Our goal while designing the rewards program was to try and cater to every single player by providing them with benefits based on games, stakes, and hours that he/she plays…We wanted to give them all the options, the best possible prizes, and the best rake-back model. It’s the most comforting feeling to see players’ overwhelming responses.”
Read the complete interview here
With the year-end just around the corner, we will be bringing you many more features documenting the best and the most impactful developments of 2019, so stay tuned!
This Week in Poker: November 6 – 12
In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker,’ we bring you the weekly roundup of the most significant 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 was another landmark week for Indian poker, both online and live. Most of the updates came in from Asia, starting with Team India taking down the Match Poker Asian Nations Cup 2019 in Taiwan – the first time this title was won by India. Captained by Gaurav Gala, the team will next be participating in the World Championships that take place in Peru this December. Moving some 1,700 Kms across the South China Sea, we have the city of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam hosting the Asian Poker Tour (APT) for the third time this year. Indians once again came out in massive numbers, and the results were equally impressive. Seasoned pro Akshay Nasa did the country proud by taking down the biggest tournament at the series, the VND 8 Billion GTD Main Event, to win a career-best ₹46 Lakhs. PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan finished fourth while four others made it in the money. This is the second time this year that the title is coming back to India. Young Gun Abhinav Iyer was the first Indian to win the APT Vietnam Main Event in January. He may have busted the Main Event out of the money, but Iyer has made it to Day 2 in the second-largest event at the stop, the VND 6 Billion GTD Championships Event alongside four other Indians. The other report worthy performance was delivered by another circuit regular Sahil Chuttani, who posted a sixth-place finish in the High Rollers, not to forget the early deep runs by Sajal Gupta, Ashish Munot and Pankaj Kothari.
Now, if the live updates look impressive, then the online report card reads even better this week. The undisputed industry leader for online tournaments, Spartan Poker, has rolled out quite the spread of Millionaire`s this month. The first of three Millionaire`s attracted 857 runners across three starting flights, collecting a guarantee-smashing ₹2.18 Crores in prize money. It turned out to be a life-changing Sunday for Anish ‘Illusionist’ Patra. The 27-year old who has a day job as a Product Manager chopped The Millionaire with Vikranth Varma to lay claim on the title and a ₹46.21 Lakhs payday. Not stopping at this, Patra went on to win Adda52`s Mega Suits ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹4.88 Lakhs! With his cumulative earnings on Sunday coming to a mind-boggling ₹51.10 Lakhs, Patra is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
As for Varma, a runner-up added a massive ₹40.32 Lakhs to his bankroll. PokerGuru Ambassador Nadeem ‘blindgame’ Basha (3rd for ₹17.98 Lakhs) and Manish ‘thekid’ Lakhotia (4th for ₹12.53 Lakhs) also collected seven-figure scores.
Over at Jeju Shinhwa World, Landing Casino in Jeju, Korea, the second edition of the PokerStars LIVE Asia Jeju Red Dragon saw its Main Event crown a champion in China’s Zhihao Zhang. He dominated a record-breaking 869 entries to capture the title along with KRW 345,370,000 (~₹2.12 Crores) in prize money.
The other prominent international event, the third annual Poker Masters, has come visiting the PokerGo Studio at the ARIA Resort & Casino with 10 events on the schedule. Starting off with Isaac Baron, who took down the series-opener $10,000 NLHE for $223,100, the series has crowned several worthy champions. Headlining the wins was British Poker Open (BPO) champion Sam Soverel who took down the $25,000 PLO for $25,000. Soverel, who is leading the 2019 Poker Masters race with 690 points, is assured to add to his tally after making it to the final table of the last event on the roster – the $100K NLH Main Event – booking his claim on the prestigious Poker Masters Purple Jacket!
In other international developments, poker power couple Live Boeree and Igor Kurganov have parted ways with PokerStars.
The other breaking news features the winner details of Season 4 of the Match Indian Poker League (MIPL). Running from November 13 to 14, it was the Haryana Hawks who came out to win the season, denying past winners Mumbai All Stars the chance of becoming the first two-time winners in the league`s history!
