6 Minutes Read
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
After an action-packed October that was packed to the brim with action both live and online, the first week of November rolled out an array of exciting virtual offerings.
Ruling the virtual felts this week was Aditya Sushant. The super-talented superstar was in beast mode all weeklong, reminding everyone why he is considered among the best in the business. Sushant started out by winning not one or two but four major titles. His exploits saw him winning major tournaments like 9stacks’ Thunder, The Summit on PokerBaazi, and both the 5 for 5 and The Elite on Spartan Poker. As the week wore on, the former WSOP champion was in the running for a fifth title, this time in one of the Diwali Rush events but missed out and placed second. But he soon brought out the perfect ending to his stupendous run. Sushant took down the Diwali Rush Main Event ₹50 Lakhs on Sunday, clinching his best score on the platform worth ₹8.39 Lakhs in prize money. With so many laurels in just under a week, Sushant added a jaw-dropping ₹25.33 Lakhs to his bankroll, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!!”
Apart from Sushant, the other most prominent winner of the week was Divyank ‘mikkudiv’ Prasoon. Prasoon’s claim to fame was taking down the last event of Spartan Poker’s weekly Wednesday major – Destiny 11.0 for ₹7.91 Lakhs. Carrying the momentum forward, Prasoon topped the Destiny 11.0 SnG Finale last Sunday that fetched him a Las Vegas package worth ₹3.70 Lakhs!
There’s no slowdown of action on the virtual felts. The November edition of the 35-event-long Baazi Grinders Series is now well underway on PokerBaazi. If that wasn`t enough, Spartan Poker has brought out a fantastic array of Millionaire offerings for the month. The site has announced an unprecedented three Millionaires lined up between November 8 to 24, promising a jaw-dropping ₹4.5+ Crores in prize pool guarantees. The excitement will begin with Millionaire Legends (Nov 8-10), followed by the SSS Millionaire (Nov 15-17). The Millionaire X5 Edition (Nov 22-24) rounds out the potpourri of Millionaire action this month.
Recapping the live-action, WSOPE was the most prominent live stop this week. After Greece’s Alexandros Kolonias won the €10,350 Main Event for his career-best €1,133,678, we saw the WSOP POY race gaining momentum. The competition went all the way down to the wire with six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu and Shaun Deeb, both running neck-to-neck. There was quite a sweat developing with Deeb making it to the final day of the €550 Colossus. He needed to finish fifth or better to win the POY title, but an 11th place finish saw Negreanu lifting the POY trophy for an unprecedented third time!
There is another trending story currently. We are talking about the International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) Asian Nation’s Cup that is now underway at Taoyuan, Taiwan. Team India is one of nine teams participating, represented by Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Krina Gala, Prateek Mishra, Tanmay Bagga, Tarun Mundkar, and Rishab Jain. The team has done wonders at the contest, topping the leaderboard on the starting two days to secure a berth for the World Championship in Lima, Peru, starting December 2!
With a place in the World Championship secured, the team is presently fighting for the Asian Nation`s Cup with the other three top contenders – Singapore, Australia, and Taiwan.
While the result of the Asian Nation`s Cup will be known today, there is more action coming up is another Asian country – Vietnam. The third edition of APT Vietnam this year was flagged off at the Pro Poker Club yesterday. Team India has once again come out in massive numbers at this popular stop. Some prominent names include Akshay Nasa, PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh, Rubin Labroo, 2018 WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal, Sumit Sapra and Sajal Gupta.
In the other domestic highlights, high-stakes pros Patrik Antonius and David Benyamine are both expected to fly down to Goa next week to attend a cash game festival at the Big Daddy Casino. Meanwhile, Pocket52 has launched its own online poker network called the Pocket52 Network, while the insolvency petition filed by Living Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd. against Play Games24x7 was dismissed.
Dominating the international reports we saw, GVC Holdings, the parent company of partypoker winning the EGR Poker Operator of the Year for the third consecutive year. Around the same time, Mediarex Enterprises, the company behinds brands like The Hendon Mob and Global Poker League announced a collaboration with Chinese Poker Enterprise to launch GPT Asia.
