This Week in Poker: February 10 – 16

This Week in Poker
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  • PG News February 16, 2016
  • 5 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

The pace picked up this week with several tournaments, legal tangles, announcements and online scores making headlines. While the international arena was where all the tournament action was witnessed, we saw a lot of new developments unfolding in India this past week. The two big international tournaments ongoing are the European Poker Tour (EPT) 12 Dublin, where Mustapha Kanit scored his third High Roller title for €501,640, in the largest buy-in event at the Irish city, besides the €5,300 Main Event, which has now completed Day 1B of its play.

In the eastern half of the globe, the Asia Poker Tour (APT) Cebu 2016 marches on, with the Main Event now past Day 3, with John Kim leading the eight-handed final table and several side events finding new winners.

Other international news includes the report for the World Poker Tour (WPT) London and the newly released Global Poker League (GPL) Draft list of 203 applicants, including Nipun Java, as the sole Indian-origin entry.

Besides the above, we also have news from India, with the Star Poker Series in Bengaluru getting cancelled due to a police raid. Team Thrill saw three members breaking ties with the brand, Kolkata got a premium club for poker players and gaming operators approached the Finance Ministry for tax relief.

Looking forward, players have the India Poker Championship (IPC) Feb Edition to look forward to, with action set to commence in just a week, and online satellites are currently underway at Spartan Poker. For those of you who won’t be making it to Goa for the IPC, you can still follow the complete coverage of the series right here on PokerGuru.

The online scene is as bright with a new mouthwatering bonus offer “MagicBonus“, the biggest bonus promotion from Spartan Poker this month and the launch of a new gaming app “Duel” by PokerStars. The site continues to make changes to benefit players online and has more rewards in store for its 100M celebrations!

The online leaderboard was once again dominated by Team PokerStars Pro Aditya Agarwal, who made two first places, scoring over $8,600 in total and is our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

 

Online Railbird Report

Marriage seems to suiting Team PokerStars Pro Aditya Agarwal excellently! Honeymooning in Australia, the pro once again booked a profitable week adding two more scores to his name. After barely a fortnight, he is once again our “PokerGuru Star of the Week”.

Aditya Agarwal
Aditya Agarwal

Aditya won two events on PokerStars. The first was for $6,150.00 in the ‘$215 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Re-Entry], $15K GTD’ and then $2,534.60 in the ‘$109 NL Hold’em [Turbo], $7.5K GTD’, collecting over $8,600 in winnings.

Amit ‘bblacklegend’ Jain made a 16th place finish in the PokerStars Sunday Warm Up for $1,710.

The other notable scores are all at PokerStars and include:

Armaan ‘armaan007’ Kochhar, who cashed twice. He made $1,116.00 for fifth place in ‘The Hotter $109 [Turbo], $15K GTD’, as well as first place for $4,727.67 in the ‘$82 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo], $12K GTD’.

Abhishek ‘abhi147’ Rathod, made a fourth place finish for $3,048.00 in ‘The Big $22, $45K GTD’.

Akash ‘proFISHnal’ Malik finished second in the ‘$33 NL Hold’em [Turbo], $25K GTD’ for $4,037.60

 

PokerStars News

PokerStars has made yet another change, this time by replacing heads up cash tables with Zoom pools. The site has clarified that this has been done to protect recreational players from “predatory” tactics by regulars, who waited out until a new player entered the game. That`s not all! In a bid to appeal to recreational players, “Duel” a new app by PokerStars is in testing phase in Norway and will soon be available for Android and iOS phones. The app is part of the company’s business plans to attract and engage players through mobiles.

Finally, PokerStars is giving away $100,000 in random rewards everyday as part of its 100M celebration. Players can find these by opening the Challenges window every day from February 15-29, where there will be two 24-hour Challenges, each representing a major milestone in PokerStars history. A random reward from a $10,000 All-in Shootout tourney seat up to $10,000 in cash awaits those who complete the daily Silver Challenge! For players who opt in and complete the Gold Challenge within 24 hours, there are much more richer rewards of up to $100,000! Don’t forget to register for the special VIP tournament on February 27 at 17:15 ET, as PokerStars is infusing another $100,000 to the prize pool, and players can take part for just 50 StarsCoin.

 

Spartan Poker – MagicBonus

The excitement keeps mounting each day at Spartan Poker, with a continuous flow of rewarding offers. After last week’s schedule change and the chance to win a Renault Duster, here comes another enticing promotion from India’s fastest growing online site. MagicBonus, a limited time deposit bonus valid till 5:30 am on Feb 22 was launched by the site a few days ago. Players have to deposit any amount using the code “MAGICBONUS” and they can claim a bonus depending upon the VIP points they collect. This earned bonus will be restricted at ₹2 Lakhs! The highest amount of 5,000 VIP points can net a player 100% of their deposit, with the lowest cap being 1000 VIP points receiving 10% of their deposit. This means that with a deposit of ₹1 Lakh, a player needs to earn 5000 VIP points to receive a full ₹1 Lakh as bonus! Players who make the stipulated slabs will receive their MagicBonus on Feb 23, but do remember the cut-off date for making points is February 22, so hurry and join the action at Spartan Poker now!

