WSOP 2019: Team Akshay Nasa-Sajal Gupta Headline Indian Contingent on Day 1 of $1K Tag Team Event

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  • Attreyee Khasnabis June 25, 2019
  • 3 Minutes Read

An event that we have all been waiting for! Event #57: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em of the 50th World Series of Poker (WSOP) holds a special place for the Indian battalion because, for the past two years, the event has been an Indian stronghold. 2017 saw the dynamic duo of Aditya Sushant and Nipun Java claim the first gold bracelet for India and the next year, Nikita Luther became the first Indian woman to win a bracelet in the same event, along with her teammate, Guiseppe Pantaleo.

This year, the tournament registered 976 teams on Day 1, collecting a prize pool of $878,400. After 10 levels of play, only 278 teams made it through to Day 2. Among the survivors were three Indian teams, namely – Akshay Nasa & Sajal GuptaKevin MacPhee, Dhaval Mudgal, Abhinav Iyer & Siddharth Karia, as well as, the dynamic duo from Kolkata – Aditya “bitti” Agarwal, and Ankush Agarwala.

Team Nasa & Gupta bagged the biggest stack of 144,800 among the Indian squad, which also happens to be the 23rd largest stack at the end of Day 1. Team MacPhee, Mudgal, Iyer & Karia amassed an above-average stack of 125,100. Meanwhile, Team Agarwal & Agarwala managed to barely make the cut for Day 2 with a short stack of 12,500.

The Team of Jared Jaffee, Ralph Massey & Aaron Massey (255,000) accumulated the most chips on Day 1 and will lead the remaining teams to Day 2 which will commence at 1 PM (Pacific Time Zone) on June 25.

 

Event #57: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1

One of the most exciting and much-awaited events on the schedule, the $1K Tag Team is a tournament that Indians seem to have a knack for, given that we have won this event two years running. Looking to defend their title, several Indians were seen gunning for the gold on Day 1.

All the attention was on the “bracelet buddies” – Aditya Sushant & Nikita Luther who had teamed up for the event. But it was not meant to be as they were eliminated on Day 1.

Nonetheless, several Indians were able to carry their stacks through to Day 2. Leading the charge was the team of Akshay Nasa & Sajal Gupta. Gupta has cashed twice in the series so far and was last seen in Event #53: $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack 8-Handed, where he finished 53rd for $5,541 (~₹3.83 Lakhs). Nasa is yet to open his scorecard at the series and will be looking to do so in this event. They bagged the 23rd biggest stack of 144,800 for Day 2.

Akshay Nasa & Sajal Gupta
Akshay Nasa & Sajal Gupta

The trio of Dhaval Mudgal, Abhinav Iyer & Siddharth Karia partnered with American Kevin MacPhee for this event. It seems to have been a successful collaboration as the team progressed to Day 2 with a commendable stack of 125,100.

Dhaval Mudgal, Abhinav Iyer, Siddharth Karia & Kevin MacPhee
Dhaval Mudgal, Abhinav Iyer, Siddharth Karia & Kevin MacPhee

The dynamic duo of Aditya “bitti” Agarwal and Ankush Agarwala also made it through to Day 2. However, they carry a short stack of 12,500 and will need an early double up or two to stay alive in the competition.

Other notable teams to advance to Day 2 include John Hinds & Anthony Zinno (141,800), Jason Koon & Sosia Jiang (111,200), Ryan Riess & Phil Hui (93,200), Felipe Ramos & Natalie Hof (64,700), Doug Polk, Kaitlin Karges, Bryce Daifuku & Chris Digirolamo (54,300) and Phil Galfond, Farah Galfond, Erik Seidel & Maria Konnikova (33,600).

Claiming the pole position after Day 1 was the team of Jared Jaffee, Ralph Massey & Aaron Massey (255,000). They will be leading the 278 teams to Day 2 later tonight.

Jared Jaffee, Ralph Massey & Aaron Massey
Jared Jaffee, Ralph Massey & Aaron Massey

Top 10 Chip Counts At the End of Day 1

1. Jared Jaffee – Ralph Massey – Aaron Massey – 255,000

2. Martijn Gerrits – Preston Lee – Kane Kalas – 236,100

3. Michael Wang – Dan Zack – Ajay Chabra – 197,000

4. Jeffrey Lutes – Eric Garma – 186,100

5. Aaron Soulliere – Eric Longpre – 181,800

6. Max Elisman – Richard Tuhrim – Andrew Brown – 172,500

7. David Petrus – Suzanne Petrus – 171,700

8. Aleks Dimitrov – Nikol Nikolaeva – Stoyan Obreshkov – 170,400

9. Shaotong Chang – Jie Xu – 165,700

10. William Carlton – George Kalfayan – 162,600

NOTE – This article was edited on June 25 (10:30pm) – erroneously the names of Aditya Agarwal and Ankush Agarwal as Day 1 qualifiers was left out.

Content & Images Courtesy: World Series of Poker

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