It was a spectacular Diwali for PokerStars India that registered record-breaking attendance at its Diwali Rush Series. The promotion came to a thrilling end with the DIWALI RUSH-44: Main Event ₹50 Lakhs crowning a champion in India`s first WSOP bracelet winner Aditya ‘serendipity789’ Sushant. Sushant’s win earned him ₹8.39 Lakhs – his best score so far on the PokerStars India platform. While this was the most significant of his online exploits, the bracelet winner brought out a full bag of deep runs these last few days. He won 9stacks’ Thunder (₹1.38 Lakhs), PokerBaazi’s The Summit (₹4.37 Lakhs), as well as Spartan Poker’s 5 for 5 (₹5 Lakhs) and The Elite (₹4.78 Lakhs). Not to forget his runner-up finish in the DIWALI RUSH-31- Uppercut Progressive KO SE 4-Max ₹12 Lakhs GTD for ₹1.41 Lakhs. Sushant’s unmatched form saw him adding a whopping ₹25.33 Lakhs to his bankroll, making him our “PokerGuru Star of the Week!!”
Divyank ‘mikkudiv’ Prasoon was the other standout performer this week. His claim to fame was the Destiny 11.0 ₹25 Lakhs GTD title he won on Spartan Poker for ₹7.91 Lakhs. He stole the limelight by topping the Destiny 11.0 SnG Finale last Sunday, to further supplement his winnings with a ₹3.70 Lakhs package to Las Vegas!
The notable scores of the week include –
Player | Prize | Event | Poker Site |
---|---|---|---|
Aditya ‘serendipity789’ Sushant | ₹8.39 Lakhs | DIWALI RUSH-44: Main Event ₹50 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Divyank ‘mikkudiv’ Prasoon | ₹7,91 Lakhs | Destiny 11.0 ₹25 Lakhs GTD ₹5,500 RE | Spartan Poker |
Raman ‘tathagat’ Gujral | ₹6,89 Lakhs | Sunday SuperStack ₹30 Lakhs GTD ₹5,500 RE | Spartan Poker |
theoldestkid | ₹6,64 Lakhs | DIWALI RUSH-24 Highroller SE ₹25 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
BatteryDead | ₹6,35 Lakhs | The Elite ₹25 Lakhs GTD 6-Max | Spartan Poker |
Jasven ‘JasvenSaigal’ Saigal | ₹5,77 Lakhs | BSS SuperStack ₹25 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
chunky007 | ₹5,30 Lakhs | The Summit ₹15 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Saurabh ‘newkidintown’ Arora | ₹5,07 Lakhs | Mega Suits ₹25 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
chinunew | ₹4,96 Lakhs | Godfather XI ₹20 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
jason911 | ₹4,45 Lakhs | The Ballers ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
pot-pan | ₹3,98 Lakhs | Mega Stack ₹17 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Goonjan ‘gmtesting’ Mall | ₹3,70 Lakhs | Head-Hunter ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
Magga ‘Xaro_Xohan_daXos’ Ram | ₹3,67 Lakhs | The Joker ₹15 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Jayjit ‘england’ Ray | ₹3,48 Lakhs | The Endeavour ₹15 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Infic11 | ₹2,89 Lakhs | DIWALI RUSH-31: Uppercut Progressive KO SE 4-Max ₹12 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Ashish_Patel | ₹2,70 Lakhs | Big Slick ₹15 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
dhallamit | ₹2,48 Lakhs | Maverick ₹10 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Anmol ‘anzzzzz’ Mehta | ₹2,39 Lakhs | The Bout ₹10 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Ayan ‘gutshotguru1’ Ray | ₹2,34 Lakhs | Goa Fest ₹8 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
Honey ‘ho9ey’ Bijlani | ₹2,33 Lakhs | The Vegas ₹10 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
TM20 | ₹2,32 Lakhs | ReCharge ₹12 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
NitCracker | ₹2,28 Lakhs | DIWALI RUSH-45: The Big Crunch ₹12 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Vidwath ‘Qweasdzxc’ Shetty | ₹2,20 Lakhs | Fri-YAY ₹10 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
Manish ‘newkidpoker’ Lakhotia | ₹2,06 Lakhs | Hitman ₹7.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