 

Police Raid Star Poker Series, Organizers Cancel Tournament

The inaugural Star Poker Series was raided by the Bengaluru police during its opening ₹5,500 event. The police forced the 65-odd players present at the venue to leave the poker room mid-way in the tournament. The organizers decided to call off the series due to the incidence.

Read the complete story here.

 

Team Thrill Loses Three Pro Members

Sahil Agarwal, Jasven Saigal and Danish Shaikh, have all parted ways with online poker site Thrill Poker. The news was posted by the players on their Facebook wall, with Thrill Poker also issuing reports about the break-up.

Speculation is rife that re-negotiations of contracts are behind the split, though both parties are calling it an amicable and mutual split. It is reported that while the contracts of Dhaval Mudgal, Shravan Chhabria and Nikita Luther have been renewed, talks are presently underway with the seventh Team Thrill pro – Haresh Kukreja!

Read the complete story here.

 

Kolkata Gains Elite Poker Club

Poker fans in Kolkata can rejoice with the addition of a new and exclusive club – the Park Street Privilege Club, where they can enjoy the game in elite surroundings. A members-only club, the place features a luxurious Sports Lounge, Karaoke Rummy & Poker Room, a library and a 22-ft Bar within its 9000 sq ft premises, along with a live DJ and fabulous bartending services.

Read the complete story here.

 

Easwar Report Leads Way For TDS/Tax Cuts

Based on the recommendations by the Easwar Report, gaming operators in the country have sent a missive to the Finance ministry, asking for changes in taxes to relieve the burden on players and the industry. It has been proposed to increase TDS slab to a minumum INR 15,000 and reduce current taxes to 10%-15%.

Read the complete story here.

 

EPT 12 Dublin Recap

Mustapha Kanit claimed the title of the EPT 12 Dublin €25,700 High Roller for €501,640, after beating a star-studded field of 70 entries. Kanit had a breakout year in 2015 with two titles in the €50k and €10k High Rollers, making this his third EPT High Roller title.

Chance Kornuth made second place for €360,150. Currently Day 1B of the €5,300 Main Event is over, with Francisco Oliveira leading the way with 175,100 in chips. This second entry-flight saw 442 entries and only 262 of them survived to Day 2.

Day 1A had 147 players and out of the 79 survivors, Gilles Bernies bagged the largest stack of 189,600 chips. The total number of 589 entries till now, could see an increase, as late registrations will remain open until play begins in a few hours.

Read the complete story here.

 

APT Cebu 2016 Recap

The APT Cebu 2016 has just another two days to go and Day 3 of its PHP 5,5000 Main Event ended today, with Korea’s John Kim leading the chip counts with a stack of 637,000. Kim is fresh off his win in the APT Cebu OFC Pineapple Shootout and it is to be seen, if he bags his second title this series tomorrow. Michael Falcon, the start-of-day chip leader, managed to hang on and is second in chips with 600,000.

Michael Falcon
Michael Falcon

The surviving eight players will continue tomorrow to play down to a champion, and the play will be telecast live on the APT Live channel at Twitch.tv.

11 side events have played out, to crown all new champions, but one name stands out prominently. Who else but four-time APT POY champion – Sam Razavi, who has already made four scores, including three final table finishes in the series so far.

The Opening Event was won by Chris Mateo for PHP 343,300. The Head Hunter PHP 4,000 Bounty had Iori Yogo winning the title for PHP 312,200. Russia’s Evgeny Kocherov claimed the High Roller OFC Pineapple for PHP 315,200. The NLH 1-Day Event saw Daisuki Ito taking down the title and the prize of PHP 213,400. Korea’s Soo Jo Kim was the winner of the Ante Only Turbo event for PHP 72,600.

Read the complete story here.

 

Partypoker WPT London

Lubys Zanas won the partypoker WPT London, taking home £21,500. The event had 567 entries and Mo Zahour was runner up for £15,000.

Lubys Zanas
Lubys Zanas

Read the complete story here.

 

GPL Draft Released – India`s Nipun Java in the 203-Player List

The GPL Draft list saw just 203 players out of the allotted Top 1000 on the GPI rankings signing up. A number of notables refused to sign the draft applications citing time constraints. However, sources report that the players are not happy with the two-year contract and the money (75% to go to GPL) offered.

Among those who have signed up are notables, such as Antonio Esfandiari, Martin Jacobson, Vanessa Selbst, as well as Indian-origin player Nipun Java. The final draft selection of players for the 12 teams, by the team managers will take place on February 25.

 

And that is all for this edition of our weekly report. We will be here again next week, same time, so stay logged on to catch all the latest news from the world of poker.

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