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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
The 2016 World Series of Poker (WSOP) continued to dominate all other action, with several more surprises that saw rank new comers as well as some notables seize the day, claiming the prestigious bracelet. The events pace will now reduce, but the gaming-intensity will be heightened with the start of Event 68 – $10,000 Main Event No-Limit Hold’em Championship on Saturday, July 9. All three entry flights are over and a number of our Indian challengers have made a great start, surviving to Day 2, led by Team PokerStars Pro Aditya Agarwal. Joining him on Day 2 will be Samay Parikh, Dhaval Mudgal, Mauris Noronha, Raghav Bansal, Rajeev Kanjani, Rajesh Goyal, Jaideep Sajwan, Shashank Jain, Paawan Bansal, Sharavan Chhabria, Akash Malik and Akshay Bharadwaj.
Several Indian continued to collect cashes all through the week, with Ankit Ahuja, the star performer. Ahuja banked 51,878 for his fifth place finish in Event 58 – $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (30-minute levels) and for this, he is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.
Live action will further continue in the eastern part of the globe with two big tournaments, the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Philippines II (July 9 – 13) and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila (July 28 – August 8). Two lucky players won an all inclusive package to APT Manila on Spartan Poker. Akash Shekar and Vikram Kumar, both won packages worth INR 2.20 Lakhs each to APT Manila through online satellites on Spartan Poker.
Online action continued unabated and Piyush ‘piyush16’ Gupta was the one with the highest score of almost $13,000 from different cashes.
The week was filled with numerous other developments both domestic and international. In India, a new official body was formed for the gaming industry, Kolkata saw the re-launch of the India Poker Association (IPA) club and Puducherry could well be the next beach-destination for floating casinos. In Goa, the ruckus continued over casinos, but an offer for relocation came in that could settle the matter. Sikkim has decided to ban residents from frequenting casinos and Nagaland govt finally notified the ‘Online Games of Skill Bill’ and is soon expected to begin the process of issuing letters of intent to select operators
Internationally, the schedules for the WSOP Circuit and the 2017 Aussie Millions were announced and Philippines have declared to stop issuing online licenses for gaming. On the other hand news of a shared liquidity pool from New Jersey and UK and Netherlands approving a regulated online poker market came in, even as it was reported that the online regulation progress in Portugal was delayed.
Finally, we have tournament reports from the WPT500 and the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour (GKUPT) London, besides the weekly Global Poker Index (GPI) and Global Poker League (GPL) highlights.
Online Railbird Report
Piyush ‘piyush16’ Gupta won $4,921.04 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘Hot $162, $15K GTD’. Piyush also won $7,950.15 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$33+R Sunday Rebuy, $40K GTD’
Abhishek ‘abhi147’ Rathod won $4,709.00 for 4th place in the PokerStars ‘$55 Sunday Stack, $50K GTD’ and collected another $1,365.30 for 3rd place in the PokerStars $22 NLHE [6-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO], $25K GTD
Anmol ‘anmols’ Srivats won $3,281.00 for 4th place in the PokerStars ‘$215 Fast Friday [Turbo, Zoom], $35K GTD’ and cashed another $2,443.51 for 3rd place in the PokerStars ‘$22 Mini Fast Friday [Turbo, Zoom], $20K GTD’
‘vio.vishnu’ won $1,637.37 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$33 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo], $5K GTD’
Mohan ‘mohanrao620’ Rao won around $1,400 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘Hot $5.50’
Sanjay ‘sanjaytaneja’ Taneja won $1,206.36 for 9th place in the PokerStars ‘$109 Mini Super Tuesday, $75K GTD’
Nick ‘cailansr’ Matthews won $1,197.15 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘Bounty Builder $22, $8K GTD’
Rubin ‘poopalert123’ Labroo won around $911 including bounties for 1st place in PokerStars ‘$16.50 NLHE [6-Max, Hyper Turbo, Progressive KO], $4K GTD’
Spartan Poker APT Philippines II Satellite Winners
Spartan Poker has done it again and this time, not one, but two lucky players have won packages worth INR 2.2 Lakhs each to the APT Philippines II, which runs from July 19 to 27. The package includes a seat worth $2,200 to the Main event, plus hotel accommodation and return flight tickets!
The two lucky winners are Akash Shekar and Vikram Kumar, who will be making the trip and as a bonus they stand to grab another INR 10 lakhs from Spartan Poker, if either one of them goes on to win the Main Event.
