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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!
December is almost here, and with it comes the holiday season – a usually slow time for poker. November, however, was quite the opposite with more than enough online action with some exciting live stops in and around Asia!
It was an overall fantabulous month of Spartan Poker that came out all guns blazing with not one, not two but three back-to-back Millionaire editions this month. The last of these – Millionaire X5 Edition – promised ₹10 Lakhs to the top five players and played out last weekend. The event logged in a whopping 1,433 entries across three starting flights, and the excitement reached a crescendo on Sunday when Day 2 played down to a winner or actually five winners. ‘GODSENT,’ ‘Tonkaaa,’ PokerGuru Ambassador Arjanveer Singh’ bazzingaa’ Chadha, Deepak’ chimpoo’ Bothra and Raman’ tathagat’ Gujral were the top five finishers in the event and walked away with ₹11.05 Lakhs each. Incidentally, all five of them scored at least one more time in the Millionaire since the event permitted players to carry stacks from more than one starting flight. But Chadha was hands down the star of the night. The Young Gun has only two recorded live scores to his name but has a much more extensive repertoire of online cashes. And it was a Sunday he won’t forget anytime soon as within the day itself, Chadha not only scored two more times at the Millionaire, he also collected six more scores across the other platforms. With cumulative winnings of ₹15.08 Lakhs on Sunday alone, Chadha is the top performer of the week and our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
While there was a lot of live-action playing out all across the globe, most of Team India’s efforts were concentrated upon the World Poker Tour (WPT) Cambodia. WPT’s second innings in Cambodia was hosted at Nagaworld in what turned out to be a roaring success. While Chadha ruled the online felts, fellow PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh brought in the most significant score for the team at WPT Cambodia. Singh set the bar high early, by finishing runner-up in the $1,100 Main Event Warm-Up for ₹12.58 Lakhs. Despite the many close calls, a title win eluded the team. The piece de resistance at the stop, the $1,100 Main Event pulled in a record-smashing 750 entries (418 unique entries) from three starting flights, creating a new WPT Asia-Pacific record! Like most of the side events, here too, Indians came out in massive numbers with 18 Indian regs joining the action. Three among them crossed the money line, and making the deepest run from the team was former WSOP champion and Asian circuit regular Abhinav Iyer (20th for ₹4.21 Lakhs). At last, it was U.S-based pro Brian Tougias who captured the Main Event to walk away with a payday of $131,430.
The other major event playing out in Asia was the 12th edition of the PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series. The 13-event stop ran from November 19 to 24 and was headlined by the Main Event PHP 3 Million GTD. Jinlong Hu topped the 565-strong player field in the Main Event to capture the title and the PHP 1,108,500 cash prize.
In the other significant developments, prominent India-facing gaming news site Glaws got acquired by Malta-based Nordanvind Investments Ltd.
Founders of The Indian Poker Series (TIPS), Manish Goenka, and Jaydeep Dawer announced Season 3 of TIPS. The series will be returning to Kings’ Resort in Rozvadov from February 3 to 10 with a massive ₹5.50 Crores guaranteed, and this time, Kanishka Samant has joined the brand as a partner.
In Goa, leading casino operator, Delta Corp Ltd., will be soon relocating its Deltin Caravela to the Verem side of Mandovi due to tidal conditions.
In international news, Daniel Negreanu has joined the online poker network GGPoker as the site’s brand ambassador. Just days after the announcement, the site pulled out of 12 countries (most of them in Europe) over regulatory and licensing concerns.
While Negreanu will promote GGPoker, Maria Konnikova has left the PokerStars’ roster of Team Pros.
The infamous Steve Wynn sexual misconduct case had rocked the casino industry in Nevada, and the state’s Gaming Commission has now approved a slew of amendments to provide better protection to industry employees against sexual harassment.
While the German Poker Days is already currently underway at Rozvadov and the 888poker LIVE London has returned to Aspers Casino in London, kicking off on November 28 will be the final stop of the year on the Asian Poker Tour (APT) calendar. The APT Finale Taiwan will be hosted at Chinese Texas Hold ’em Poker Association in Taipei City and will run 22 events all the way through December 9.
