IPC POY standings

Now that the December edition is behind us, the interesting thing (besides even more poker :) for players now is the leaderboard situation with the IPC POY. With two money finishes including the Main Event, it's India Champion Aditya Sushant who is sitting pretty at the top of the rankings. As far as cities are concerned, Mumbai is leading the pack with 6 out of the Top 10 from the nation's financial capital. Here's the Top 10 on the IPC Player of the Year leaderboard:-

Rank	Name	Points	Finishes
1	Aditya Sushant	936	2
2	Farukh Shaikh	700	1
3	Akash Malik	576	1
4	Amit Jain	560	1
5	Harman Baweja	480	1
6	Jan Hlobil	420	1
7	Avinash Rajpal	384	1
8	Dhaval Mudgal	350	1
9	Ricky Chopra	312	1
10	Hrishikesh Mundargi	288	1

To see the complete listing of the IPC Player of the Year rankings, click HERE.

And here's one of the IPC Directors closing out the tournament weekend with a round of thanks to a few people...





The next IPC edition is coming up from 10th-13th February 2011. To register for this event, visit our website at www.indiapokerchampionship.com or you can also register here - http://bit.ly/IPCRegister

Day 4 - IPC 5k Freezeout

The final event of the weekend was another 5k Freezeout. The organizers had mentioned there were requests in past events to add Sunday night to the tournament weekend for those folks who could stay back. Keeping that in mind and also to appeal to the smaller stakes player, the IPC 5k Freezeout was introduced for this December event. The action was very loosey-goosey as many players got their chips in with marginal hands. There were a few bad beats but most ended up paying the price with the loss of their tournament life. It seemed that players were more relaxed and willing to ‘gamble’ after the initial intensity of the first 3 days.  The tournament started a few minutes after 8:30pm with 80 initial runners. There were plenty of people waiting to get in and it looked like we would get another packed house. Eventually at the end of the late entries, there were 93 runners. The 3-figure mark could have been achieved but many of the players on the waiting list decided to head to the casino floor and didn’t make it back in time.

Several prominent names got knocked out before the end of the 4^th level including the India Poker Champion Aditya Sushant, Arjjun Singh and Rajesh Goyal. Main Event runner-up Farukh Shaikh and Dhaval Mudgal too got eliminated a couple of levels later. As the tournament progresses the number of bad beats seem to go up and most of these are accompanied by the elimination of players as well. 

Eventually we get the final table into place and here’s what it looked like:-

Champagne flowing amongst the money finishers at the final table

1. Raghav ‘Chilly’ Singh – 42,000
2. Satish – 37,000
3. Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal – 96,000
4. Amith Guthi – 26,000
5. Kavin Shah – 35,000
6. Sachit – 56,000
7. Rajiv ‘Rocky’ Motwani – 59,000
8. Lawrence Sanjay – 58,000
9. Dr. B Ravichandra – 51,000 

Already dubbed as a rising young star of online poker, it was expected that Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal would definitely make a final table at the IPC tournament weekend. However despite decent runs in the first three events, Intervention couldn’t quite make it through and was looking to make a serious dent in the last event of the weekend. With over a 70% lead in chips over the next player, Intervention was in a commanding position as he entered his first final table in the India Poker Championship. First elimination on the final table was Lawrence Sanjay who had quite the run coming into the final table knocking out several players. But his T T were no match for Dr. Ravi’s pair of Ladies. But the good doctor was unable to last long getting knocked out in 8^th place. Intervention who’d taken a huge beat against Satish earlier was now once again staring at elimination from his nemesis who’d made the call. A King on the flop for Satish and Aditya goes out in 7^th place. The man with the spiky hair, funky red shades and spicy name, Raghav ‘Chilly’ Singh was the next to go in 6^th place knocked out by Sachit. Rocky Motwani then busts out Satish in 5^th place and follows that up by eliminating Sachit in 4^th.

Our fantastic service staff at the Royale Card room

3-way action then ensues between Rocky, Amith and Kavin. Kavin with pocket Jacks then eliminates Amith who was holding A T. He spikes a J on the turn and this is enough to end Amith’s tournament run. Headsup between Kavin and Rocky goes on for a while with hands and smallish pots being traded. Rocky picks up a few pots in a row and then makes another push with A 3. This time Kavin decides to make the call and lips over A 8. The flop causes a lot of cheer from the Mumbai contingent as their boy Kavin hits trips on an 8 8 3 board. The turn throws up a 6 and it’s all over as the celebrations begin even as the river shows an inconsequential King. Kavish Shah is the IPC 5k winner and a commendable 2^nd place for Goa local and tournament regular Rocky.

Rocky Motwani, Kavin Shah and Amith Guthi

It was an action packed 4 days of intense tournament poker. With most tournaments crossing the 9 hour mark, players making the final table were battling not just mental but sheer physical fatigue as well! While some of the known names of the tournament circuit did not score across the event, we had the opportunity to observe several young and aggressive talents. All events from December will also award points to players towards the IPC Player of the Year rankings. India Poker Champion, Aditya Sushant is currently on top of the Leaderboard with the Main Event title as well as a points finish in the 10k event. While the points race has just begun, it will be interesting to see if he can hold onto to his lead. 

The next IPC event will take place from 10^th – 13^th February 2011.Visit our website at www.indiapokerchampionship.com to register or alternatively you can also click here to register - http://bit.ly/IPCRegister

Day 3 - IPC 25k Main Event

4th December is D-Day! This is the day there has been most anticipation about. Saturday night’s Main Event featured the biggest buy-in of the weekend at INR 25,000. The Main Event would also see the winner being crowned as the first ever India Poker Champion! In the past there have been big buy-in events in Casino Royale and other venues but the field for this particular tournament was expected to beat even the IPC’s previously existing record. On previous days, when players asked us about the expected turnout, we were cautiously optimistic saying over 60 would be good and we’d be very happy if we cross the 70 player mark. The eventual turnout of 87 players was quite simply mind-boggling! Several players came up to us and mentioned that they had never expected or seen a turnout like this!

