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...