This Week in Poker: December 12 – 18

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  • Attreyee Khasnabis December 18, 2018
  • 12 Minutes Read

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring to you the weekly round-up of the biggest 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

2018 has been a breakout year for poker in India, with new milestones and landmark growth and development of the mind sport in the country. It’s only fitting that as the year end approaches, with each passing week we keep seeing some exciting new development and this past week was no different. The headline story was the PokerBaazi Premier League (PPL) Winter ’18 edition. The record-breaking series smashed its prize pool guarantee in several events and forced us to walk down the nostalgic path as our very first Young Gun Nitish Gupta came out on the top in the biggest event on the schedule, The MoneyMaker ₹1 Crore GTD for a massive ₹32.63 Lakhs payday. For his win, Gupta is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

Sharing the limelight with Gupta was Sameer Killersam Tavanandi who was adjudged the winner of the PPL Winter’ 18 Leaderboard and Ramlakhan ‘Hitler’ Meena who won the PPL Overall Yearly Leaderboard and will ride off into the sunset on his brand-new Harley Davidson bike!

Meanwhile, The Winter Series ₹1.65 Crores GTD on PokerStars India took off right as the PPL came to a close. Running from December 16-24, the series has already crowned several winners and headlining the list is yet another Young Gun Sharad ‘sordykrd’ Rao who won the Sunday Special Progressive KO ₹20 Lakhs GTD for ₹4.14 Lakhs.

In live tournament action, Manila Megastack 10 was the centre of attraction in the Asian circuit as a total of 26 events played out from December 7-16 at the PokerStars LIVE poker room in Okada, Manila. Indian challengers Harsh Dembla, Ankit Jajodia and Rohit Behal were in attendance and the trio posted a total of seven scores at the stop between them, with Dembla topping the list with three scores that got him a total ₱4,89,790 (₹6.63 Lakhs) in prize money.

A select group of Indian pros also made the trip down to 2018 European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague, notably Team PokerStars pro Muskan Sethi but unfortunately, she couldn’t pick a score. The series is now nearing its closure with only two events left to announce winners – €5,300 EPT Main Event and €10,300 EPT High Roller.

The High Roller has reached its final table with only eight players remaining. Canada’s Daniel Dvoress presently holds 29% of the chips in play with a stack of 3,815,000. The Main Event is down to the last three players, namely Paul Michaelis (20,950,000), Artem Kobylynskyi (8,000,000) and Alexandr Merzhvinskii (5,900,000). Both events will crown a winner later tonight.

Coming up soon is the PokerStars Players NLHE Championship (PSPC) in Bahamas. Among the confirmed attendees are, Kavin Shah, Raman Gujral, Vivek Singh, Sourabh Sindhwani, Aneesh Gopinathan, Nikhil Segel, Sharad Rao and Sumit Sapra, alongside Team PokerStars pro, Aditya Agarwal.

The domestic circuit was rife with news of Delta Corp approaching the Bombay High Court to seek a casino license for its property in Daman, police raids on online lottery parlours in Mumbai over GST evasion and former Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh posing a starred question on legalisation of gambling and betting in the Upper House of the Parliament.

Internationally, Run It Once conducted its third invite-only beta testing taking another step towards an official launch. PokerStars meanwhile, picked poker journalist Aleeyah Jadavji as the latest winner of the Platinum Pass to the PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship (PSPC) and World Poker Tour (WPT) announced the schedule for its inaugural WPT Russia series that is slated for January 18-27 at Sochi casino.

We conclude this week’s recap with tournament reports from the 2018 Manila Megastack 10, 2018 EPT Prague WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, WPTDeepStacks Deauville Main Event, WSOPC Bicycle Casino Main Event, WSOP Circuit IP Biloxi $400 NLHE Monster Stack, RGPS Downstream Event and the 2018 WSOPC The Star Sydney.

Online Railbird Report

The MoneyMaker ₹1 Crore GTD was the biggest event of the PokerBaazi Premier League (PPL) Winter’18 Edition which overshot its guarantee with a massive 1.33 Crores prize pool through a total of 1,332 entries (742 unique and 590 re-entries). The field was tough to beat but Nitish ‘Somnath’ Gupta seemed up for the challenge as he bested Chiraag ‘Versutus’ Patel in the heads-up play and bagged ₹32.63 in first-place prize money, becoming our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

Nitish ‘Somnath’ Gupta
Nitish ‘Somnath’ Gupta

Read the complete story here.