Who will take home this beautiful trophy?

The Main Even had a deepstack structure which was a major point of attraction for tournament players. It also helped that there was a Minimum Guaranteed Prizepool of INR 10,00,000 which of course was almost doubled as a result of the huge turnout. Along with the IPC goodie bag, a beautiful customized folding poker table was also going to be given to the winner courtesy of Nagpur-based AddicT Poker Tables. In the early levels a big hand took place between the 5k winner Ricky Chopra (A A) and the online phenom Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal (K K). The board had an A and a K which of course meant all the money went in and Ricky’s bullets held up with nothing further to help Intervention. Halfway into the tournament we see a slew of eliminations with names like Lawrence Sanjay, Rajesh Goyal, Harman Baweja and Gaurav Law busting out. A few levels later more knockouts in the form of Denny Tait, Anil Gulati and Sandeep Narayanan. Shortly into the 14^th Level with the tournament clock just under the 8 hour mark, tournament director Craig Wildman announces that we should forget the November 9 as we now have the India Poker Championship’s ‘December Nine’ and here’s the line-up:-

The start of the Main Event final table

1. Jan Hlobil – 69,000

2. Amit Jain – 98,000

3. Abhishek Goindi – 195,000

4. Bobbe Suri – 71,000

5. Prabeer Nair – 121,000

6. Dhaval Mudgal – 118,000

7. Rahul Melwani – 61,000 

8. Aditya Sushant – 58,000

9. Farukh Shaikh – 79,000

The first elimination of the final table was tournament regular Bobbe Suri. Bobbe who had a healthy stack entering the final table had one hand against Amit Jain whose pockets Jacks hit got a break on the river to hit trips against Bobbe’s K Q which had hit a K on the flop. This was a monster pot which left Bobbe severely shortstacked on just 2000 in chips. He did manage to quadruple up but got busted by Jan’s T T which sent Bobbe’s Q J off to the rails. A lot of the final table action was being driven by Aditya Sushant who was making a lot of plays and taking down many pots. His aggressive style also lost him some pots as well. A big hand he won against Prabeer 'Rotty' Nair all but knocked Rotty out. But Prabeer who was fresh off his recent trip from the tables at Macau showed exactly why he is such a respected name at the tables. Demonstrating remarkable patience and skill, he built his stack from a few chips into one of the big chip stacks. In the meanwhile Sushant (Q 6) rivers a straight to eliminate Rahul Melwani (K J ) in 8th position. One of the biggest pots of the night took place between Prabeer (A K) who had Amit Jain (A Q) dominated preflop but could only shake his head when a Q hit the flop and again on the turn to knock him out in 7^th. It was then the turn of the initial chip leader Abhishek Goindi who shoved with A 6 and was quickly called by Aditya Sushant (K T) once again. No love for Abhishek who exits in 6^th as Aditya makes top pair on the flop and follows that with Kings up when a T comes on the river.

Through all this Cardplayer India’s Dhaval Mudgal has playing patiently looking for a spot to commit all his chips into the pot and does so when he looks down to see A 4 suited and shoves. Its Aditya once again who calls with A Q. No help for Dhaval on the board and he exits from the Main Event in 5^th place. Aditya is on an absolute tear as he eliminates Pokerguru pro Jan Hlobil and Amit Jain in 4^th and 3^rd positions. A little bit of trivia about Amit Jain. He is actually the 2009 regional champion from the IPC’s local tournaments held in Mumbai. But this time the dream was not to be for Amit as Farukh Shaikh and Aditya Sushant go up against each other for the monster 1^st place prize money and the title of the first ever India Poker Champion. After a few hands not to mention a lot of drama, Aditya gets his chips in with a pair of 5s and Farukh decides to make the call for his tournament life with Jd 9d. The flop 8s 3d 5d giving Aditya trip 5s but Farukh is still in it with a flush draw and when the turn brings a 7 his chances improve with a gutshot possibility being added to the flush. A huge sweat for both players as the river drops a harmless 4 and Chennai-based Aditya Sushant is the new India Poker Champion! He played a very aggressive game and often times won the hand when he was behind. But modern poker is about aggression and Aditya was rewarded with Indian poker’s biggest prize for taking the risks that he did. A special mention for first runner-up Farukh who had been battling illness since he got into Goa even being hospitalized for a few hours on Day 1 – a commendable performance by Farukh who was played through the pain while being on some heavy medication. 

It's been an exhausting 10 hours of poker and still players from the tournament look keen to play some cash and head towards those tables. I guess the word 'fatigue' does not exist in their dictionary. For us, it has been a long night and we need a good bit of sleep to be in shape for the final tournament of the weekend.

Once again many congratulations to Aditya Sushant on his fantastic win as well as the other players who made it to the money.

Day 2 - IPC 10 Freezeout

The next day was the IPC 10k Freezeout which was expected to have a decent turnout. By the time the late entries got done, there were 100 players in the tournament! This was a record turnout across all tournaments held in Goa for a similar buy-in! The 10k tournament had an added buzz because we had a celebrity in the house in the form of Bollywood star Harman Baweja. Harman who was originally supposed to come only for the 25k Main Event the following evening had decided to show up a day earlier and get suitably warmed up by playing in tonight's 10k event. 