Millionaire has been the theme all month-long, and last Sunday as well, we saw Spartan Poker’s The Millionaire X5 Edition ₹10 Lakhs GTD To Top 5 Players taking the virtual felts by storm. The event rewarded the top five finishers a six-figure score of ₹11.05 Lakhs, and the riches went to ‘GODSENT,’ ‘Tonkaaa,’ PokerGuru Ambassador Arjanveer Singh ‘bazzingaa’ Chadha, Deepak ‘chimpoo’ Bothra, and Raman ‘tathagat’ Gujral!
In addition to his stand-out performance in The Millionaire, Chadha’s blistering Sunday run saw him collecting a further six more scores across different platforms. He banked a cumulative ₹15.08 Lakhs in winnings on Sunday alone, making him the top performer this week and also our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!”
Notable scores of the week include –
Player | Prize | Event | Poker Site |
---|---|---|---|
GODSENT | ₹11.05 Lakhs | The Millionaire X5 Edition ₹10 Lakhs GTD To Top 5 Players | Spartan Poker |
Anant ’DragonWarrior’ Purohit | ₹10.00 Lakhs | Destiny Changer ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
Pranav ‘mithrandir16’Anand | ₹7.32 Lakhs | Destiny 12.0 ₹25 Lakhs GTD ₹5,500 RE | Spartan Poker |
Ragesh ‘ragesh91’ Mishra | ₹6.03 Lakhs | Mega Suits ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
masterbluff | ₹6.00 Lakhs | The Elite ₹25 Lakhs GTD RE (6-Max) | Spartan Poker |
Jyoti Ranjan ‘joey114114’ Nayak | ₹5.27 Lakhs | Sunday SuperStack ₹35 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Anirban D ‘pottysingh’ Das | ₹5.05 Lakhs | BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Abhinav ‘griezmann’ Iyer | ₹4.68 Lakhs | The Summit ₹15 Lakhs GTD RE | PokerBaazi |
Aditya ‘A_Sushant’ Sushant | ₹4.51 Lakhs | Godfather XI ₹20 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Hit 'Em Up | ₹4.08 Lakhs | Mega Stack ₹20 Lakhs GTD ₹3,300 | Spartan Poker |
Goonjan ‘gmtesting.ind’ Mall | ₹4.00 Lakhs | Sunday Special – Progressive KO SE ₹20 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Shravan ‘FishStars’ Chhabria | ₹3.70 Lakhs | G.O.A ₹20 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
OldMonkXXX | ₹3.67 Lakhs | The Joker ₹15 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Vishwanath ‘vish4u2’ Borhade | ₹3.35 Lakhs | The Ballers ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Akash ‘nikita69QQ’ Shekhar | ₹3.01 Lakhs | The Endeavour ₹15 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Naresh ‘FreeFlow’ Veeravalli | ₹2.78 Lakhs | Head-Hunter ₹15 Lakhs GTD PKO RE | Spartan Poker |
Abhishek ‘messi010010’ Gubba | ₹2.74 Lakhs | Big Slick ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Aditya ‘serendipity789’ Sushant | ₹2.68 Lakhs | Highroller ₹12 Lakhs GTD RE | PokerStars India |
Wilson ‘Kaling’ Yomso | ₹2.48 Lakhs | Maverick ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Kingofking | ₹2.42 Lakhs | ReCharge ₹12 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Karann ‘karan1515’ Dembla | ₹2.41 Lakhs | The Bout ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Annanya ‘annanya_agarwal92’ Agarwal | ₹2.22 Lakhs | Goa Fest ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Goonjan ‘gmtesting’ Mall | ₹2.20 Lakhs | Fri-YAY ₹10 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Siddarth ‘badtameez_donk’ Singhvi | ₹2.11 Lakhs | Hitman₹7.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
chitti3.0 | ₹2.09 Lakhs | SVS #24 Main Event ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
sneakysani | ₹2.05 Lakhs | Uppercut Progressive KO 6-Max Magic Edition ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
unruhmlich | ₹1.94 Lakhs | TGIF ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Akshay ‘youcantcallme’ Nasa | ₹1.90 Lakhs | Sunday Special (L) ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Sreekanth ‘n0thing’ Narayan | ₹1.35 Lakhs | Thunder @8PM ₹5 Lakhs GTD | 9Stacks |
Pranay ‘setmeup’ Chawla | ₹1.31 Lakhs | Thursday MonsterStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Aashvin ‘Hell’sAngel’ Mohindroo | ₹1.29 Lakhs | SVS#5 Hi-Fi ₹6 akhs GTD ₹1,650 RE | Spartan Poker |
