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