Players waiting for the 10k tournament to begin

The evening didn't start well for the previous evening’s 5k winner Ricky Chopra. He got knocked in the 2^nd level itself when his flopped straight get hammered by his opponent’s turned full house. Heartbreak for the genial Ricky who was hoping to make another deep run. Other prominent names to get get knocked out in the early stages – Rajesh Goyal (June 20k winner), Farukh Shaikh, Prabhat Saini (June 10k 2nd place) and Sameer Rattonsey (June 10k winner). It seemed that the star from the silver screen wanted to prove a point or two on the green felt as Harman Baweja started off the final table as the chipleader and here’s what the rest of table looked like:-

TD Craig Wildman making notes for his final table commentary

1. Harman Baweja – 161,000
2. Aditya Sushant – 27,000
3. Girish Ganganna – 32,000
4. Vishwanath Murugappan – 88,000
5. Kavish Kukreja – 61,000
6. Umesh – 45,000
7. Hrishikesh ‘Rosh’ Mundargi – 108,000
8. Akash Malik – 82,000
9. Avinash Rajpal – 78,000
10. Ali Haq – 66,000

The short stack at the table, Aditya is the first to go after his pocket 6s run into Rosh’s Cowboys. After taking a few hits and getting reduced to just one 1000 chip, it was soon Vishwanath’s turn to exit in 9^th place courtesy Akash Malik. Girish and Umesh are the next two to go in 8^th and 7^th taken out by Avinash and Rosh respectively. Our repeat final tablist from Day 1 Kavish made an impressive run again in a 100 player field to make it out in 6^th place. The big chipleader at the start of the final table, Harman also made his presence felt at the table by knocking out Ali in 5^th position. Down to 4-way action and each of these players would be taking home a minimum of one lac for their efforts. Rosh was the first to get eliminated when Harman (KK) hits the stone cold nuts on a flop of K 2 2! 

Avinash Rajpal (3rd), Akash Malik (1st) and Harman Baweja (2nd)

Harman continues his knockout run when his A K busts out Avinash’s 8 T. It then got down to headsup between Akash Malik and Harman Baweja. There were lots of hands which shifted the chip lead frequently between the two. Eventually both players get it in with Akash holding A 7 against Harman’s K Q. With no help on the board, Harman is knocked out in 2^nd and Akash Malik from Delhi is the winner of the IPC 10k Freezeout. We got to see some great poker from both players but eventually it was Akash who managed to get the better of Harman. A superb 3-figure turnout of players made this event an exciting one with a very hefty prizepool as well. Fingers crossed for the Main Event which will take place tomorrow. The Crew would be extremely happy if we cross 65 players coz that would make it a worthy field for a Championship battle. 

Till tomorrow... 

Day 1 - IPC 5k Freezeout

The now extended weekend of the India Poker Championship would feature 4 days of tournament poker and as usual things were kicked off with the IPC 5k Freezeout. While we had expected a decent turnout for the game, it took some time for the field to cross 100 as a few flights had gotten delayed coming in from Mumbai and Delhi. Eventually by the end of the late entry and Alternates time period, we had 110 runners who were gonna try and score a big payday at the end of it. The tournament structure was tweaked a little by adding more chips (5000 this time as compared to 3500 in September) so the participants could get more play. In four editions of this event, this has probably been the most ideal structure we've managed to come up with as far the 5k game is concerned. It is likely that we will continue to stick with this structure for future 5k freezeouts as well.

The action began fast and furious and by the time the time for late entries was over we had already lost 10 players. The tournament started slightly differently with all tables featuring 10 seats instead of the usual 9. This was to try and accommodate most of the participants in the poker room itself rather than the upper level. Fortunately those tables did not come into play because of the large number of early eliminations. Lots of newbies came to get their first taste of tournament poker action and it was many of these newbies who were the initial casualties not realizing the patience factor is extremely crucial when it comes to surviving big fields in a poker tournament like the IPC. Some big names from previous tournaments were in the field like our 1st runner-up from the September event, Amit Varma who was on a healthy stack of about 35k when there were about 3 tables left. Another name still in the fray was our 10k winner from June, Sameer Rattonsey who was looking to make another final table at this December event.

By the time the 3 hour was complete we had lost just about 60% of the field and a couple of hours later it was time for the final table to begin. Prior to the final table, the player who was running red hot was Rajeev Raut who was a monster stack compared to not just his table but indeed the rest of field. However in the run-up to the final table, he lost all his chips and was our bubble boy busting out in 11th. place. This is what the lineup looked like with their chipstacks:-

1. Anil 'The Machine' Gulati - 99500
2. Grenville Dias - 87000
3. Sameer Rattonsey - 76500
4. Ridesh Sejpal - 72000
5. Amit Varma - 67500
6. Ricky Chopra - 52000
7. Santosh Govindaraj - 41500
8. Kavish Kukreja - 25500
9. Girish Shahane - 19000
10. Amey Gad - 6000

The chiplead was held by one of the regulars on the Goa poker circuit Anil Gulati who was (rightly so) dubbed by our TD Craig as 'The Machine' for his consistency in tournaments. Besides Anil, there was Sameer and Amit who have done very well for themselves in past IPC tournaments and were looking to make another big score. Right off the bat, Amit and Ricky got involved in a couple of pots where Ricky doubled up in the first hand leaving Amit in very bad shape and then Amit returns the favor and manages to get chips from Ricky to stay alive at the final table. The short stack at table, Amey was looking for any half hand to get his chips into the middle and when he looked down at A 9, he could not shove fast enough. Unfortunately for him, Ricky Chopra wakes up with Big Slick and with no help from the board, Amey Gad is our 10th place finisher. Girish is the next to bust out finding a similar hand (A 8) to Amey's and he gets eliminated by Kavish's T T. Kavish seems to be unstoppable as his AA destroys Amit's pockets Jacks knocking him out in 8th place. But the dream run is not meant to be as 2 hands cripple and then eliminate Kavish from this final table and in both cases, it is Sameer who causes the damage. The first hand has Sameer's T T dominating Kavish's 9 9. Not long after, Kavish faces an all-in call when Sameer shoves on a Q 5 6 board. Having Q J in his hand, Kavish nonetheless tanks for a fair while before (almost reluctantly) making the call. It seems his premonition was right as Sameer shows Q 6 for two pair and takes down the pot and Kavish is out in 7th.