Kabadi7 | ₹1.29 Lakhs | Monday Hustle ₹6 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Arsh ‘Button_Hai_Bro’ Grover | ₹1.28 Lakhs | BSS MegaStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Tathagata ‘RadioActivity’ Sengupta | ₹1.28 Lakhs | Sixth Sense ₹8 Lakhs GTD ₹3,000 RE | PokerStars India |
Haider ‘Haider’ Madraswala | ₹1.23 Lakhs | The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
MansaMusa | ₹1.19 Lakhs | Daily Hi-Fi ₹6 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 | Spartan Poker |
Naresh ‘FreeFlow’ Veeravalli | ₹1.00 Lakhs | SVS #15 Hi-Fi ₹5 Lakhs GTD RE | Spartan Poker |
Samy3636 | ₹99,675 | SVS #10 Hi-Fi PLO Special ₹4.5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
The AnnihiIator | ₹98,262 | Night on Stars ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Bholebabaa | ₹97,450 | SVS #25 Electric Big Daddy ₹5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Nishant ‘nishant177’ Sharma | ₹96,600 | Tuesday MonsterStack₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Fukrey12 | ₹86,050 | 6-Max Wednesday SuperStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | PokerBaazi |
udayanayak | ₹86,000 | Re Raise ₹2 Lakhs GTD Deepstack NLHE (Max 5 Rebuys) | Khelo365 |
Aaryan ‘Aaryan99’ Agarwal | ₹78,795 | Friday SuperStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
Faiz ‘AilaGaya’ Alam | ₹77,250 | Monday MegaStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Pokerply | ₹71,250 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
44 is nuts | ₹71,250 | Afternoon Hi-Fi ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
xoredvoid | ₹71,250 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD ₹ 2,000 | Adda52 |
xoredvoid | ₹71,250 | Hexagram ₹2.50 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
p@ker_king | ₹67,500 | StackUp @8 PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD ₹1,650 | 9stacks |
Chirag ‘BadSirck’ Khandelwal | ₹67,500 | StackUp @8 PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
thor86 | ₹65,696 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Prasad ‘Goodmanji’ Patil | ₹65,260 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
noobAf | ₹65,000 | StackUp @8PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
MaheshGupta | ₹65,000 | StackUp @8PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
pokerfish87 | ₹55,953 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
Kalibaba | ₹53,600 | BSS PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD (Half RE) | PokerBaazi |
Rahul ‘Mrrahul777’ Kr | ₹52,749 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Godof.com7 | ₹49,091 | The Classic ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
KNOCKMEOUT999 | ₹47,667 | ZOOM 3-Max Progressive KO ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Piyush ‘BlackMamba’ Gaikwad | ₹47,537 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
financier | ₹47,300 | Big Bang ₹1 Lakh GTD NLHE (Max 5 Rebuys) | Khelo365 |
gamblerunderdog | ₹46,428 | Progressive KO 4 Max ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹1,650 RE | PokerStars India |
Rohit ‘sttoned’ Kumar | ₹45,400 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Sharad ‘sordykrd’ Rao | ₹44,540 | 6-Max NLHE ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Chandermoon | ₹43,000 | Mega Splash ₹1 Lakh GTD NLHE (Max 5 Rebuys) | Khelo365 |
bossbaby97 | ₹42,981 | Deepstack₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹1,650 RE | PokerStars India |
vinaash | ₹41,666 | Sunday Warm-Up ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Rahul ‘Mrrahul777’ Kr | ₹36,000 | Warrior Arena ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
DoubleGutty | ₹33,000 | Battlefield Tuesday ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
Ajan | ₹25,800 | Deep Stack ₹60K GTD NLHE (Max 5 Rebuys) | Khelo365 |
riskypro | ₹24,000 | Monday Hustle ₹1 Lakh GTD | Poker Dangal |
Glitch | ₹24,000 | Dangal Friday ₹1 Lakh GTD ₹990 | Poker Dangal |
riskypro | ₹18,375 | Wow Wednesday ₹75K GTD | Poker Dangal |
India-facing gaming law focussed website Glaws.in has been acquired by Nordanvind Investments Ltd in an all-cash deal. The Malta-based gaming and sports content company has launched its own cricket news, tips, and prediction website CricketPrediction.com and will be operating both these websites going forward.