Online Railbird Report
Dominating a field of 857 entries, Anish ‘Illusionist’ Patra took down the most prominent online tournament this week – Spartan Poker’s The Millionaire Legend ₹2 Crores GTD following a heads-up chop with Vikranth Varma. It turned out to be a life-changing Sunday for Patra who in addition to the ₹46.21 Lakhs he won in the Millionaire, went on to take down Adda52`s Mega Suits ₹25 Lakhs GTD for ₹4.88 Lakhs to earn a cumulative ₹51.10 Lakhs. Patra’s stellar run makes him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
The other Millionaire`s this week were – Varma, who finished runner-up in the Spartan Poker Millionaire for ₹40.32 Lakhs, PokerGuru Ambassador Nadeem ‘blindgame’ Basha (3rd for ₹17.98 Lakhs) and Manish ‘thekid’ Lakhotia (4th for ₹12.53 Lakhs).
Notable Scores of the week include –
| Player | Prize | Event | Poker Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anish ‘Illusionist’ Patra | ₹46.21 Lakhs | The Millionaire Legends ₹2 Crores GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Chirag ‘chilling’ Sodha | ₹7.76 Lakhs | Destiny 12.0 – ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| blindgame | ₹6.31 Lakhs | The Elite ₹25 Lakhs GTD (RE) | Spartan Poker |
| Venkatesh ‘Borissss’ Mukundan | ₹5.90 Lakhs | Sunday SuperStack ₹30 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| xoredvoid | ₹5.70 Lakhs | Godfather XI ₹20 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| a_one | ₹5.36 Lakhs | BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
| Gaurav ‘gaug17’ Sood | ₹5.05 Lakhs | The Summit ₹15 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
| Anish ‘anishpatra’ Patra | ₹4.88 Lakhs | Mega Suits ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| Ayan ‘interlalia_1’ Ray | ₹4.67 Lakhs | SSS#11 Mega Stack ₹20 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| comeon | ₹3.89 Lakhs | G.O.A. ₹20 Lakhs (RE) | PokerBaazi |
| Akash ‘K9_A_2’ Shekhar | ₹3.67 Lakhs | The Joker ₹15 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
| Nishant ‘DoJingBULLETSS’ Sharma | ₹3.47 Lakhs | Sunday Special Progressive KO SE ₹20 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| Siddharth ‘siddchat’ Chaturvedi | ₹3.35 Lakhs | The Endeavour ₹15 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
| Anurag ‘NormanBates’ Srivastava | ₹3.08 Lakhs | The Ballers ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| Rajat ‘sharabikebabi’ Sharma | ₹2.87 Lakhs | Highroller ₹12 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| Nikhil ‘billZ’ Arora | ₹2.55 Lakhs | Maverick ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| GHOSTF@CE | ₹2.45 Lakhs | Head-Hunter ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Ameya ‘Encashed’ Gokhale | ₹2.38 Lakhs | The Bout ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
| bossman_anmol | ₹2.22 Lakhs | Goa Fest ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| Jitendra ‘Jeet0’ Gadhwal | ₹2.20 Lakhs | FRI-YAY ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
| Dhinesh ‘you3betl4bet’ Kumar | ₹2.16 Lakhs | Uppercut Progressive KO 6-Max ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| Karan ‘Reg_Slayer’ Radia | ₹2.11 Lakhs | Hitman ₹7.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| Saket ‘saker’ Kumar | ₹2.11 Lakhs | Big Slick ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| Venkatesh ‘Borissss’ Mukundan | ₹2.05 Lakhs | SSS#5 ReCharge ₹13 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Sagar ‘sagarpupull’ Choudhury | ₹1.87 Lakhs | Sunday Special (L) ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| Hell | ₹1.52 Lakhs | SSS#6 Hi-Fi ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Gaurav ‘mozzie17’ Sood | ₹1.49 Lakhs | Thunder ₹5 Lakhs GTD (RE) | 9Stacks |
| GTO_LIFE_GG | ₹1.45 Lakhs | Sixth Sense No Limit Hold-em ₹8 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| mumbaifish | ₹1.43 Lakhs | SSS#12 Hi-Fi ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Pratyush ‘PlayMyWay’ Singh | ₹1.30 Lakhs | TGIF ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Tiger10 | ₹1.26 Lakhs | Electric Big Daddy ₹6 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Naval ‘Kareem Lala’ Lekhra | ₹1.22 Lakhs | SSS#2 Afternoon Showdown ₹4 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| vinaash | ₹1.19 Lakhs | Monday Hustle ₹6 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars |
| gaur83 | ₹1.11 Lakhs | Night on Stars ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| Akhilesh ‘Aone1’ Singh | ₹1.02 Lakhs | Grinders #14 6-Max Wednesday SuperStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
| Vikas ‘nohomejerome’ Yadav | ₹90,029 | Tuesday MonsterStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
| Royalflush2019 | ₹86,000 | Deepstack ₹2 Lakhs GTD (Re Raise) | Khelo365 |
| Tokio999 | ₹85,560 | Electric Afternoon Hi-Fi ₹3.5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Pushkin ‘Magnetor600’ Saxena | ₹81,536 | Hexagram ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| Vishal ‘FlopturnRiver’ Madan | ₹80,400 | Monday MegaStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
| aayush3110 | ₹78,660 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
| Chirag ‘chilling’ Sodha | ₹73,830 | SSS#3 Afternoon Hi-Fi ₹3 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| FreeFlow | ₹70,543 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Sanjay ‘Floppednuts’ Kumar | ₹68,751 | Hexagram ₹2 Lakhs GTD (FO) | Adda52 |
| Luxcozii | ₹67,500 | StackUp @8 PM 2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
| MalgudiDays | ₹67,500 | StackUp @8 PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
| Crazyslapper | ₹67,500 | StackUp @8 PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
| Dhappa | ₹67,470 | StackUp@ 8PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
| Wassup1 | ₹64,350 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| loThbrOck | ₹60,505 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
| Pankaj ‘agentwinner’ Kothari | ₹53,868 | BSS PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
| IPPA@PS | ₹51,860 | Progressive KO 4-Max ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| KNOCKMEOUT999 | ₹50,691 | The Classic ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| furiosa | ₹50,652 | Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
| Karann ‘karan1515’ Dembla | ₹50,250 | Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
| udarchis | ₹46,000 | Big Bang ₹1 Lakh GTD | Khelo365 |
| Ayush ‘Kyanaamrakhu’ Garg | ₹45,634 | 6-Max NLHE ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| goenkabros | ₹43,000 | Mega Splash ₹1 Lakh GTD | Khelo365 |
| Anuj ‘brockLesnar95’ Yadav | ₹40,679 | Deep Stack ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| hellaces | ₹33,000 | Warrior Arena ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
| Vikash ‘marajuana11’ Kumar | ₹31,710 | Battlefield Tuesday ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
| fakeer | ₹26,800 | Sunday Bonanza ₹1 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
| fishcall | ₹24,192 | Dangal Friday ₹1 Lakh GTD | Poker Dangal |
| sristi | ₹24,000 | Deep Stack ₹60K GTD | Khelo365 |
| tourneypro | ₹24,000 | Monday Texas ₹1 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
| Harsh ‘harsh1327’ Bubna | ₹21,902 | Sunday Warm-Up ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
| Aki8888 | ₹18,000 | Wow Wednesday ₹75K GTD | Poker Dangal |
Spartan Poker Announces IPC, IOPC & IPC Awards for January
Even with the Millionaire extravaganza underway on Spartan Poker, the brand has unveiled big plans for January. The India Poker Championship IPC) Awards will be hosted on-board Casino Big Daddy on January 14. They will act as the perfect precursor for the first IPC stop of 2020 that is slated to run from January 15 to 19. Rounding up the January round of offerings from Spartan will be the site`s flagship India Online Poker Championship (IOPC) that runs from January 22 to February 9.
Read the complete report here
Poker Dangal Announces Destiny Changer ₹25 Lakhs GTD
Poker Dangal is eyeing an entry in the big leagues, and in the first significant step in that direction, the online platform has announced its largest-ever tournament – Destiny Changer. Boasting of a massive ₹25 Lakhs guarantee, the ₹5,500 buy-in event starts at 7.30 PM on November 24 and promises at least ₹10 Lakhs to the champion!
