Top 5 Online Scores of 2019

This has been a landmark year for online poker in the country that has blown out to massive proportions. While online tournaments with seven-figure guarantees were a novelty at the start of the year, these have become an almost weekly fare. Much of the credit for this has to be handed out to Spartan Poker that has been the flagbearer, especially when it comes to hosting massive guaranteed tournaments. The site`s flagship Millionaire is today the most sought-after tournament in the country! It is no surprise then that four out of the top five online winners this year are from the Millionaire. Another industry leader, PokerBaazi, deserves special mention for being the first one in the country to come out with the multi-flight ₹2 Crores GTD Game Changer that made two action-packed runs this year and one of the winners finds mention in the list.

So without further ado, here are the top five online scores of 2019.

Srihari Bang – Spartan Poker’s IOPC Millionaire

Finish – Winner

Prize Money – ₹48.56 Lakhs

Event – IOPC The Millionaire ₹2 Crores GTD (July Edition)

One of the most prominent Millionaire runs of the year was at the India Online Poker Championship (IOPC) July Edition. Topping the ₹2 Crores GTD tournament was 20-year-old Srihari ‘bangbang99’ Bang, who converted a ₹660 online satellite buy-in into a ₹48.56 Lakhs windfall as he charged his way to the top of the massive 2,842-player field.

Bang’s Millionaire victory is the biggest online score of 2019, but that’s not all. The same night, Bang also won the PokerStars India Sunday Special PKO ₹15 Lakhs GTD for ₹2.85 Lakhs.

Talking about his blistering run, Bang later said, “Feels surreal sattying my way through the MILLIONAIRE qualifying on the last flight. I also shipped the PokerStars India Sunday special to finish it off in style. Definitely worth the 14hr grind.”

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Anish Patra – Spartan Poker’s The Millionaire Legends

Finish – Winner

Prize Money – ₹46.21 Lakhs

Event – The Millionaire Legends ₹2 Crores GTD (November Edition)

This has been a breakout year for cash game specialist, Anish Patra, who accumulated numerous wins all through the year. Patra came whiskers close to the title at the PokerBaazi Premier League (PPL) PPL #35 High Roller 6-Max ₹70 Lakhs GTD in October but eventually lost the race to Shashank Jain.

While Patra added a hefty ₹10.85 Lakhs for his second-place finish in the PPL HR, it was at the Millionaire Legends ₹2 Crores GTD on Spartan Poker a month later that he hit the big jackpot. Patra dominated the 857-strong field to enter the exclusive Millionaire`s club following a heads-up deal with Vikranth Varma. Patra pocketed a life-changing first-place purse of ₹46.21 Lakhs to emerge as one of the top online scorers of the year.

Read the complete report here

Phanindra Akkina – Won 2nd Millionaire Title in the Spartan Poker Millionaire Legends

Finish – Winner

Prize Money – ₹41.33 Lakhs

Event – The Millionaire Legends ₹2 Crores GTD (December Edition)

The second of Spartan Poker’s December editions of The Millionaire, The Millionaire Legends ₹2 Crores GTD, logged in 755 entries. Outlasting this massive field was well-known circuit regular Phanindra Akkina, who playing under the moniker ‘k9akkin’ became the first two-time Millionaire champion! He had joined the elite Millionaire club way back in 2017, where he had won ₹20 Lakhs. Once again, Akkina stormed into the finale, and this time beat out another seasoned reg Akash’ Akash0510’ Gupta heads-up to win a massive ₹41.33 Lakhs!

The 33-year old MBA from Liverpool, UK, is an entrepreneur by profession and claims to be a semi-professional poker player. He was nonchalantly candid about the win, as he said, “To be honest, I had a rough year playing high stakes PLO cash, and that was a swingy ride. I was losing there and was kind of stuck, so the amount will be used to clear some debts, and the rest will be utilized to fund my future poker bankroll.”

Read the complete report here

Shagun Jain – PokerBaazi’s The Game Changer 2.0

Finish – Winner

Prize Money – ₹40.78 Lakhs

Event – The Game Changer 2.0 ₹2 Crores GTD (August Edition)

Jaipur-based businessman Shagun ‘sogani22’ Jain is an online phenom of his own right. His consistency on the virtual felts makes him one of the standout performers of the year. Jain’s biggest run of the year came in August when he battled through a massive field of 4,796 in PokerBaazi’s The Game Changer 2.0.

The flagship PokerBaazi event was making its second run on the year with a humungous prize pool guarantee of ₹2 Crores. The Game Changer had already set a very high benchmark at its inaugural run by collecting ₹3.7 Crores in prize money over a 3,777-strong field. The tournament organizers experimented by reducing the buy-in to half, i.e., ₹5,500 for Game Changer 2.0, and the strategy was well-received. The record-shattering turnout helped generate a prize pool worth ₹2.63 Crores, recording the largest-ever playing field in an online poker tournament in India!

Jain had made it through from Day 1D – in fact, he was second in chips from the list of survivors. He capitalized on the advantage and went on to defeat Vivek’ lazyguru’ Singh heads-up to take home a career-best ₹40.78 Lakhs payday!

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Vikranth Varma – Finishes 2nd to Patra in The Millionaire Legends For ₹40.32 Lakhs

Finish – Runner-Up

Prize Money – ₹40.32 Lakhs

Event – IOPC The Millionaire ₹2 Crores GTD (November Edition)

Rounding out our list of the top five online scores this year is Vikranth ‘borntrouble’ Varma. Though Varma has few live scores to boast of, he has an extended repertoire of online scores. 2019 was particularly eventful for Varma, who won several flagships, including The Endeavour on PokerBaazi and Spartan Poker’s Sunday SuperStack. But all these scores fade out when you look at how Varma performed at the July edition of IOPC Millionaire Legends ₹2 Crores GTD.

He was among the 2,842 players who entered the event and galloped straight to the final day without being fazed by the fierce competition. In the end, it was him pitted against Anish’ Illusionist’ Patra. Well aware of Varma’s reputation, Patra knew he was up against a formidable foe. It all ended with both returning happy after striking a heads-up deal that handed Patra the bigger payout and the title. Varma added a whopping ₹40.32 Lakhs to his bankroll.

Talking about the clash with Varma, Patra later admitted, “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.”

Read the complete report here

Numerous other scores missed out on making the top five list. Some of the close misses were Sikander’ advanced_basic’ Rajwade (2nd in The Game Changer ₹2 Crores GTD for ₹39 Lakhs), Prashanth Sekar (The Game Changer ₹2 Crores GTD for ₹33 Lakhs), Pranay’ setmeup’ Chawla (4th in The Game Changer ₹2 Crores GTD for ₹33 Lakhs) and PokerGuru Ambassador Gokul’ Super Kings Raj (SSS The Millionaire 1.5 Crores GTD for ₹27.45 Lakhs).

We will be bringing out more insightful updates encompassing the significant developments of the year, so stay connected!