This Week in Poker: September 30 – October 6

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 action never halts in poker world and this past week its been the APT Asian Series Manila that has taken centre stage, especially with Team India putting in a marvelous performance. If the momentum was kick started by Kunal Patni and Dhaval Mudgal in the initial events, Paawan Bansal and Raghav Bansal took the baton ahead as the series progressed. Patni made a 4^th place in Event 8, Paawan finished 2^nd in Event 9, while Dhaval made a 15^th place in Event 12. Raghav and Paawan Bansal capped off the week in style by making it in the money in the Main Event at 16^th and 9th place respectively. The next stop for the series will be the APT Asian Series Cambodia from Oct 20 to 28 at the Queenco Hotel & Casino’s Poker@Queenco in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Before that however, India`s biggest tournament series i.e. India Poker Championship (IPC) is set to take off for its October edition from tomorrow, Oct 7 to 11. The 5-day series will feature four events and like last time Spartan Poker will be principal sponsors. The highlight of this edition will be the innovative hybrid ₹50K Highroller, which began online and will have its final table with live action in Goa during the series. As always, PokerGuru will be on ground zero bringing you exclusive live coverage of the series, so stay tuned for all the updates.

After making two back-back cashes at the end of the week, Akash ‘proFISHnal’ Malik takes this week’s “PokerGuru Star of the Week” title. Malik made a total of $4,901 from two in the money finishes on Sunday.

The Black Money Act and its direct implications of foreign currency earnings through the use of e-wallets and virtual cards has affected many players, who have now begun to mask their tournament cashes. Hence, our online railbird report section is a lot shorter than it should be this week.

The WSOP Berlin is about to begin soon on Oct 8 and will run until Oct 24. Young Gun Arsh Grover will be taking part in the series and has already left for his maiden international Live poker tournament. He updated his FB saying: It’s time for the World Series of Poker Europe! Let’s do some damage#‎teamindia #‎binkasaurus #‎bracelethunting #‎oktoberfest #‎wsope#‎deutschland #‎lfg.

A major story this week is the return of PokerStars to New Jersey, after Black Friday, when it had been banned for irregularities. Amaya has now received all regulatory approvals for resuming operations in the state. Another important news at PokerStars is a new change in its online rules that restricts the use of third party software.

Besides that we have tournament reports from the UKIPT, WSOP Circuits Italy & Palm Beach, the WPT, as well as news about new casino approvals from Cambodia.

Online Railbird Report

Ending the week on a great note, Akash ‘proFISHnal’ Malik had a great Sunday after two back to back money finishes making a total of $4,901. ‘proFISHnal’ won $3,536.50 for 11th place in the ‘PokerStars $530 Sunday 500, $250K GTD’ and $1,365.57 for 14th place in the PokerStars ‘The Bigger $162, $150K GTD’. Akash is our ‘PokerGuru Star of the Week’.

Close on Akash’s heels, Shahil ‘$lim$hady19’ Chuttani made the second biggest score of the week. He won $4,247.74 for 3rd place in the PokerStars ‘$27 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Progressive Super-Knockout], $75K GTD – Sunday Edition’.

Other scores this week include–

– Bhuvan ‘sweetu75’ Bansal won $3,994.20 for 3rd place in the PokerStars ‘The Hot $16.50 [Turbo], $40K GTD’.

– Ankit ‘aob1986’ Bajaj won $2,419.22 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$27 NL Hold’em [Hyper-Turbo], $15K GTD’.

– Sanjay Taneja won $2,625.05 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘$82 NL Hold’em [4-Max, Turbo, Ultra-Deep Stacks], $10K GTD’.

– ‘HighOnHypers’ won $1,280.00 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘$10.20 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up, Hyper-Turbo], $3.5K GTD’.

– Pranay ‘mitarachi89’ Kapoor won $1,461.60 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘Omania $33 [PLO], $8K GTD’.

– Pradeep ‘rashii10’ Singh won $1,274.13 for 1st place in the ‘PokerStars $5.50+R NL Hold’em, $5K GTD’

– Kartik ‘pegasus’ Ved won $1,039.47 for 1st place in the 888 Poker ‘$2,500 Guaranteed Deep Stack’.

– ‘rajesh_asi’ won $1,266.64 for 4th place in the PokerStars ‘The Hot $7.50 [Turbo], $15K GTD’.

– Arvindhan ’tiltalert86′ L won $1,047.54 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$8.80 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Turbo], $5K GTD’.

Another player to make a string of small cashes this week was R ‘RGINDIA’ Govardhan.

The action is set to get hotter on the domestic front with – The Spartan Pro Hunt (SPH), unleashed by newly appointed Spartan Team Pro Sangeeth ‘Samoh’ Mohan. The new challenge begins tomorrow, Oct 7 and the top three warriors will get a golden opportunity to become Team Spartan representatives, besides receiving mentoring from Team Pro ‘Samoh’ himself.