Grenville is the next one to go when his J T gets called by Ricky Chopra who once again has Big Slick. A King on the turn means that Grenville will be our 6th place finisher. In the meanwhile, Ridhesh has been sitting quietly, trying to survive on his meager stack but the blinds are not being kind. He survives after repeated shoves and finally looks down to see a pair of 8s. Once again it is Ricky Chopra who calls with 10 7 and hits his T on the flop and makes it trips on the river thereby knocking out Ridhesh in 5th place. The former chipleader Anil Gulati has also been fighting for his tournament life and his cause is helped by Ricky when his A K doubles up through Ricky's K J. Shortly thereafter Sameer's Q 8 goes up against Ricky's J T and with a ton of draws for Sameer by the turn, Ricky can only pray for a miracle. And the miracle comes in the form of a 2 outer Jack which reduces Sameer to barely 3x BB. He soon shoves in the next hand with 6 8 and is called by Anil's A T which prevails and Sameer is our 4th place finisher.

Ricky is on a roll as he cripples Santosh when his K Q spikes a K on the turn against Santosh's A T. This is followed up by Santosh going all-in with his remaining stack on 6 7 and Ricky makes the call with Q 4. No help for Santosh who goes out in 3rd place. It's now down to heads and it's Ricky Chopra who has a marginal chip lead but it really is anyone's game as one right (or wrong) hand could seal the deal. Headsup battles goes on for a while as both players try to get into a stronger position. It's Ricky who makes the stronger plays in the beginning and builds his lead to better than 2:1 over Anil. But he isn't called The Machine for nothing as Anil fights back and over the course of a few hands the chip lead once again rests with him. After many swings on both sides sides, this crucial hand comes up - Preflop raise by Anil which is called by Ricky and we go to the flop of 2 7 T. Anil fires out again and once again he is flat called Ricky. The turn is an A and Anil puts Ricky all-in which Ricky immediately calls showing a flopped set of deuces where Anil shows Q T for top pair on the flop. The river is of no help and Ricky and his pals start to celebrate thinking he's won it. But Craig steps in and after a quick count, it is determined that Anil still has just under 3x BB which means headsup will continue. Anil shoves on the very next hand with A 2 and Ricky called with Q J and hits his Q on the flop to take down the win of the IPC 5k Freezeout!
Just an absolutely fantastic start to the tournament weekend and a final table that had its share of 'TV hands' which kept the players and the railbirds very interested in the action. Given the turnout of Day 1, we expect good numbers on Day 2 as well.
Till then...

B-I-G news from the India Poker Championship

Here, at the India Poker Championship, we have always believed in pushing the boundaries and being the pioneers in introducing new elements and experiences. We've built ourselves up from humble beginnings at the start of this year. Our constant focus on improving our numbers pushes us to do better with every event. We also introduced online freerolls to provide another avenue where Indian players could not only try and win seats into our live events, but also get a chance to interact with their peers from across the country. Now as we move closer to our 4th edition, the crowning of the first ever India Champion is in the offing.

So what is the big news for this particular post?? The player who takes home the title of India Champ will get a One Year Sponsorship of INR 1,00,000/- which can be used to play in whichever IPC tournament he/she wishes to! That's right, our champion will be the first ever sponsored poker player in the country. With every other sport having an ambassador, we figure it's time that poker in India also gets it own. The inaugural India Poker Champion, we hope, will be the first in a long line of players who will be sponsored by us. So now not only does the winner get a handsome share out of a Minimum Guaranteed Prizepool of INR 10,00,000 at the Main Event but their buy-ins into future IPC tournaments will be sponsored by us as well. And it doesn't stop there! The IPC Player of the Year rankings which will be introduced from December 2010. The POY seeks to reward the most consistent performer across the 24 tournaments in the 2010-11 poker season. The winner (who will be declared on 1st November 2011) will also have the same One Year sponsorship deal of INR 1,00,000 for the following poker season.

There are a couple more announcements we will make in the coming days but this was the juiciest one of the lot and we were so kicked about it, that we couldn't wait to share it with y'all. Just one more to the growing list of 'firsts' that the IPC is pulling out of the bag for its players. If you still haven't registered for our tournaments in Goa, here's the link where you can register - http://bit.ly/IPC_Dec2010

Are you ready to take home the big one? Are you ready to become an India Poker Champion??!

**Terms & Conditions:-

1. The sponsorship period for the India Champion will be from 6th December 2010 to 31st December 2011. The sponsorship period for the IPC POY will be from 1st December 2011 to 31st December 2011.
   
2. The sponsorship prize of INR 1,00,000 is inclusive of a seat worth INR 25,000 which is the entry into the December 2011 event.
3. The sponsored players must wear an IPC patch during all events (IPC & non-IPC) played during the sponsorship period. 
4. In case we get sponsors, the players must wear their logos as well. 
5. Sponsor patches and/or apparel will be provided by the IPC.
6. The balance amount aside from the 2011/2012 Main Event seat (i.e. INR 75,000) will be used only towards buy-ins into IPC tournaments of the player's choice.  No cash will be paid out.
7. Any balance amount left over will lapse after the sponsorship period is over. No cash will be paid out.
8. Sponsored players must click photographs of him/herself at all tournaments (IPC & non-IPC) he/she participates in.
9. The IPC reserves the right to all pictures, interviews and other media featuring the sponsored players taken during IPC tournaments.
10. Final decision with regard to any sponsorship related matter rests with the IPC. 

Diwali and IPC's Poker Festival

The Festival of Lights is coming up and a different sort of fest will also take place in less than a month's time in Goa. We are very excited about the India Poker Championship's December event because it is the start of the new poker season/calender for us and with the introduction of additional events in the coming year, there is just so much to play for. 