Other notable scores of the week include –

Avish ‘thehorse7’ Sharma won ₹5.04 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#27 Main Event Warm Up ₹20 Lakhs GTD’

Sreekanth ‘n0thing’ Narayan won ₹4.80 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL #32 BBS SuperStack ₹20 Lakhs GTD’

Sharad sordykrd’ Rao won ₹4.14 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Special – Progressive KO ₹6,600 NLHE ₹20 Lakhs GTD’

Haresh ‘Dietchips’ Kukreja won ₹3.82 Lakhs for 1st place in the 9stacks’ ‘Sunday Stacks ₹15 Lakhs GTD’

Haresh ‘Narcos’ Kukreja won ₹3.15 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#23 The Value Town ₹15 Lakhs GTD’

Jitendra ‘jeet0’ Gadhwal won ₹2.85 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#28 6-Max MegaStack ₹10 Lakhs GTD’

Sumit ‘boronyx’ Sapra won ₹2.31 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#22 ₹10 Lakhs GTD’

Vaibhav ‘durrrr1310’ Saigal won ₹1.66 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#24 PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Rudraksh ‘GABBARisBACK’ Rudy won ₹1.55 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#30 BSS PLO ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Sajjan ‘TheTeacher’ Barnwal won ₹1.40 Lakhs for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#33 BSS MegaStack ₹5 Lakhs GTD’

Guruprasad ‘fish_calling’ Gupta won ₹61,717 for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#25 DST ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

Vivekk ‘Vivek25’ Dube won ₹54,992 for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#26 Time Bomb ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

Vaibhav ‘durrrr1310’ Saigal won ₹47,970 for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#21 6-Max ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

Sridhar ‘PlayEasy565’ Ramineni won ₹45,333 for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#21 6-Max ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

Sridhar ‘PlayEasy565’ Ramineni won ₹45,333 for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#29 ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

‘imhobadshah’ won ₹44,746 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Bigstack Turbo ₹1,650 NLHE ₹2 Lakh GTD’

‘Virshallsee’ won ₹35,543 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Winter Warm Up ₹1,100 NLHE ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

Abhishek ‘Pro123’ Lowanshi won ₹33,000 for 1st place in the PokerRaj ‘Nations Cup Qualifier ₹1 Lakh GTD’

‘anandsankar’ won ₹31,249 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Sunday Supersonic ₹1,100 NLHE ₹1.5 Lakh GTD’

Sriharsha ‘Donkey Committed’ Boneni won ₹31,009 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Winter Storm Winter Storm ₹275 NLHE (6-Max) ₹2 Lakhs GTD’

‘imhobadshah’ won ₹28,181 for 1st place in the PokerStars India ‘Deep Hyper Progressive KO ₹1.25 Lakhs GTD’

Uday ‘u2day’ Mondal won ₹27,765 for 1st place in the MadOverPoker ‘Dynamite’

Mahesh ‘mahikalra’ Shyamsundar won ₹20,250 for 1st place in the MadOverPoker ‘Grenade’

Sameer ‘Killersam’ Tavanandi won ₹19,025 for 1st place in the PokerBaazi ‘PPL#34 Time Bomb ₹1 Lakhs GTD’

Neeraj ‘Silentkiller’ Dureja won ₹17,500 for 1st place in the MadOverPoker ‘Night Crawler’

Amarjeet ‘Ninjakar’ Singh Becomes Bounty Champion on MadOverPoker

The Indian Bounty Championship (IBC) crowned its leaderboard champion in 28-year-old Imphal based Amarjeet ‘Ninjakar’ Singh who managed to win ₹50,000 in leaderboard prizes.

Amarjeet ‘Ninjakar’ Singh
Amarjeet ‘Ninjakar’ Singh

Read the complete story here.

Run It Once Poker Launching Soon

Phil Galfond‘s Run It Once (RIO) Poker site’s third invite-only beta test was a success and it is quite likely that this was the last test before launch.

Run It Once Poker

Read the complete story here.

Delta Corp Approaches Bombay High Court Against Daman Government Over Casino License Delay

Daman Hospitality Private Limited last week submitted a writ petition in the Bombay High Court seeking a casino license under Section 13A of the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976.

Read the complete story here.

Amar Singh Questions Rajya Sabha on Legalisation of Betting & Gambling

This past week, Independent Rajya Sabha Member and former Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh posed a starred question on legalisation of gambling and betting in the Upper House of the Parliament, asking if the Law Commission of India has sent a proposal to legalise it in the country.

Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh
Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh

Read the complete story here.

Seven Online Lottery Parlours Raided For GST Evasion

Seven lottery parlours across different locations in Mumbai were raided last week for GST evasion. The police seized several computers, hard disks and other paraphernalia along with arresting 11 people for allegedly selling hand-written lottery tickets.

Read the complete story here.

Poker Journalist Aleeyah Jadavji Wins PSPC Platinum Pass

Poker journalist Aleeyah Jadavji recently won the coveted Platinum Passes for the PokerStars Players Championship for her behind-the-scenes hard-work covering the game and increasing its popularity.

Aleeyah Jadavj

Read the complete story here.

WPT Russia Schedule Announced

The inaugural World Poker Tour (WPT) Russia tournament series will run from January 18-27 at the Sochi Casino and the stop has a very enticing ₽184,500,000 in guarantees across seven scheduled events.

Read the complete story here.

EPT Prague 2018

Corentin Ropert shipped the €25K Single-Day High Roller event after besting 28 other players to walk away with the career-best score worth €277,560. Ropert defeated Tsugunari Toma in the heads-up play to take the top honors.

Corentin Ropert
Corentin Ropert

Read the complete story here.

Meanwhile, Alexander Norden shipped the €10,300 PLO event to clinch his maiden EPT title along with €93,300 in prize money.

Alexander Norden
Alexander Norden

 

Read the complete story here.

Other big winners at the series include Thomas Boivin (€25K Single-Day High Roller for €375,520), Yaniv Peretz (€2,200 High Roller for €253,965), Boris Mondrus (€1,100 EPT National for €382,750) and Mathias Eibinger (€50,000 Super High Roller for €653,000).

Matthias Elbinger
Matthias Elbinger

Read the complete story here.

WSOPC The Star Sydney 2018

The 2018 WSOP Circuit’s The Star Sydney wrapped up with Andrew White claiming his first circuit ring and career-best score of A$103,359 in the $1,150 Monster Stack, while Alex Lynskey defeated Matt Pongrass heads-up to win A$442,796 in the $2,200 Main Event.

Alex Lynskey
Alex Lynskey

Read the complete story here.

Meanwhile, the $20,000 High Roller saw Luke Martinelli besting the field of 50 players to win A$356,250 along with is maiden WSOPC ring.

In another highlight, Robert Sutherand took down the short deck event for A$37,152.

Robert Sutherland
Robert Sutherland

 

Read the complete story here.

 

Dylan Linde Ships WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event

RunItOnce.com poker coach, Dylan Linde won his first-ever WPT title at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event, along with a best live cash of $1,631,468, including a $15,000 seat into the season-ending Baccarat Crystal Tournament of Champions.

Dylan Linde
Dylan Linde

Read the complete story here.

Manig Loeser Wins WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic $25K High Roller

German pro Manig Loeser came out on top in the $25K High Roller at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $321,300.

Read the complete story here.

Saul Berdugo Wins WPTDeepStacks Deauville Main Event

The 2018 WPTDeepStacks Deauville €1,200 Main Event attracted 474 entries across three starting flights. Frenchman Saul Berdugo took down the event for a winner’s payday of €98,000.

Saul Berdugo
Saul Berdugo

Read the complete story here.

Steven Spunt Takes Down 2018 WSOPC Bicycle Casino Main Event

58-year old Steven Spunt bested a field of 546 runners to take down the 2018 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Bicycle Casino $1,700 Main Event for $174,055.

Steven Spunt
Steven Spunt

Read the complete story here.

Gavin Munroe Tops 2018 WSOP Circuit IP Biloxi $400 NLHE Monster Stack

Posting his first-ever score along with a gold ring at the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC), Gavin Munroe from Mississippi took down the $400 NLHE Monster Stack at IP Biloxi for $26,278.

Gavin Munroe
Gavin Munroe

Read the complete story here.

Simon Webster Wins RGPS Downstream Event

The 2018 RunGood Old West Poker Series stop at Downstream Casino Resort drew in 386 entries, crushing the previous attendance record of 344 entries that was set in March 2014. Outlasting the field was Simon Webster, who bagged the title after defeating RG ambassador Daniel Lowery in the heads-up play, along with $44,391 in first-place prize money.

Simon Webster
Simon Webster

 

Read the complete story here.

And with this, we conclude this week’s round up of the latest news updates and developments from the world of poker. We will return again next week with our weekly report, stay tuned.

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