Read the complete report here
Team India Wins the IFMP Asian Nations Cup
Team India comprising of Tanmay Bagga, Rishab Jain, Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Prateek Mishra, Krina Gala, and Taran Mundkar, and captained by Gaurav Gala put up an inspiring run at the 2019 IFMP Asian Nations Cup. Dominating the competition on all three days, the team convincing took down the IFMP Asian Nations Cup trophy!
Team Taiwan (756.5 points) finished second, Team Australia (750 points) was third, and Team Singapore (730 points) placed fourth.
Read the complete report here
Poker Power Couple Liv Boeree & Igor Kurganov Leave PokerStars
Poker playing couple Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov, have announced their departure from PokerStars’ roster of Team Pros. Boree had joined the brand in 2010, and Kurganov in 2017.
Liv Boeree & Igor Kurganov
Read the complete report here
APT Vietnam 2019
The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Vietnam is currently playing out its third and final edition of the year at the Pro Poker Club in Ho Chi Minh City. The series kicked off on November 6 and has already crowned a dozen champions.
With a massive Indian contingent in attendance, results were bound to follow. Sajal Gupta and PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Munot were the first to score from Team India with a deep run in the Monster Stack. Pankaj Kothari added to the teams tally with a runner-up finish in the PLO Hi-Single Day.
The attention then shifted to the Main Event that logged in 436 entries across three starting flights. A total of 13 Indians found their way into Day 2 of the Main Event, but only six among them advanced to Day 3. Charting the most phenomenal rise was Akshay Nasa, who, despite starting Day 2 as one of the short stacks, not only survived but managed to carry the second-biggest stack among the 52 runners advancing to Day 3! An unstoppable Nasa cruised into the final table, where unfazed by the big swings, he continued his blistering run all the way to the heads-up. Following an ICM deal with Vincent Chauve, Nasa defeated the latter to snag the title to win a career-best VND 1,486,560,000 (~₹46 Lakhs)!
PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan was the other stand-out performer at the stop. Like Nasa, Wadhwan was also in the reckoning to win the Main Event title, but he fell three places short in fourth place worth VND 608,730,000 (~₹18.83 Lakhs) in prize money. In addition to Nasa and Wadhawan, four more Indians posted scores at the event.
Read the complete report here
The other notable scorer, Sahil Chuttani, final-tabled the High Rollers, bringing back a sixth-place finish.
Team India Finishes At APT Vietnam
| Player | Event | Finish | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akshay Nasa | Main Event VND 8 Billion GTD | 1st | VND 1,486,560,000 - ₹46 Lakhs |
| Ankit Wadhawan | Main Event VND 8 Billion GTD | 4th | VND 608,730,000 - ₹18.83 Lakhs |
| Madhav Gupta | Main Event VND 8 Billion GTD | 11th | VND 131,550,000 – ₹4.06 Lakhs |
| Dhaval Mudgal | Main Event VND 8 Billion GTD | 14th | VND 109,620,000 – ₹3.38 Lakhs |
| Sahil Chuttani | High Rollers | 6th | VND 84,000,000 - ₹2.61 Lakhs |
| Ashish Munot | Main Event VND 8 Billion GTD | 30th | VND 52,870,000 - ₹1.63 Lakhs |
| Vinay Agarwal | Main Event VND 8 Billion GTD | 36th | VND 52,870,000 - ₹1.63 Lakhs |
| Pankaj Kothari | PLO Hi-Single Day | 2nd | VND 35,030,000 -₹1.65 Lakhs |
| Sajal Gupta | Monster Stack 1 | 8th | VND 34,960,000 - ₹1.07 Lakhs |
| Ashish Munot | Monster Stack 1 | 16th | VND 16,860,000 - ₹51,658 |
| Sumit Sapra | Head Hunter | 10th | VND 14,140,000 - ₹43,891 |
The second featured tournament at the stop, Championships Event VND 6 Billion GTD, has also taken flight, and Day 1A is already done and dusted. Abhinav Iyer leads five other Indians, namely, Yasheel Doddanavar, Sahil Chuttani, Vivek Rughani, Meherzad Munsaf, and PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh.