Here at the IPC we're big fans of the kill-2-birds-with-1-stone style of working philosophy, here's a rundown on things ranging from introduction of new stuff to changes being made to the existing stuff and of course why we're sick of Lady Gaga. (OK so the last one's a total rant but our therapist tells us its unhealthy to keep strong emotions inside. Bad for the skin!)
The reason for this post is we've had quite a few players sending in emails asking us to explain in detail about the new things happening at the IPC and while we are very serious about communicating with our players, writing out the same reply over and over again can a bit tiresome :)
So here's what's what:-

• The first ever India Champion - This one is big. Say it again - B-I-G big! No one has attempted to do this before and if they have, we haven't heard of it. We believe it is high time there was an India Champion especially in a sport which is growing day by day in this country. Like the way it is done in the WSOP for instance we will do a Main Event every December and the winner will be crowned the India Champion. The Main Event will have a buy-in of INR 25000. The India Champion will hold the title for the entire season.
• More events - OK this is pretty simple. Indian poker players are desperate for more poker! Right from our first event back in March this year, players have asked about including Sunday night into the tournament weekend. From the December event, our usual tournament weekend will now begin on Thursday night and end on Sunday night. This also means there are a total of 24 featured tournaments which a player can participate in to try and rack up points towards the IPC POY.
• IPC POY - The Player of the Year (POY) is a way of tracking (and rewarding) the most consistent players who play our events. Points are awarded on the basis of three factors - buy-in amount, finishing position and number of players. Being the IPC POY isn't just about the bragging rights because there is a big cash prize which is also awarded to the POY. At the end of the year this pool will be awarded to the most consistent one of them all. We will reveal the nature of this cash prize soon!

A quick recap of the event schedule
Venue: Royale Card Room onboard Casino Royale, Panjim Goa

Day 1
2nd December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 5k Tournament (INR 5000)

Day 2
3rd December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 10k Tournament (INR 10000)

Day 3
4th December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 25k MAIN EVENT (INR 25000) The winner of this Main Event will be the first ever India Champion

Day 4
5th December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 5k Tournament (INR 5000)

- There will be Superturbo and One Hand Satellites held on each day prior to the featured tournament.
- Superturbos Sats will begin at 7pm and the One Hand Sats will begin at 8pm.
- All tournaments will award points towards the IPC Player of the Year (POY) leaderboard.
- All tournaments are Freezeouts i.e. No rebuys allowed.

Still need answers?! Send us an email at info@indiapokerchampionship.com

Hopefully this will clear a lot of the queries players might have with regards to the new things at the IPC. And no... we haven't forgotten about the Lady Gaga rant. Just gonna save it for next time :)

The Diwali weekend is coming up and the team here at the IPC would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous Diwali. Have fun, eat loads of mithai and be safe when lighting up those fierce Laxmi bombs!:) :)
Peace out.

Exciting news from the IPC!

We take great pleasure in announcing the MEGA event of the IPC from 2nd - 5th December 2010. It might be the end of the calender year but for poker enthusiasts across the country, it is only the beginning! The December event is an especially exciting time for us given the many things the IPC intends to introduce for the 2010-2011 season. 

• The first ever India Champion - We will crown the first ever India Champion at the December event. The Main Event will feature a buy-in of 25k and the winner will hold the title for the 2010-2011 season. An added incentive is that this tournament will feature a Minimum Guaranteed Prizepool of INR 10 lacs! 
• Increased number of Events - We did mention the word season and with good reason! The IPC will now have 6 events for the year starting from February 2011. So the full calender will feature tournaments in February, April. June, August, October and December. Each event will now contain 4 featured tournaments which means the IPC tournament weekend will now start on Thursday and end on Sunday. In all there will be a total of 24 featured tournaments through out the year all of which will go towards the IPC POY.  
• IPC POY - From the December event the IPC will launch a Leaderboard known as the IPC POY or Player of the Year. This will essentially award points to the top finishers in every tournament. The most consistent finishers will find themselves on the Leaderboard with a chance to become the IPC POY. A healthy cash bonus will be awarded to the POY which will be derived every single buy-in (500) from each of the 24 featured tournaments. Aside from this the POY will also receive lots of goodies! 

Event Schedule for IPC's December edition:-

• 2nd Dec 2010 - IPC 5k Freezeout (INR 5000+500)
• 3rd Dec 2010 - IPC 10k Freezeout (INR 10000+500)
• 4th Dec 2010 - IPC Main Event 25k Freezeout (INR 25000+500)
• 5th Dec 2010 - IPC 5k Freezeout (INR 5000+500)

Aside from the featured tournaments there will also be plenty of Satellites (Superturbos & One Hand) from 6pm on all tournament days. 

Keep an eye out for our new look website which will be launched by the end of October. There will detailed information about the schedules and formats for December's mega event as well as for the rest of the 2010-2011 season. 

In case you have any queries, feel free to email at info@indiapokerchampionship.com  

Indian poker history will see a new chapter begin in December. Are you ready to make your mark on it?!!

Day 3 - IPC 20k Freezeout

From a physical perspective, hosting IPC tournaments in Goa ends up causing jet lag. No, Goa hasn't crossed the Atlantic and moved into a different timezone. But entering the casino at 7pm every evening and leaving it at 7am the following morning will take a toll on the body. No wonder they say Poker is a young man's game. And this statement is truer when you think about these young bucks taking part in the tourney after putting in 24 - 48 hour sessions at the cash table. I am primarily a tournament player and like to think I have the patience to sit down for long periods at the table. However just the thought of playing a tourney after such long cash sessions makes me bones squeak in protest! They were right when they said that playing cards is a tough way to make an easy living...
The final day of the India Poker Championship dawned bright and clear. But we wouldn't know anything about it since we were fast asleep! By the time we rolled into the poker room there were about 25 odd players milling around the tables. 