PokerStars has announced a new promo – “Common Cents” that has all events below the buy-in of $1. The series will run from Oct 5 to 11 and feature 14 tournaments with a total prize pool of $250,000. The highlight will be the $0.99 Common Cents Main Event at 15.00 ET with a guaranteed $25,000 prize pool. To say that the series is off to a great start would be an understatement, as the kickoff event itself has created a new record with 253,698 entries, the largest ever in a tournament on PokerStars.

Team India Makes Waves at APT Asian Series Manila 2015

The APT Asian Series Manila 2015 is now winding to a close and we saw some great performances by Team India at the series. Leading the pack was Kunal Patni, who is now a regular name on the Asian Circuit, with his numerous impressive cashes. Patni made a 4^th place finish in Event 8 – NLH 1 for PHP 128,300 apart from a 14th place finish in the Event 5 – Head Hunter and a 9th place finish in the Opening Event APT-RWM 2M GTD.

After a lack-luster start to the series, Dhaval Mudgal made an impressive runners-up finish in the Event 7: OFC Pineapple Shootout and followed it up with a 15^th place finish in Event 12 – PHP 5,500 WeLoveSport Deep Stack Turbo.

Pawan Bansal also scored an impressive 2^nd place finish in Event 9 – Pot Limit Omaha Hi for PHP 150,000.

Raghav Bansal began the Main Event with full vigor making it to the top ten chip counts on Day 2, but he finally lost his tournament life at 16^th place for PHP 16,7400 on Day 3. Paawan Bansal did even better, but unfortunately became the final table bubble and got eliminated in 9th place on Day 3 for PHP 334,700.

Read the complete story here.

Indian Poker Championship Gets Underway Tomorrow

India`s biggest tournament series i.e. India Poker Championship (IPC) is set to take off for its October edition from tomorrow, Oct 7 to 11. The 5-day series will feature four events and like last time Spartan Poker will be principal sponsors. The highlight of this edition will be the innovative hybrid ₹50K Highroller, which began online and will have its final table with live action in Goa during the series. Delhi`s Gurpal Nanda is the leading the six finalists with 225,089 chips. As always, PokerGuru will be on ground zero bringing you exclusive live coverage of the series, so stay tuned for all the updates.

PokerStars Returns To New Jersey, US

Amaya finally emerged victorious in its more than a year and half struggle to bring PokerStars and Full Tilt back to the United States. Despite stiff opposition from the Native Indian tribes and casino billionaire Adelson Sheldon, the company finally got all approval from the requisite New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). The date for its return has not yet been announced, but as is mandatory, the company has tied up with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City to begin operations.

PokerStars to Restrict the Use of Third-Party Software

PokerStars has made changes to its policy, which will restrain the use of third-party software and tools and these are expected to be implemented soon. Players will be allowed to utilize push/fold charts and similar tools, but there will be restrictions in what the HUDs will be allowed to display. A large section of the player community has come out in opposition to these changes.

Daniel Stacey Wins UKIPT Isle of Man

The UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event saw Daniel Stacey claim the title as well as the top prize of £24,170, after a deal with runner up Paren Arzoomanian, who collected £19,000 for his efforts.

Read the complete story here.

Cambodian Government Approves Ten New Casinos

Looks like the gambling industry in Cambodia is going to get a bigger boost in the days to come as the government approved licenses for 10 new casinos in the third quarter of this year. This will bring Cambodia’s total number of licensed casinos to 75. In 2014, the country had only 59 casinos.

Although online gambling is officially prohibited in Cambodia, the government allows it inside casinos. Through this move, the government feels, Cambodia will become a more attractive investment destination for international casino operators.

Read the complete story here.

Maiden WSOPC Italy Claimed By Sergio Castelluccio

The first-ever WSOPC €990 Main Event was won by local player Sergio Castelluccio for €114,100. Castelluccio also collected his first WSOP gold ring for outlasting an entry-field of 612 runners that included top international pros.

Read the complete story here.

Peter Vitantonio Is Champion of WSOPC PBKC Main Event

Ohio player Peter Vitantonio waded through a tough field of 393 players to win the 2015/2016 World Series of Poker Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club Main Event for $129,685. He also got his first gold ring with this win and a seat to the season-ending WSOP Global Casino Championship.

Read the complete story here.

2^nd WPT Title For Aaron Mermelstein

Aaron Mermelstein was the ultimate champion of the $3,500 WPT Maryland Live for $250,222. This was his second WPT title this year and Mermelstein overcame 337 runners to claim the title.

That wraps up this edition of our weekly recap. But keep your browsers pointed this way same time next week, as we return with all the top stories from the world of poker.