Akash C Shekhar Vikram Kumar
2016 WSOP
The run of cashes continued this last week, even as our Indian players geared up for Event 60 – $10,000, Main Event No-Limit Championship, where they have already gotten off to a great start.
Event 58 – $1000 No-Limit Hold’em (30-minute levels)
Ankit Ahuja claims our “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title for his 5th place that netted him a cool $51,878.
Ankit Ahuja
Event 59 – $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Aditya Agarwal was the only Indian to cash in this event, where he made $8,506 for an 82nd place finish.
Event 61 $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em
The team of Akash Malik – Dhaval Mudgal made a 53rd place in this event, cashing $1,294 each for the finish.
Amit Jain – Aditya Sushant also cashed at 69th place, banking $1,003 each.
Event 63 – $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Rahul Byrraju claimed $8,897 for a 31st place in this event. Akshay Bharadwaj finished at 51st place collecting $6,022 and Shashank Jain made a 115th place for $2,397.
Event 68 – $10,000, Main Event No-Limit Championship
The Main Event began on Friday and had three entry flight days. Survivors from Day 1A and 1B will congregate for Day 2AB (separately), while those from Day 1C will continue on Day 2C.
Jaideep Sajwan played Day 1A and made it to Day 2AB.
Aditya Agarwal, Samay Parikh, Dhaval Mudgal, Maurice Noronha, Raghav Bansal, Rajeev Kanjani and Rajesh Goyal, all survived Day 1B.
On Day 1C, Aditya Sushant, Sumit Asrani, Shashank Jain, Paawan Bansal, Sharavan Chhabria, Akash Malik and Akshay Bharadwaj along with Indian-origin players Nipun Java and Kunal Patel made it to Day 2C.
Latest bracelet winners are as follows –
Sr. No.
Winner Name
WSOP Event
Prize
1
Brian Rast
Event #55: $50,000 Poker Players Championship (6-handed)
$1,296,097
2
David Peters
Event #56: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
$412,557
3
David Nowakowski
Event #57: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better
$203,113
4
Corey Thompson
Event #58: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (30-minute levels)
$221,163
5
Yue Du
Event #59: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
$800,586
6
David Prociak
Event #60: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better
$156,546
7
Doug Polk & Ryan Fee
Event #61: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em
$76,679 Each
8
Jens Kyllonen
Event #62: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed)
$1,127,035
9
Tony Dunst
Event #63: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
$339,254
10
Kyle Bowker
Event #64: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better
$294,960
11
Courtney Kennedy
Event #65: $10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship
$149,108
12
Fedor Holz
Event #67: $111,111 High Roller for One Drop No-Limit Hold’em
$4,981,775
Planet Hollywood Goliath, $1,650 Main Event, $2 Million GTD
Kunal Patni at 246th place and Rajeev Kanjani at 249th cashed this side event in Vegas, as did Shashank Jain.
StarPoker.in Team Pros Quit Amidst Speculation
Rajat Sharma, who had signed on as team pro with StarPoker.in quit suddenly without any details forthcoming. The news came just hours after the brand’s first team member Maria Kirloskar posted news about her resignation on her Facebook page. Subsequently, it was reported that Kartik Ved has also quit as GenNext pro and many more players are expected to be leaving shortly. 
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Rajat Sharma Maria Kirloskar
Read the complete story here.
New Body AIGF formed for Gaming Industry
Indian gaming got a new platform with the launch of the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), which is aimed at addressing all issues faced by stakeholders in gaming within the country.
Read the complete story here.
IPA Poker Room Re-Launches in Kolkata
The India Poker Association (IPA) re-launched its poker room in Kolkata, with a new upscale address and a number of exciting promos planned for patrons. Though originally opened last year, the administration was waiting for all licenses to come through before this launch at the new venue.
Read the complete story here.
Puducherry Govt Plans To Introduce Offshore Casino
In a move to enhance revenues for the Union Territory of Puducherry, V Narayanasamy, Chief Minister announced plans to introduce an offshore casino, besides measures to attract tourists with better facilities, including an expanded airport. In order to facilitate the plans, M Krishna Rao, Tourism Minister said that a delegation of high-level bureaucrats would visit Goa to study the system of floating casinos and how to implement the same in Puducherry.
Read the complete story here.