The birthday boy Craig Wildman flanked by the IPC Directo

Given the long sessions that people had been putting in at the tables, we expected maybe 40-45 players for the final game of the Championship. But our players proved us wrong and we eventually cracked the 45 player mark about 30 minutes into the game. When the hour of Alternates came to an end, the final count of players was 51. It would once again be a very healthy prize pool that the players would do battle for. Given the additional number of chips and higher blind levels, action progressed slowly and we had only lost about 6 players 3 hours into the tourney. After that however, players had no choice but to try and make moves as the price of poker went up.
We eventually got our final table at about 4 am in the morning and it looked something like this (chip stacks at the final final table are mentioned alongside the player names):-

1. Seat 1 - Jasven S - 17,500
2. Seat 2 - Sameer R - 25,000
3. Seat 3 - Rajesh G - 60,000
4. Seat 4 - Amit Varma - 24,000
5. Seat 5 - Gaurav B - 50,500
6. Seat 6 - Manish B - 55,000
7. Seat 7 - Girish G - 11,500
8. Seat 8 - Avinash R - 71,000
9. Seat 9 - Manjeet A - 68,000

It was quite the star studded final table in a sense with June's 10k champion Sameer in Seat 2 and our 20k defending champ Rajesh sitting right next to him. Rajesh was hoping to make it back-to-back wins in this particular event of the Championship. And he was well placed to do so with the second biggest stack on the table after Avinash. The first one to get eliminated was Jasven who probably got the sicket beat of the tournament when his KK was crushed by the 78 of Avinash when he spiked a 7 on the flop and another one on the river. Heartbreak for Jasven who has come close in our past tournaments but he was very gracious in his defeat. The next to go was the other short stack Girish followed by Gaurav B. Sameer had pushed with a wired pair of 10s and was called by Gaurav's AJ of diamonds. When the flop was opened, in the window was an A followed by a J but the third card was a brutal 10 giving Sameer trip 10s. With no further help to complete his flush or full house, Gaurav was busted out on the bubble. A commendable performance by Gaurav who says he's an infrequent poker player and that the IPC was only his 4th or 5th tournament and likely the biggest one he has taken part in.

The final table of the IPC 20k tournament

While one man walked away disappointed, a cheer went up by the remaining players as they were now in the money. From the money finishers, the first to get eliminated was Manjeet (6th) followed by Manish in 5th place. Manish in fact was quite unwell and was battling a fever as much as his opponents at the table. The dream of a back-to-back victory for Rajesh was not to be as he was knocked out in 4th place. As always he played an aggressive game which he stepped up on the final table but it wasn't to be. When action began 3-way Sameer was on the short stack and just looking to double up in order to provide some kind of fight to the big stacks of Avinash and Amit. He pushed with 4 3 and after some thought Amit called with 10 4. The 4 on the flop hit both players but in the end Amit's kicker ensured that Sameer would not take any further part in the action. A consistent performance by June's 10k champion who by the way is the only other player to feature twice on the IPC Champions wall along with Keshav S from Kolkata.
Heads up lasted all of 3 hands with both players eventually getting on this hand - Amit pushed As8s and was called Avinash's 9h6h. While Amit had Avinash's hand dominated preflop, two hearts on the flop meant a big sweat. The sweat didn't last for long though as the turn brought another heart and Amit extended his hand to Avinash knowing he was drawing dead no matter what came on the river.

Amit (2nd), Avinash (1st) and Sameer (3rd)

A fantastic end to the tournament weekend and we saw a whole host of new faces along with plenty of old ones. It was great interacting with people during the break and after the tournament got over. In most cases the top 3 posed for pictures and then immediately sat down at the cash tables. Just goes to show just how desperately we crave this wonderful game.
We will be out of sight for the next couple of weeks mostly because we are catching up on some much needed sleep but the prep for the December event will start soon enough. If you wish to remain updated on IPC tournaments in the future, add Daniel Helmuth on Facebook. You can also follow us on our Facebook group and fan pages as well as /Twiiter. The links are given below:-

• Website: http://www.indiapokerchampionship.com
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IndiaPokerChampionship 
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/IndiaPokerChamp 
• Blog: http://indiapokerchampionship.blogspot.com  
• Email: info@indiapokerchampionship.com 

That's it for the coverage of the India Poker Championship's September edition. As always its been brilliant being able to bring all the action to you and we appreciate the feedback and support of our players. The year ending IPC event in December now awaits us all.
Till then...

Day 2 - IPC 10k Freezeout

Day 2 of the India Poker Championship started off with about 66 registrations. Late registrations were accepted till the first hour of the tournament. By the end of that hour, there were a total of 74 players who took part in the 10k Freezeout.

As in our previous editions, there were 'repeat offenders' from the final of the 5k tournament who eventually made it to the final table of the 10k event. Aside from winning the big one at the end of the night, a good poker player will always take heart and pride in his consistent performances at the felt. And a couple of these players had every right to be proud of their consistent play which got them into the money. Here is what the final table of the IPC 10k Freezeout looked like:-

1. Seat 1 - Sandeep N - 51,000
2. Seat 2 - Yogesh - 34,000
3. Seat 3 - Susmit P - 39,000
4. Seat 4 - Anil D - 4,000
5. Seat 5 - Shreyabha P - 64,000
6. Seat 6 - Nikhil M - 88,000
7. Seat 7 - Sailesh L - 33,000
8. Seat 8 - Rishi - 7,000
9. Seat 9 - Paras K - 51,000

The final table began with chipleader Nikhil M from Delhi holding the big stack and the first of our back-to-back final tablists, Anil holding a tiny stack of 4000 chips. It seemed like Anil would ending up busting first once again on his second final table of the evening. However it was Susmit from Mumbai who made a push and ending up losing the hand bustng out in 9th place. A good performance from Susmit who has proved to be a consistent money-finisher in many of the tournaments he has taken part in. The other short stack at the table Rishi then got eliminated in 8th place which meant that Anil would end up going 2 better than the previous night when he was knocked out in 7th place. The next two players to go were Paras and Yogesh in 6th and 5th place respectively. Yogesh was hanging to his car keys and chip stack for the longest time battling away for his tournament life. It then came down to 4-way action which had our other back-to-back final tablist from last night, Sandeep N wanting to make sure he would take home the big prize of the night. He shoved with 6 6 and was called Nikhil's A 6 which spike an A on the flop and ended up knocking out Sandeep. A rock solid performance from Sandeep ensured that he ended one better by busting out in 4th place.