APT Vietnam Winners
| Player | Event | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| Akshay Nasa | Main Event | VND 1,486,560,000 |
| Kwun Ngai Vincent Li | High Rollers - No Pos Points | VND 572,050,000 |
| Joakim Andersson | High Rollers - Single Day | VND 506,710,000 |
| Joakim Andersson | High Rollers | VND 497,610,000 |
| Stephane Carrier | Monster Stack | VND 279,670,000 |
| Linh Tran | High Rollers - Single Day | VND 217,280,000 |
| Qian Xubo | No Limit Hold'em | VND 215,830,000 |
| Jeonggyu Cho | NLH -Single Day | VND 174,178,000 |
| Ngo Trong Hieu | NLH -Single Day | VND 168,610,000 |
| Michael Shang | Head Hunter Bounty | VND 162,830,000 |
| Huy Kieu | Short Deck | VND 147,000,000 |
| Kim Michael Enriquez | Deep Stack Turbo | VND 138,315,000 |
| Lin Che-li | PLO Hi | VND 135,280,000 |
| Mike Kim | PLO Hi - Single Day | VND 87,830,000 |
Clerical Error Shows Robert Campbell is WSOP POY Winner Not Daniel Negreanu
In a shocking revelation, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) revealed on November 9 that a clerical error had resulted in six-time WSOP bracelet holder Daniel Negreanu being wrongly declared as the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year (POY) title winner. The title was thereafter awarded to the correct champion – Robert Campbell.
Read the complete report here
Red Dragon JEJU 2019
The second edition of the PokerStars LIVE Asia Jeju Red Dragon kicked off at the Jeju Shinhwa World, Landing Casino, on November 9. After the KRW 5M High Roller was taken down by KRW Liuheng Dai (KRW 159,052,000), six more vents have crowned champions.
While the prior edition had attracted several Indian pros, most Indians have skipped this edition in favor of APT Vietnam.
The signature Red Dragon Main Event has smashed its previous record of 613 entries by garnering 869 entries across three starting flights. Topping the field, China’s Zhihao Zhang took down the event to win KRW 345,370,000 (~₹2.12 Crores).
Jeju Red Dragon Winners
| Player | Event | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| Zhihao Zhang | Main Event | KRW 345,370,000 |
| Liuheng Dai | High Roller - NLH Shot Clock | KRW 159,052,000 |
| Ben Lai | High Roller - NLH Shot Clock | KRW 48,018,000 |
| Jizhong Wang | NLH - Knockout | KRW 36,440,000 |
| Hui Rao | NLH - 15 Mins. Level | KRW 18,253,000 |
| Yake Wu | NLH - 15 Mins. Level | KRW 14,403,000 |
| Xianchao Shen | NLH - 15 Mins. Level | KRW 10,371,000 |
Poker Masters 2019
The third annual Poker Masters presently underway at the PokerGo Studio, ARIA Resort & Casino, has been a star-studded affair. The 10-event series that kicked off on November 4 is fast edging towards culmination. After the series-opener, $10,000 NLHE was won by Isaac Baron for $223,100, a slew of other events have crowned champions. Ryan Laplante won Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha to net a $186,000 payday, his second-largest career cash. British Poker Open (BPO) champion Sam Soverel triumphed in yet another event and took down $25,000 PLO for $25,000.
2019 Poker Masters Event Results
| Event | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| EVENT #1 $10,000 NLH | Isaac Baron | $223,100 |
| EVENT #2 $10,000 PLO | Ryan Laplante | $186,000 |
| EVENT #3 $10,000 SHORT DECK | Jonathan Depa | $133,200 |
| EVENT #4 $10,000 8-GAME | Jared Bleznick | $153,000 |
| EVENT #5 $10,000 BIG BET MIX | Julien Martini | $166,400 |
| EVENT #6 $25,000 NLH | Kristen Bicknell | $408,000 |
| EVENT #7 $25,000 PLO | Sam Soverel | $340,000 |
| EVENT #8 $25,000 NLH | Sergi Reixach | $369,000 |
| EVENT #9 $25,000 NLH | Kahle Burns | $416,500 |
Currently, Chris Hunichen leads the final table in the $100K NLH Main Event with a stack of 1,795,000. Sam Soverel, who was leading the 2019 Poker Masters Purple Jacket race with 690 points, also managed to find a spot on the final table. With this deep run, Soverel is almost certain to win the Purple Jacket.