Read the complete report here
The Indian Poker Series (TIPS) is coming back for Season 3. The seven-day series will be held in collaboration with the Spanish Poker Festival (SPF) from February 3 to 10 and features a massive ₹5.50 Crores in guaranteed prize money.
Read the complete report here
Delta Corp Limited that operates the Casino Deltin Caravela, has received the government`s permission to relocate the casino to the Verem side of Mandovi after tidal conditions caused physical discomfort to people on board the floating vessel.
Read the complete report here
Daniel Negreanu, through a video tweet, announced that he has joined hands with online poker site GGPoker and will be representing the brand as its ambassador.
Read the complete report here
Online poker site GGPoker’s Head Jean-Christophe Antoine confirmed last week that the company has exited 12 countries citing regulatory concerns. Most of these 12 countries are European, along with Georgia on the Europe-Asia border and Colombia in South America.
Read the complete report here
The Nevada Gaming Commission has unanimously approved and added sexual harassment protection amendments to the gaming regulations of the state that prohibit workplace discrimination. The rules will apply to casinos, suppliers, vendors, and contractors.
Read the complete report here
The award-winning author turned professional poker player, Maria Konnikova has become the latest in a long list of former PokerStars Team Pro`s to hand over the Red Spade patch.
Read the complete report here
The second World Poker Tour (WPT) stop in Cambodia played out from November 16 to 25 at the Nagaworld Integrated Resort in Phenom Penh with 17 events on the schedule.
The series turned out to be a thundering success prompting the tournament organizers to add another event to the roster. As expected, a big battalion of Indian pros hit the felts. Dominating the headlines early was PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh, who finished runner-up in the $1,100 Main Event Warm-Up for ₹12.58 Lakhs.
Read the complete report here
Like Singh, Ravi Shankar Metlapalli also came within striking distance of the title at the Megastack Freezeout but lost out and banked a runner-up finish worth ₹9.08 Lakhs. Fellow compatriot Gaurav Sood (4th for ₹3.24 Lakhs) also posted a final-table finish in the event.
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The series-headliner, $1,100 Main Event attracted a record-breaking 750 runners across three starting flights, making it the largest WPT event to be ever hosted in Cambodia! A total of eight Indians made it to Day 2 of the Main Event, and three among them headlined by Abhinav Iyer (20th for ₹4.21 Lakhs) finished ITM.
The team closed out the series in style with Rajneesh Katoch final-tabling the $2,510 High Roller Turbo (4th for ₹4.28 Lakhs).
Player | Event | Finish | Prize Money |
---|---|---|---|
Laksh Pal Singh | $1,100 Main Event Warm Up | 2nd | $17,509 - ₹12.58 Lakhs |
Ravi Shankar Metlapalli | $550 Megastack Freezeout | 2nd | $12,646 - ₹9.08 Lakhs |
Rajneesh Katoch | $2,150 High Roller Turbo | 4th | $5,975 - ₹4.28 Lakhs |
Gaurav Sood | $550 Megastack Freezeout | 4th | $4,519 - ₹3.24 Lakhs |
Paawan Bansal | $650 Megastack Event | 5th | $4,163 – ₹2.98 Lakhs |
Gokul Raj | $650 Megastack Event | 6th | $3,438 – ₹2.46 Lakhs |
Madhav Gupta | $650 Megastack Event | 7th | $3,005 – ₹2.15 Lakhs |
Raju Jaruplavath | Megastack Freezeout | 41st | $2,975 – ₹2.13 Lakhs |
Abhinav Iyer | Megastack Freezeout | 20th | $5,885 – ₹4.21 Lakhs |
Rajneesh Katoch | WPT Cambodia Kickoff | 8th | $2,394 - ₹1.71 Lakhs |
Ravi Shankar Metlapalli | $650 Megastack Event | 13th | $1,760 – ₹1.26 Lakhs |
Raju Jaruplavath | WPT Cambodia Kickoff | 9th | $1,999 - ₹1.43 Lakhs |
Romit Advani | Megastack Freezeout | 94th | $1,593 – ₹1.14 Lakhs |
Ankit Wadhawan | Deep Stack Turbo | 4th | $1,588 - ₹1.13 Lakhs |
Deep Raina | Nagaworld Cup | 6th | $1,460 - ₹1.04 Lakhs |
Kshitij Kucheria | $300 WPT Nagaworld Superstack Classic Freezeout | 8th | $1,258 – ₹90,137 |
Abhinav Iyer | Deep Stack Turbo | 6th | $990 - ₹71,010 |
Paawan Bansal | WPT Cambodia Kickoff | $987 - ₹70,814 | |
Paawan Bansal | $2,150 High Roller Turbo | 11th | $948 – ₹67,925 |
Pradeep Nudurumati | $300 Bounty | 9th | $794 - ₹57,054 |
Ravi Shankar Metlapalli | Nagaworld Cup | 16th | $650 - ₹46,622 |
Meherzad Munsaf | Deep Stack Turbo | 11th | $582 – ₹41,745 |
Ravi Shankar Metlapalli | $2,150 High Roller Turbo | 20th | $565 – ₹40,483 |
Gaurav Sood | Deep Stack Turbo | 13th | $529 - ₹37,943 |
Ankit Wadhawan | $300 Bounty | 21st | $391 - ₹28,096 |
The star of the series was Brian Tougias, who came out on top of the record-breaking Main Event to win $131,430. The other biggest event on the stop, the $5,300 WPT Cambodia Super High Roller, was taken down by Piet Pape for $83,006 in prize money.