When it was down to the final 3 players, it was Nikhil who had about 50% of the total chips in play. Shreyabha was in 2nd position with Sailesh having the short stack. Hands were traded back and forth with Nikhil using his stack and position to stamp his authority on the final table. Chips continued to move around the table but the stack remained more or less the same till a big pot won by Sailesh through Nikhil ended up making all three stacks virtually identical. Shreyabha was bleeding chips and decided to make a stand but was done in by Nikhil and then it was time for headsup. Headsup play lasted for about 45 minutes before Sailesh's KJ of clubs busted out Nikhil's hand ensuring that he would be the new IPC 10k Champion. Apparently Sailesh had already put in a 24 hour session at the cash tables before entering the tournament so his achievement is even more commendable given the physical and mental strain the IPC tournament puts the player through.

Shreyabha (3rd), Sailesh (1st) and Nikhil (2nd)

It was a wonderful end to an evening filled with a lot of action and excitement. A big congratulations to our winner and all our final tablists who made the money. If you wish to follow us online, then find our group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). We are also on Twitter under the handle IndiaPokerChamp
Till tomorrow...

Day 1 - IPC 5k Freezeout

A recording breaking field of players on Day 1 of the India Poker Championship, some truly awful bad beats and the young guns dominating the final table of the IPC 5k tournament feature in this report.

The 3rd edition of the India Poker Championship was expected to show increased numbers and while we were confident of a good turnout, the weather was giving us some cause for worry. It had been pouring away in Mumbai for almost a week non-stop and it seemed like there would be no end. So when Wednesday dawned bright and sunny, it felt like the Rain Gods decided to give us a break. As we were boarding our flight, we felt good and were looking forward to seeing some old faces and several new ones at the event.

Action is underway at one of the tables in the IPC 5k

The evening of Wednesday had us at the venue taking care of last minute details. It was good to catch up with Craig Wildman (Card room Manager) after a long time. If you remember June's report, Craig was unable to be a part of our 2nd edition due to visa issues. After sorting out the prep for the following day, we had a long and interesting chat about the Indian and world poker scene. Craig regaled us with some funny and shocking stories about his life as a pro traveling the circuit and some legendary old Vegas tales. After saying our goodbyes to him, we killed a bit of time at the roulette tables upstairs before finally calling it a night.

The day of the IPC 5k Freezeout dawned cloudy and just a tiny bit rainy. We were awakened by the strains of, "Kya paisa paisa karti hai kyon paise pe tu marti hai". After being suitably pissed for being woken up sooner than required, it struck me that this song has some serious Poker Zen. The essence of being a true champion at the felt is to stop yourself from thinking about the money... not too much anyway. There's no doubt about the fact that the money factor is important but a successful player manages to keep it in perspective and rises above such base (?!?) desires in pursuit of the win.

Day 1 of the IPC had a recording breaking field of 112 players for the 5k event and we're quite pleased at having bested our June number of 103. There were additional tables set up on the 2nd level and the total number of seats on offer was 114. There were a fair number of last minute dropouts else I think 120 players was a very real possibility. Anyway that is something to achieve for the next event. Unlike June's 5k event, the early action was a lot slower this time. In June we were down to 27 players within a 3 hour duration. This time however the eliminations were a lot slower and we were down to about 65 players at the 4 hour mark. There were quite awful beats which took place on some of the tables. Almost all of them ended with horrendous river cards that eliminated a player. AK v. AJ with the underdog rivering the J was seen more than a few times. There were 10 places paid out for the 5k event and when we lost the bubble boy a huge cheer went up as Craig made the announcement that we were now in the money. After losing #10, the final table reconvened with the player stacks looking like this:-

1. Seat 1 - Sandeep V - 118,000
2. Seat 2 - Shravan C - 69,000
3. Seat 3 - Rahul R - 29,000
4. Seat 4 - Raj T - 30,500
5. Seat 5 - Rahul G - 58,500
6. Seat 6 - Nikhil H - 17,000
7. Seat 7 - Sandeep N - 24,500
8. Seat 8 - Anil D - 5,000
9. Seat 9 - Nikhil M - 42,000

As is often seen at many a final table, the small stacks got wiped out pretty soon with Anil and Nikhil H taking 9th and 8th place respectively. They were followed by Rahul G (7th), Raj T (6th) and Sandeep N (5th). Sandeep V who started the final table with a monster stack went out in 4th place and we were then down to 3-way action. Eventually it was Nikhil M who prevailed and was crowned the IPC 5k winner. Shravan who was the 2nd big stack at the start of the final table took 2nd place with Rahul R ending up in 3rd. It was an epic 7 hour 20 minute marathon of a game and you could clearly see the fatigue showing on the faces of the Top 3 as they accepted their prizes and posed for pictures. 

Many congratulations to the big winner Nikhil and those who made it into the money. They bested a field of more than 100 players which is a tremendous achievement!

Our big winner of the IPC 5k Freezeout - Nikhil M

We could not have asked for a better start for the September edition of the Championship and look forward to welcoming many of the players from Thursday's game at the 10k game tonight. The weather seems like it will hold up and we expect a good turnout this evening. Will be back to post on Day 2 tomorrow at this time again. Till then if you wish to follow us online, then find our group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). We are also on Twitter under the handle - IndiaPokerChamp

Till tomorrow... 

The long wait is almost over!

Well here we are again. It's incredible how quickly time passes between tournaments. It just feels like yesterday when we were at the poker room handing out IPC Winner's Medallions and certificates not to mention the cash to the winners of the June tournament.

The past few days have been depressing and the weather is squarely responsible for that. I haven't seen this much rain pelt the city in quite a few years now. Which of course brings us to the obvious question - what's the weather in Goa like? Fortunately not as bad as here in Mumbai. And the forecast looks pretty good for the weekend too.

The good life  :)

I'm writing all this while waiting for my flight at Mumbai airport. I can see a few vaguely familiar faces. They're rank strangers but I know I've seen them in Goa's casinos. Aah the weekend has already begun for the real degenerate gamblers! :D

So what's the plan for today? Once we touch down, head to the hotel and grab a meal, followed by a visit to the venue later in the evening. With lots of cold beers thrown in the middle :D :D We will put up all the banners and what-not as well as meet up with the card room manager (and our TD) Craig. If you were at our June event you might remember that Craig was not present as he was out of the country at the time. So it will be good to catch up with him again after almost 6 months.