mosaichunter | ₹1,75 Lakhs | DIWALI RUSH-17: Omania ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Jasven ‘JasvenSaigal’ Saigal | ₹1,47 Lakhs | The Monster 6-Max ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerBaazi |
Ram ‘TheLagLawyer’ Kakkar | ₹1,44 Lakhs | TGIF ₹10 Lakhs GTD ₹1,650 RE | Spartan Poker |
Aditya ‘I8stacks’ Sushant | ₹1,38 Lakhs | Thunder @8pm ₹5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Hemant ‘floppingnuts’ Maloo | ₹1,36 Lakhs | Thursday MonsterStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
Vivek ‘Kasolhieghts’ Singh | ₹1,34 Lakhs | Electric Big Daddy ₹6 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
doordarshan | ₹1,27 Lakhs | BSS MegaStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD (RE) | PokerBaazi |
KNOCKMEOUT999 | ₹1,26 Lakhs | Sixth Sense ₹8 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Yudhishthir Singh ‘Rowdy6’ Rathore | ₹1,13 Lakhs | Grinders #9 Tuesday MonsterStack₹3 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
Harsh ‘kakori kabab’ Dembla | ₹1,02 Lakhs | Monday Hustle ₹6 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Anuj ‘brockLesnar95’ Yadav | ₹96,634 | DIWALI RUSH – 38, ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Netflixxed | ₹94,212 | Unlimited PLO (5 Lakhs GTD) (2,200 RE) | Spartan Poker |
Imdad ‘rahuljohn1983’ Ahmed | ₹92,253 | 6-Max Wednesday SuperStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
Ujjwal ‘CougarHunter69’ Narwal | ₹90,379 | DIWALI RUSH-33: Progressive KO 4-Max ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Yash ‘hasyY@$#116’ Shrivastava | ₹85,631 | DIWALI RUSH-43: Final Day Warm-up ₹5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Mukeshahuja | ₹85,050 | Friday SuperStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
Ryan ‘AceFromSpace’ Cardoso | ₹77,250 | Monday MegaStack ₹3 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
Avinash ‘Pokerface63’ Anand | ₹75,350 | Unlimited PLO (2 Lakhs GTD) (2,200 RE) | Spartan Poker |
FLlPflops | ₹74,189 | DIWALI RUSH-19: Deepstack ₹3 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
VishalMaharaj | ₹72,500 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
vinaash | ₹72,465 | DIWALI RUSH – 38, ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Bharat ‘rungooserun’ Vasan | ₹72,150 | StackUp @8 PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Parvinder ‘Villain888’ Sharma | ₹67,500 | StackUp @8 PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Dhaval ‘Mr.Performer’ Bagaria | ₹67,470 | StackUp@ 8PM ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Dhinesh ‘you3betI4bet’ Kumar | ₹66,319 | DIWALI RUSH-26: The Classic Progressive KO ₹4 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Praveen ‘ULTRAMAX’ Singh | ₹65,790 | StackUp @8pm ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Rab | ₹65,007 | Afternoon Hi-Fi ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD ₹1,650 RE | Spartan Poker |
rank1_ | ₹65,000 | StackUp @8pm ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Nit2Donk | ₹62,647 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
gladiator86 | ₹60,201 | Hexagram ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | Adda52 |
unruhmilch | ₹55,666 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
Ryan ‘AceFromSpace’ Cardoso | ₹55,620 | BSS PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD (Half RE) | PokerBaazi |
SelfclaimedPros | ₹54,879 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
mainhunfish | ₹54,846 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
voicefromabove | ₹54,341 | DIWALI RUSH – 38, ₹10 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
holla@yoboy | ₹53,567 | Unlimited PLO (2 Lakhs GTD) (2,200 RE) | Spartan Poker |
beginer | ₹50,400 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD | Spartan Poker |