Read the complete report here
Jack Salter Takes Down WPTDS Montreal CA$1,650 NLHE to Win A$155,000
Besting a field of 596 entries, Jack Salter took down the World Poker Tour (WPT) DeepStacks Montreal CA$1,650 NLHE for CA$151,220 ($123,016). Salter’s win takes his live tournament winnings beyond the $8 Million-mark.
Jack Salter Wins WPTDeepStacks Montreal
Read the complete report here
And 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.
Top Videos of the Week: November 1 – 7
In this weekly feature, we take a look at the most trending videos from the poker world. From the craziest to the funniest. From the interesting to the bizarre. You’ll find it all right here every week!
Team India Wins IFMP Asian Nations Cup!
Captained by Gaurav Gala, the seven-member team of Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Krina Gala, Prateek Mishra, Tanmay Bagga, Tarun Mundkar,
and Rishab Jain did the country proud by bringing home the IFMP Asian Nations Cup.
It was indeed a magical moment when Team India was announced as the 2019 Asian Nations Cup winners! The excitement of the team was palpable, and the same was captured beautifully on camera.
Sajal Gupta Final Tables Series-Opener Monster Stack 1 at APT Vietnam
The Asian Poker Tour has landed in Vietnam for its third and final edition of the year. The proceedings are already underway at the Pro Poker Club, where Team India has created quite the stir!
Two Indians, PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Munot & Sajal Gupta, made deep runs in the series-opener Monster Stack 1 with Gupta finishing eighth for VND 34,960,000 (~₹1.07 Lakhs)! Watch Gupta in action on the final table of the Monster Stack 1 below.
What!! Daniel Negreanu is Not the WSOP POY?!
In a shocking turn of events, it has come to be known that Daniel Negreanu was erroneously declared the 2019 WSOP POY due to a clerical mistake! A good three days after he was named the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year (POY) for a record third time, it was made official by the WSOP that he had, in fact, not won the POY race after all! A Russian TwoPlusTwo forum user pointed out the error in the WSOP POY points race that showed Robert Campbell had won the POY. Poker vlogger Joey Ingram breaks down the sequence of events that led to the goof-up in his latest video.
Poor Negreanu. He’d been so ecstatic about the victory that he’d taken to YouTube to share his glee even as he was waiting for his flight back home!
Episode 2 of ‘Around the Table SnG’ by SnG Comedy & Spartan Poker
SnG Comedy and Spartan Poker have released Episode 2 of the poker comedy show ‘Around the Table’ where comedians Karan Talwar and Gursimran Khamba come back for a new episode with actor-comedian Suresh Menon and poker pros Yuvraj Singh and Akanksha Singh. This is undoubtedly a MUST-WATCH for a break from those long hours on the virtual felts!
Patrik Antonius is Coming to Goa!
High stakes Finnish pro Patrik Antonius will be making his second trip to Goa soon. He will be flying in for a high stakes cash game festival that starts from November 13 onboard the Spartan LIVE poker room at Casino Big Daddy.
In this video posted by The Spartan Poker team on Facebook, Antonius talks about his excitement to be attending the cash game fest!
Watch it here.
Brad Owen Recounts His Recent High-Stakes Exploits!
High stakes pro and popular vlogger Brad Owen has just returned from the Run It Up Reno stop, where he played a bunch of tournaments and even put in some time on the cash tables. Just days ago, Owen put up the 107th episode of his Poker Vlog that has him talking about his time at the tables in Los Angeles. He even analyzes some hands that he played.
Action Heats Up at Live at the Bike!
There’s never a dearth of cash game action at the Bicycle Casino, and this latest episode of Live at the Bike brings some exciting moments with popular YouTubers Marle Cordeiro and Asian Andy on the table along with Vanessa Alvarez aka Mamacita.
And guess what?! Chauncey Leopardi, who had played the role of Michael ‘Squints’ in the 1993 baseball movie The Sandlot, was also on the table. He clashed with Andy at one point, and with Andy moving all-in with a rivered straight, the buck was on Squints who had flopped a set.
Did Squints take the fall and go all-in as well? Watch to find out!
WPT Montreal 2019 Main Event
The WPT Montreal Main Event final table at Playground Poker Club was a star-studded affair – there was a former November Niner, a WSOP Main Event champion, a partypoker team pro – just to name a few in the mix. But guess what, it was the 30-year old recreational player Geoffrey Hum who rode all the way to the finish line!
