PokerBaazi Premier League (PPL) Set to Make Another Smashing Run Starting February 28!

2020 has set the stage for some explosive poker action both live and online and come to think of it, we are still on the second month of the year! And there is a lot more coming up soon as closing out an eventful February will be PokerBaazi’s richest and oldest-running online series to-date, the PokerBaazi Premier League (PPL).

Guaranteeing a whopping ₹7.3 Crores-plus in prize pool guarantees, the 10-day series hits the PokerBaazi client on February 28. There are over 60 high-value tournaments lined up on the schedule with the buy-ins ranging from ₹200 to ₹27,500.

Making the upcoming PPL series so special is the fact is that it offers the largest-ever guaranteed prize pool for a 10-day online series ever held in India. If that was not enough, PokerBaazi has generously put up an additional ₹15 Lakhs in leaderboard prizes for the series!

PPL Schedule

The PPL has always been the signature tournament series at PokerBaazi. Dating way back to December 2015, when the PPL was launched, the series like its mother brand has come a long way in the last four years! What started out as a ₹12 Lakhs guaranteed three-day event has grown exponentially, offering almost 60X in prizes today!

The series featured an attractive Leaderboard right from its onset and rewarded the Leaderboard winner as the ‘Baazigar’ of the Series. Sunit Warraich was the first-ever Baazigar. From then to now, PPL’s continued popularity gives a clear indication of how far PokerBaazi as an online poker brand has come since its early days!

Not just the massive prizes, the PPL has been the breeding ground for numerous poker champions who have gone on to do wonders in the sport. Poker stalwarts like Nishant Sharma, Raman Gujral, and Paawan Bansal are just a few former PPL champions who are today revered as the poker superstars of the country!

Talking about the PPL, Marketing Director at PokerBaazi, Varun Ganjoo said, “Since its inception, the PPL has been India’s marquee online poker series, offering the best guarantees at the most affordable buy-ins. This time is no different, with participation being a must for players looking for the ultimate value.”

PPL – Charting Exponential Growth

The marquee tournament series offering by PokerBaazi, the PPL, is today one of the most prestigious online stops in the country. Held four times each year, the series has taken rapid strides to become a much-awaited online series by poker players all around the country!

With a humble start in December 2015 and a modest ₹12 Lakhs GTD, by November 2016, PPL was offering a staggering ₹2.6 Crores in prize pool guarantees. By the time the May 2017 edition was hosted, the stop had expanded its spread of events to 24. Nishant Sharma, who is acknowledged as one of the top pros in India today, had bested a field of 318 players to win the Main Event title at that PPL for ₹11.95 Lakhs.

Recalling his run, Sharma told us, “It was special in a lot of ways as at that time I was struggling to finish any big GTD tourneys, and this was the biggest at that time as far as I remember.” He added, “PPL is one of the series I always look forward too as it offers some of the biggest GTD tourneys with some great structure and also because I always run good in it.”

The PPL has also given PokerBaazi the perfect base to introduce some massive tournaments like the MoneyMaker that was launched in October 2017. This was the first time that an event with a prize pool guarantee as high as ₹1 Crore was held in India! Bengaluru-based Anujkumar ‘Aatmaan’ Kodam was named the first MoneyMaker champion.

The most prominent PPL stop in 2019 was the PPL Special Edition that ran from April 21-28, 2019, and comprised of 38 events. This special edition had a charity theme supporting the ‘Play for a Cause’ CSR initiative of PokerBaazi. There were more than ₹5 Crores in the guaranteed prize pool. Seasoned reg Raman’ ifryu’ Gujral battled his way through a field of 1,341 players to capture The MoneyMaker title for ₹22.52 Lakhs.

Another crowd favorite, The Endeavour ₹50 Lakhs GTD, was part of the series and incidentally featured two starting flights for the first time in its history. Kanav’ sokopa’ Parwal defeated 1,298 others to win the top prize of ₹11.17 Lakhs.

2019 was also the year when the brand decided to introduce the hybrid online-live format to its signature PPL events. The last PPL edition held in September was the biggest yet and reflected this trend. The final table of both the PPL #35 High Roller 6-Max ₹70 Lakhs GTD and The MoneyMaker ₹1 Crore GTD were held live on-board Casino Pride 2. Shashank’ Westworld’ Jain outran 270 others to win the PPL High Roller for ₹15.46 Lakhs, while Romit’ tilt83’ Advani overcame a field of 1,132 entries to take down the MoneyMaker title for ₹19.25 Lakhs!

PPL February 2020 – The Star Attractions

The upcoming PPL edition will be headlined by PPL #58 The MoneyMaker ₹1 Crore GTD. The ₹11,000 buy-in event is scheduled for March 8, and the online action will play all the way down to the final table. The nine finalists will then converge at the PokerBaazi LIVE poker room on Casino Pride 2 in Goa on March 14 to play down to a winner.

Another PPL classic is the ₹27,500 buy-in PPL #43 High Roller 6-Max ₹50 Lakhs GTD. Like the MoneyMaker, the final table of the High Roller will also play out live on PokerBaazi LIVE, starting at 6 PM on March 13.

Keep following PokerGuru for all the latest updates from the PPL!