momstacos | ₹48,584 | DIWALI RUSH-47: Ultrasonic PKO ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Vikas ‘ACPcalling’ Chaudhary | ₹47,579 | DIWALI RUSH-20: Deep Hyper Progressive KO ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Think_Tank | ₹47,500 | StackUp @8pm ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Akash ‘bruce.lee0247’ Gupta | ₹43.204 | DIWALI RUSH-34: Ultrasonic PKO ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Shardul ‘xerxes’ Parthasarathi | ₹41,820 | Ultimate PLO ₹2 Lakhs GTD ₹2,200 RE | Spartan Poker |
Vikram ‘Prison M!ke’ Singh | ₹41,812 | DIWALI RUSH-27 Bigstack Turbo ₹1.75 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Mr.Darell | ₹40,679 | Deepstack₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Vikram ‘GreenSTUFF79’ Mishra | ₹37,967 | DIWALI RUSH – 36, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Deepak ‘Deepak32145’ Choudhary | ₹37,727 | Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
vinaash | ₹36,775 | DIWALI RUSH-29: Afternoon on Stars ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
rvjn91 | ₹35,072 | Unlimited PLO (2 Lakhs GTD) (2,200 RE) | Spartan Poker |
n0thing | ₹35,000 | StackUp @8pm ₹2.5 Lakhs GTD | 9stacks |
Vikas ‘ACPcalling’ Chaudhary | ₹33,405 | DIWALI RUSH – 40, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
riskypro | ₹31,500 | Battlefield Tuesday ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
Rahul ‘Jamesdenial007’ Sengar | ₹31,500 | Warrior Arena ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
Vikram ‘Prison M!ke’ Singh | ₹29,051 | DIWALI RUSH-22: Afternoon on Stars ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
raj90341 | ₹28,150 | Sunday Bonanza (RE) ₹1 Lakh GTD | Poker Dangal |
SpidermanIndia | ₹28,121 | DIWALI RUSH – 36, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
spewking | ₹27,972 | Dangal Friday ₹1 Lakhs GTD | Poker Dangal |
Archit ‘flyingmuck’ Khandelwal | ₹24,260 | Turbo ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD (5RE) | PokerBaazi |
MH1024 | ₹24,219 | DIWALI RUSH – 40, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
rohit25king | ₹24,000 | Monday Texas ₹1 Lakh GTD (R+A) | Poker Dangal |
Underthegun31 | ₹21,181 | DIWALI RUSH-46: Storm SE ₹2 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
nomnomnom18 | ₹20,829 | DIWALI RUSH – 36, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
rajmachhole | ₹20,375 | DIWALI RUSH-15: Afternoon on Stars ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Yosikkamudiyala | ₹20,044 | DIWALI RUSH – 41, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
vaebhav1611 | ₹17,560 | DIWALI RUSH – 40, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
ztpr | ₹16,866 | DIWALI RUSH-18: Primetime Grind ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
Fuckingloser | ₹16,500 | Wow Wednesday ₹75K GTD | Poker Dangal |
pokerguru578 | ₹14,826 | DIWALI RUSH – 41, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
sheldon11cooper | ₹10,967 | DIWALI RUSH – 41, ₹1.5 Lakhs GTD | PokerStars India |
The Millionaire is the undisputed King of online tournaments in the country. Making an unprecedented run, the Spartan Poker flagship is now slated to run, not one but three smashing editions that will keep the virtual felts busy for most of November! The first of them – Millionaire Legends will run from November 8-10, followed by the SSS Millionaire from November 15-17. Rounding up the Millionaire trilogy will be the Millionaire X5 Edition, which is scheduled from November 22-24.
Read the complete report here
Online poker startup Pocket52 has launched its own online poker network called Pocket52 Network. The ambitious new endeavor aims to operate as a domestic shared network for online poker platforms and has it has even roped in Calling Station as the first member site.