The final table was the stage to some mind-blowing action, and we have the live-stream for you right here!
EPT Barcelona 2019 Main Event – Episode 3
If you missed the action of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, we have some for you. Catch highlights from the feature table where the likes of
Robert Mizrachi, Tim Adams, Fatima Moreira de Melo, and Stefan Jedlicka were jostling for a spot on the final table.
Triton Poker SHR Montenegro – NLH Cash Game Action
Triton Poker has recently brought out two episodes bringing glimpses of some epic NLH cash game action that took place at the 2019 Triton Poker SHR Montenegro. Catch the gripping action with eight bigwigs in the thick of it all, right here!
Keep following PokerGuru for more exciting videos!
Team India is the Latest IFMP Asian Nations Cup Champion!
November 7 was a landmark day for Indian poker as the team representing the nation at the 2019 International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) Asian Nations Cup lambasted the competition to become the latest Asian Nations Cup champions!
Comprising of Tanmay Bagga, Rishab Jain, Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Prateek Mishra, Krina Gala, and Taran Mundkar and captained by Gaurav Gala, the Indian team was “in it to win it.” From Day 1 and all through to Day 3, the team came out on top every single day! Topping the leaderboard at the end of Day 2 had ensured Team India a seat at the World Championship. The only goal after that was bringing the Asian Cup home – and Team India accomplished that in style!
Despite starting off on the back foot, the team was able to get back into the game and gave it their best shot when it mattered the most. The first session saw Bagga, Agarwal, and Jain playing from the Indian brigade. The session did not go as planned as the team placed third. Strong performances by Team Australia and Taiwan meant that India remained stuck in the third spot in the second session as well. Just before the third session, Agarwal was substituted with Mishra. The team picked up some momentum and moved a spot to second place. The final two sessions were played in the dark, and that’s when Team India brought their A-game to the table. Ultimately, it was a comfortable win for the team that displayed excellent teamwork and strategic planning.
In fact, Prateek Mishra was one of the most significant contributors to India’s ultimate victory and finished in eighth place on the individual rankings with 75,521 chips.
Talking about Team India’s victory at the 2019 Asian Nations Cup, President of the Indian Federation, Varun Goenka, said, ““This is a dream come true, and I’m still struggling to wrap my head around what this incredible team has achieved. All credit goes to the players and captain Gaurav Gala for doing something absolutely monumental for poker in India. They are all superstars – this is a day we will all remember and cherish forever. They have made history and are now fully focused to doing their best and representing India with pride at the Nations Cup Final in Peru next month. I couldn’t be more proud.”
While the top four teams – India, Taiwan, Australia, and Singapore – were competing for the Asian Nations Cup, the bottom five teams – Korea, Israel, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan – were fighting to book the final berth on the “Road to Peru.” While Team Israel did put up a tough fight, it was Team Korea who shined through and will be joining the top four teams in Lima for the World Championship next month.
Korea’s Lim Yohwan was awarded the “Player of the Tournament’ title.
Team India Champions the 2019 IFMP Asian Nations Cup
The top four teams, namely India, Singapore, Australia, and Taiwan, played five sessions of 60 hands each.
Team Standings After 1st session
| Rank | Team | Chips | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taiwan | +46339 | 172.5 |
| 2 | Singapore | +21745 | 146 |
| 3 | India | +91104 | 142.5 |
| 4 | Australia | +23020 | 139 |
Host nation Team Taiwan was off to a flying start in the first session of play and sky-rocketed to the top of the table. Team Singapore was placed second, and Team India was in the third spot. Team Australia brought up the rear guard in fourth place.
Team Standings After 2nd session
| Rank | Team | Chips | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | +3215 | 166 |
| 2 | Taiwan | +21626 | 151 |
| 3 | India | -36029 | 144 |
| 4 | Singapore | +11188 | 139 |
Team Australia sailed through to the top, with Team Taiwan just 15 points behind in second place. Team India was still stuck in third place, while Team Singapore had fallen down two spots to fourth place.
