We got to the casino and overlooked the final prep as far as putting up the banners in the room and on the jetty was concerned. Once done we sat in the poker room chilling and waiting for the players to come. By 6:30pm there were barely 12 players in the room and most of them got together to play some cash games to kill time before the start of the tourney. While we were a little apprehensive at the initial low turnout, things changed dramatically over the next two hours. By 8:30pm the room was buzzing with activity and we had over 80 players in the poker room registering and receiving their seat allocations. At 7:30 pm we had also started the One Hand Satellites (OHS) which caused a lot of excitement amongst players and spectators alike. 4 players eventually won a seat through the OHS at a fraction of the buy-in!
There was a slight delay in the start of the tournaments as more players kept coming in and they had to be moved to the upstairs level where additional tables had been setup. At just a few tickets after 9 pm, the IPC 5k Freezeout Tournament began. The final number of participants that took part in the event was 103! This is the biggest field of players that has ever been seen in a poker tournament in any Goan casino ever!
While we were ecstatic at the tremendous response the IPC event got, it was time to get to work. Our regular tournament director Craig Wildman was unable to make it for the event having some visa issues which held him back in England. So we rolled up sleeves and dove right into it. It was a bit of a task coordinating 2 floors which we running multiple tables but it seemed like a lot of the players were in a tremendous hurry! Within 3 levels the upstairs tables had to be merged into the main tables within the poker room. The player eliminations were like a contagious disease which was rapidly spreading through the room and at just under 3 hours we were down to 27 players! We had a fleeting thought that perhaps the tournament might not last even 5 hours let alone the average of 6 hours. But as usual our players would end up proving us wrong...
The final table
The dropouts continued but at a slower rate than the previous hours with players battling it out to add to their chipstack. The field was split into almost even halves with small stacks and the big stacks. At around 1:30 pm we finally got down to the final table! It was a range of stacks from the smallest at 5500 chips to the biggest at a monstrous 91500 chips. Below are the players who reached the final table at the IPC 5k Freezeout:-
- Seat 1 - Neel V (Mumbai)
- Seat 2 - Kenneth S (Mumbai)
- Seat 3 - Kiran K (Bangalore)
- Seat 4 - Sailesh S (Hyderabad)
- Seat 5 - Akshat D (Mumbai)
- Seat 6 - Anil Desai
- Seat 7 - Rajeev K (Mumbai)
- Seat 8 - Hrishikesh M (Mumbai)
- Seat 9 - Seshank S (Hyderabad)
Getting close to headsup
Rosh started the final table with a stack of more than 65k chips and was played a very solid game adding to his chips and maintaining a solid state of play to ensure that he would enter headsup with a stack that would give the chipleader a few jitters. Kenneth eventually got knocked out in 3rd place. This was a very commendable for a player who picked up the game less than a year ago and has been intermittently playing poker for less than half that time. A strong performance by the Goan native and we hope to see more of Kenneth in future IPC events.
It was then time to start headsup play. Hands were traded back and forth and Neel found his chip lead being reduced by some strong plays by Rosh. At the start of headsup with over 360,000 tournament chips in play, Neel held approximately 200,000 chips with Rosh claiming the rest. Headsup lasted for just about an hour and a couple of big pots at crucial moments ensured that Neel had over 90% of the chips when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Rosh pushed his remaining stack into the middle with 10 7 off and was immediately called down by Neel who showed A J. No help on the board for Rosh and finally after more than 7.5 hours of play, Neel V from Mumbai was the winner of the IPC 5k Freezeout.
Neel V our winner of the IPC 5k flanked by the runnersup Rosh (left) and Kenneth (right)
The customary congratulations were passed around to the Top 3 by players and spectators alike. There was a buzz in the room and Neel was hugged and congratulated by his supporters for having pulled a win in the biggest tournament field any Goa casino has ever seen. Neel, Rosh and Kenneth outlasted exactly 100 other players to claim the top prizes in the first tournament of the June edition of the India Poker Championship. After the prizes and gifts were given out, the winners took pictures with one of the IPC directors and then some more were taken of the winners themselves.
It was a fantastic start to a what promises to be an exciting poker weekend and tomorrow being the start of the weekend we expect a pretty good field for the IPC 10k Freezeout as well. We should a lot of faces from Day 1 on Day 2 as well and if the 5k tournament was any indication, then there is going to be a lot more fun poker action to be expected over the next two days. It's time to get a bite to eat and grab a few winks before we head to the casino later this evening. It's going to be awesome!
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...
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