Before the start of play tomorrow, the IPC directors intend to make a few key announcements regarding their next event. So should be an exciting time for the Indian poker scene. Well they're calling my flight now so I'm off. We will be posting on Facebook and Twitter so do follow us there. There will be live updates from the venue as well as a report right here at the end of each tournament.

See you in Goa!

The most important things in poker

Came across the article today and it kind of puts together some of the most important things in poker. I think it is a good read especially for those who are just entering the game and it wouldn't be a bad idea for even regular players to take a look at this...

There has been quite a bit of discussion and subsequent disagreement about what the most important thing in Poker is.

Some suggestions include:

*    Making good decisions

*    Bluffing well

*    Eliminating tells

*    Reading other players well

*    Picking the right tables

*    Picking the right games

*    Playing agressively

*    Trapping players

*    Money management

*    Having a good bankroll

*    Having a positive attitude

*    Playing at the right time

*    Playing the right levels

While these suggestions are all good, is any one of them really the single most important thing in poker?

We think not!  As important as all these suggestions are to winning, we propose another suggestion which we think is probably the most obvious thing in poker; Yet is the most often violated rule for playing poker successfully.

It is the "one rule" you will probably violate more often in each poker game you play.  It is also the one rule that, when violated, will cost you more frequent and larger losses than any other rule.

Our suggestion for the most important rule for success in poker is:   PATIENCE

*    Patience to wait for quality hands to play.

*    Patience to win one pot at a time.

*    Patience to wait for the right game.

*    Patience to wait for the right table.

*    Patience to wait for the right time to play.

*    Patience to wait for the right time to move up in levels.

*    Patience to build up your bankroll before moving up to higher levels.

*    Patience to learn new poker games well before playing.

*    Patience to learn and read all you can about playing winning poker.

*    Patience enough not to play junk when you just don't get the cards.

*    Patience to play well even when you are losing.

*    Patience to wait for the other players to make mistakes, go on tilt, or just get tired.

As you can see, patience covers a lot of things.  Most likely, there are many more important winning qualities related to poker that you could add to this list.

Just as patience should be your most important objective when playing; It should also be your objective to find players who do not have patience, then  play against them. So, by all means, look for players who lack patience due to:

*    Being tired

*    Being drunk

*    Being on tilt

*    Being low on chips

*    Being nervous

*    Being anxious to play

*    Being short on time

*    Being lucky or unlucky

*    Being there just for fun

*    Being there just to gamble

*    Being there to socialize

*    Being there to lose

Naturally, we expect that if you find yourself Being any of the above, You, by all means, should have the Patience to wait for a better time to play.

Senior Poker Columnist
Janice Carroll
www.headsuppokerchampion.com

This article has been sourced from www.theedgepoker.com 

Meet the 2010 November Nine

Well the November Nine is finally here.

While for the regular non-poker playing Joe, November Nine's significance perhaps lies only in the fact that it is the 313th day of the year (314th in a leap year), for the avid poker player and follower this term takes on different connotations. For the reader who has accidentally stumbled on this IPC blog and has no idea what the term means, the November Nine are the final nine players remaining in the Main Event of the WSOP. The Main Event takes place in July with several thousand player taking part. Play continues till all but nine remain. There is a break of a few months and then these nine will come back in November to determine the winner.  

(L to R) Jason Senti, Joesph Cheong, John Dolan, Johnathon Duhamel, 

Michael Mizrachi, Mathew Jarvis, John Dolan, Filippo Candio & Soi Nguyen

For the November Nine, the next four months of will change their lives. And this is despite the fact that only one from them will be the owner of a Main Event bracelet by the end of it. While many players (and fans) were not in favour of the November Nine concept when it was first introduced in 2008, the concept is now here to stay. From ESPN's perspective, this concept allows them to build on the excitement of the WSOP and in particular the final table. As the years have gone by the WSOP has steadily expanded the number of events offered to players at the WSOP and as a result for the TV audiences as well. From having 7 events in 1973, the WSOP in 2010 had 57 events including the Main Event. Having a break of 3-4 months allows ESPN to broadcast the various events which have taken place in the WSOP with the focus squarely being on the No Limit Hold'em events. It's all about the ratings game anyway in the television business and the WSOP is a big draw for the various brands that choose to associate themselves with the event. These brands are predominantly 'male' and range from beer to automobiles and even beef jerky.

While many pros still feel that the 3 month break messes with the 'purity' of an endurance event like the World Series, most current and past November Niners will beg to differ. Along with life-changing money that they stand to make, this interim period allows them an opportunity to establish themselves on the circuit, score sponsorship deals and become overnight celebrities of the poker world. This is a boon for them all regardless of the eventual winner for whom life will just become some kind of wild poker fantasy for the next 12 months. Eventually of course players must decide what's more important for them. In case of Joe Hachem who is one our favorite pros, the win at the 2005 ensured that he did not have to go back to his day job as a chiropractor and subsequently mortgage/brokerage executive. He is the face of Australian poker and is a great ambassador for the game. Then there is someone like Peter Eastgate who the youngest ever winner (subsequently broken by Joe Cada in '09) of the WSOP Main Event beating Phil Helmuth's almost 20 year old record. This kind of an accomplishment made Eastgate a huge and respected name in poker that year because he had the game to back it up as well. Eastgate just prior to this year's Main Event stated that he would be retiring from poker to pursue other things since his motive was to become financially independent with his poker playing which he managed in a spectacular manner.

The WSOP really is the dream as far as professionals and amateurs are concerned. A chance to win fame and millions of dollars on the one hand and the opportunity to be recognized forever in the annals of the game we all love.

The India Poker Championship's 3rd edition will take place from 2nd - 4th September in Goa. 

For information and to register, log onto www.indiapokerchampionship.com