Team Standings After 3rd Session
| Rank | Team | Chips | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | -3963 | 157.5 |
| 2 | India | +19440 | 154.5 |
| 3 | Taiwan | +1860 | 148 |
| 4 | Singapore | -17337 | 140 |
The third session of play saw Team Australia juggernaut to the top, with Team India also improving their standing to second place. Team Taiwan fell to the third spot, and Singapore stayed steady in fourth place.
Team Standings After 4th session
| Rank | Team | Chips | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | +45889 | 175 |
| 2 | Taiwan | +19665 | 151 |
| 3 | Singapore | -37363 | 143 |
| 4 | Australia | -28191 | 131 |
Till session three, the scores were visible for all teams and players to see, but from the fourth session onwards, the teams played in the dark, which meant that they were not aware of their progress.
During the fourth session, Team India pulled through and finally whisked away the top seat from Team Australia, pushing the latter down to the fourth place. Team Taiwan jumped up a spot to settle in second place, while Team Singapore bettered its position to third place.
PokerGuru caught up with one of the star performers of the Indian squad – Aditya “Bitti” Agarwal. He gave us a brief recap of how the day went for the team, along with explaining the team strategy.
“We had a “horses for courses’ strategy, so we gave all players a fit role according to their strengths, and they performed it to perfection. The day started on a negative note as we got caught in negative variance of the game, but that didn’t shake things up for us, and slowly and steadily, we picked up pace following our strategy.”
Talking about the crucial moment that propelled Team India to the lead, Agarwal narrated, “The crucial moment was in the fourth session where all the players dominated their entire table in synergy, and we got a huge jump to cover for what we had lost in the first two sessions. The final session, we just had to cruise to take down the Asian Cup.”
Final Team Standings
| Rank | Team | Chips | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | -67420 | 763.5 |
| 2 | Taiwan | +67885 | 756.5 |
| 3 | Australia | +20353 | 750 |
| 4 | Singapore | -20818 | 730 |
Continuing with their trailblazing run, Team India towered over their rivals at the end of the day with 763.5 points. Host nation Taiwan gave India a tough fight, but ultimately ended their day in second place with 756.5 points. Team Australia (750 points) and Team Singapore (730 points) rounded out the last two spots.
It was indeed a magical moment when Team India was announced as the latest Asian Nations Cup winners! The excitement of the team was palpable, and the same was captured beautifully on camera.
Team Korea Books the Final Berth to Peru
The bottom five teams from Day 2 participated in the Plate Final to determine the fifth qualifier for the World Championship.
Team Standings in Asian Nations Plate Finals After 50 Hands
| Rank | Team | Chips | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Korea | +73149 | 163 |
| 2 | Israel | +69285 | 162.5 |
| 3 | Philippines | -51814 | 143 |
| 4 | Hong Kong | -31624 | 141 |
| 5 | Japan | -58996 | 140.5 |
Team Israel started the day on a strong note. After 50 hands, Israel and Taiwan were head-to-head with half a point separating the two teams. Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan were the bottom three teams.
Team Standings in Asian Nations Plate Finals After 100 Hands
| Rank | Team | Chips | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Israel | +178421 | 333 |
| 2 | Korea | +136772 | 316 |
| 3 | Philippines | -23687 | 295.5 |
| 4 | Japan | -98534 | 285.5 |
| 5 | Hong Kong | -192972 | 270 |
Fifty more hands were played, and Team Israel successfully managed to extend their lead. Team Korea and Team Philippines held on to the second and third spots, respectively. Team Japan managed to improve its standing and moved into fourth place, while Team Hong Kong dropped to fifth place.
The details regarding the remaining Asian Nations Plate Finals were unavailable. However, it was Team Korea who came out on top and secured their seat at the upcoming World Championship.
Player of the Tournament
Team Korea’s Lim Yohwan was awarded the “Player of the Tournament’ honor. He had dominated the individual rankings for a majority of Day 2. While his rankings for Day 3 have not been made available, he still performed spectacularly to win the coveted award.
India’s Prateek Mishra was one of the best performers from the team and finished eighth in the individual rankings with 75,521 chips.
The Indian contingent, along with Teams Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, and Korea, have a crucial time ahead of them as they prepare for the World Championship next month in Peru.
Content & Images Courtesy: IFMatchPoker/Indian Match Hold ’em ’em Sport Confederation