Goa Casinos Issue – Chowgule Group Offer Alternate Venue
It was a week of strife for the Goa casino issue, but a solution seemed in sight as it ended. Opposition members and activists continued to decry the BJP govt’s pro-casino stance and the anchoring of the Deltin Caravela near the protected bird sanctuary at Chorao Island.
The Forest Minister then initiated moves for ordering this casino to be shifted from the location.
During this week an NGO also brought in a stay on the construction for a new casino by a five star hotel. Reacting to the move, Laxmikant Parsekar, Chief Minister stated that casinos could not be shifted as it would adversely affect investors.
A solution now seems to be at hand, with the offer of an alternate private location within the Mormugao Port Trust jurisdiction by a member of the established Chowgule Group. The offer also said that the locale was large enough to be used as a casino-zone, capable of accommodating 10 to 12 vessels.
Read the complete story here.
North-East Gambling News
From the north-eastern states, two diverse news reports emerged this week. The first saw Sikkim amend the law to ban locals from entering casinos. The amendments also included a hike in casino-entrance fees to INR 1000.
In Nagaland, however, the govt finally notified the ‘Online Games of Skill Bill’ and is soon expected to begin the process of issuing letters of intent to select operators. The only hitch are the fees prescribed, which are on the higher side for service providers.
Read the complete story here.
WSOP Circuit 2016/17 Schedule Released
The schedule for WSOP Circuit 2016/17 has been released with two new US stops, as well as the return of the Biloxi, Mississippi one. The schedule has also revealed five of its international destinations, though officials report there will be 14 stops in all.
Read the complete story here.
Schedule For Aussie Millions 2017 Announced
The next edition of the Aussie Millions will run from January 11 to 30, 2017, once again at the Crown Casino, Melbourne. According to the schedule released, there will be 26 events, with a range of formats and buy-ins to suit all kinds of players. The highlight Main Event is set for January 22 and will have three starting flights.
Read the complete story here.
Shared Online Liquidity Pool In Plans For New Jersey & UK
In an unprecedented move, New Jersey and the United Kingdom regulators are exploring the option of having a shared liquidity player pool. Despite certain legal differences, there are operators servicing both jurisdictions and the regulators are planning to discuss the possibility with them.
Read the complete story here.
Netherlands Gets Regulated Online Poker, With High Tax Rates
After a two-year ban on advertising of online games, Netherlands passed an online poker bill. However, the bill has a high rate of tax for operators questioning the feasibility of a healthy regulated online market.
Read the complete story here.
Philippines to Stop Issuing Online Gambling Licenses
The Philippines regulatory body reported that it would discontinue issuing licenses for online gambling, on the wishes of the country’s president who was against the activity. It was reported that there has been a proliferation of internet-based cafes with a marked increase in revenues for the govt.
Read the complete story here.
Portugal Regulated Online Poker Market Delayed
Though Portugal had approved of a licensed regime one year ago and even issued a license to an operator, news came that the online market would be delayed for a few months more. Sources say that the govt is yet to decide whether to go for shared liquidity or not and will apply for the same, formalities for which could take a couple of months.
Read the complete story here.
The Aria Resort hosted the 2016 WPT500 to a huge entry-crowd of 3,956 and defeating them all was Andreas Olympios, who collected a prize of $260,000, for his efforts.
Andreas Olympios
Read the complete story here.
Brett Kennedy Wins 2016 GUKPT London
The GUKPT London Main Event played out with 419 entries and last man standing was Brett Kennedy, who took home £45,470 in prize money.
Brett Kennedy
Read the complete story here.
GPI/GPL Update – Fedor Holz Continues to Rule, Jason Mercier Leads WSOP POY Race
Fedor Holz continues to rule the GPI No. 1 spot, while Jason Mercier is sitting pretty atop the WSOP ‘Player of the Year’ leaderboard.
At the GPL, Heat V ended with Montreal Nationals leading the Americas conference and the Moscow Wolverines at the top of the Eurasia franchises.
Read the complete story here.
Related Articles:
1. Puducherry Tourism Minister To Visit Goa, Plans To Study Offshore Casino Model
4. Forest Minister Orders Deltin Caravela Be Shifted Away From Bird Sanctuary Zone
5. Goa CM Declares ‘Casinos Cannot Be Shut’, Even as BJP Members Rebel Against Party
6. Trouble Brewing at StarPoker?! Maria Kirloskar & Rajat Sharma Quit Brand Tie-Up
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