Read the complete report here
A team of seven challengers, namely, Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, Krina Gala, Prateek Mishra, Tanmay Bagga, Tarun Mundkar, and Rishab Jain are representing India at the International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) Asian Nation’s Cup currently underway at Taoyuan in Taiwan. Team India performed exceedingly well at the stop topping the points tally on the starting two days backed by the powerful performances of Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal and Team Captain Gaurav Gala. The team has already secured a berth in the World Championship that is to take place in Peru.
Singapore, Australia, and Taiwan are the other teams who made the cut for Peru. These four teams will be playing five sessions of 60 hands each today to decide the winner of the Asian Nations Cup.
Alongside, the teams that were placed fifth to ninth in the points leaderboard will be battling it out over five sessions of fifty hands each today, and the winning team will be the fifth qualifier to Peru.
Read the complete report here
A fresh PIL has been filed in Delhi High Court against poker, seeking a ban on poker and other card games like rummy, teen patty, and bridge. Hearing the PIL that has been submitted by Deepti Bhagat, the division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar have issued a notice to the Finance Ministry and the Delhi government asking them to clarify their stand on the matter.
Read the complete report here
The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), while hearing out an insolvency petition filed by Living Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd. against Play Games24x7, dismissed the case. Play Games is the parent firm of online rummy site RummyCircle, and Living Consumer had sought the tribunal’s intervention over the alleged non-payment of ₹6.35 Crores in unpaid dues.
Read the complete report here
A five-day high stakes cash game promotion is coming to the Spartan LIVE poker room onboard the Casino Big Daddy in Goa. Spartan Poker has announced that international high stakes cash game pros Patrik Antonius and David Benyamine will be attending the fest that is slated to take place from November 13-17.
Read the complete report here
GVC Holdings, the parent company of online poker site partypoker, has for the third year in a row won the prestigious EGR Poker Operator of the Year award. CEO Kenneth Alexander received the award in a star-studded ceremony in London.
Read the complete report here
Mediarex Enterprises Ltd – the parent firm of Global Poker Index (GPI) and The Hendon Mob Poker Database (THM) – has partnered with Taiwan-based company Chinese Poker Enterprises (CPE) to launch GPI Asia. Like the GPI and THM, the GPI Asia will be a ranking system but with a specific focus on Asian poker players.
Read the complete report here
After a run that lasted more than three weeks, the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is finally done and dusted. Championing the series-headliner – Event #14: €10,350 Main Event was Greece’s Alexandros Kolonias, who overcame a field of 541 entries to walk away with his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet and a career-best €1,133,678.
There was a small but talented group of Indians playing the series, and two of them – Nitin Jain and Tarun Goyal had entered Day 1B of the Main Event, but both of them fell out empty-handed.
Read the complete report here
The longest-running event at the series, Event #15: €550 Colossus, logged in an astounding 2,738 entries over nine starting flights to generate a €1,300,550 prize pool. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier went on to clinch his second WSOP gold bracelet in the event and win the top prize of €190,375.
The much-anticipated WSOP POY race also came to an end with six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu claiming the POY title for an unprecedented third time.
Read the complete report here
The second edition of the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event attracted 1,324 entries, generating a €642,140 prize pool. Lithuania’s Tomas Sujeta championed the tough field to snag the title and a career-best €150,000.
Read the complete report here
The Season 6 of WPTDeepStacks Pittsburgh Main Event was recently hosted at Rivers Casino. Running past a solid field of 386 entries was Ryan Quail, who banked the top prize worth $80,001.
Read the complete report here
The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Daytona Beach $1,100 Main Event was championed by Eric Salazar, who bested the 445-entry field to win the $98,476 first-place prize and a $3,500 HPT Championship package.
Read the complete report here
The RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Downstream $575 Main Event logged in 332 entries. Topping them all was Greg Jennings, who walked away with the top prize worth $38,179.
Read the complete report here
The World Poker Tour (WPT) Montreal recently played out at the Playground Poker Club in Kahnawake, Montreal. Headlining the action was the CA$3,300 Main Event, where 1,109 entries came in via three live and one online starting flights. Geoffrey Hum championed the event to win what was his first-ever live title and a personal-best score of CA$500,000.
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.