Read the complete report here
Player | Event | Prize Money |
---|---|---|
Brian Tougias | $1,100 WPT Cambodia Main Event | $131,430 |
Piet Pape | $5,300 WPT Cambodia Super High Roller | $83,006 |
Choon Siow | $9,750 + 250 High Stakes Challenge | $74,052 |
Michael Egan | $2,750 WPT Cambodia High Roller | $64,870 |
Phachara Wongwichit | $2,200 WPT Cambodia Single Day High Roller | $37,324 |
Jianfeng Sun | $1,100 Main Event Warm Up | $29,234 |
Hamish Crawshaw | $2,150 WPT Cambodia High Roller Turbo | $24,445 |
Leo Worthington-Leese | $650 Mega Stack Freezeout | $23,699 |
Yunsheng Sun | $440 WPT Cambodia Kickoff Event | $19,983 |
Pierre Faivre | $550 Mega Stack Freezeout | $19,952 |
Victor Chong | $550 Pot Limit Omaha | $10,296 |
Yinfei Xiao | $300 NagaWorld Cup | $9,955 |
Douglas Whitehead | $400 Freezeout | $8,853 |
Kai Paulsen | $300 NagaWorld Superstack Freezeout Classic | $7,800 |
Abbouchi Mohamad | $250 Deepstack Turbo | $6,457 |
Duy Ho | $300 Short Deck Hold'em | $6,015 |
Avraham Cohen | $250 Freezeout | $3,921 |
The partypoker Caribbean Poker Party Super High Roller Bowl crowned its latest champion in Daniel Dvoress, who outlasted a field of 51 entries to take a whopping $4,080,000 in prize money.
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Spanish poker phenom Adrian Mateos took down two titles this past week at the 2019 Caribbean Poker Party MILLIONS World Bahamas, including the $10,300 buy-in Main Event. Mateos topped 948 entries of the event and went home happy with a cool $1,162,805 in prize money after a three-way ICM deal.
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The 2019 Borgata Fall Poker Open’s $2,700 Championship NLH found a champion in David Jackson who collected the six-figure payday of $211,098.
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Besting a field of 4,699 entries, Ben Boston won the $400 Deep Stack NLH series opener for $133,918 following a six-way ICM deal.
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Besting a field of 356 entries, Kyle Kitagawa took down the $1,500 buy-in WPTDeepStacks Main Event for $106,250. Kitagawa’s win includes a seat worth $3,000 in the Season XVIII WPTDS Championship.
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Outlasting a field of 269 entries that came in from two starting flights, Rick Troendly took down the WSOP International Circuit $1,700 Main Event for $95,061 and his first WSOP Circuit ring.
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The 2019 MSPT Denver Poker Open was a star-studded affair. The $1,100 Main Event attracted 399 runners that helped collect a prize pool kitty of $399,000. In the end, it was Steve Wilkie, who vanquished the competition to win the title and $85,149.
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The 2019 WPT Deep Stacks Johannesburg Main Event concluded on November 24. Ray Adam bested the field of 436 entries to win XAR 1,000,000 and the WPT Deep Stacks Johannesburg trophy.
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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.