Throwback 2020: Top Moments & Highlights From WPT Online India (5th -22nd November)

This is a throwback to the inaugural WPT Online India (WPTOI) 2020, which was all the rage on Adda52.com with several thousands of players getting into the action from 5th to 22nd November 2020 in pursuit of WPT glory and hefty prizes. Exclusively meant for players in India, the online series featured a whopping INR 13.5 crores in guaranteed prizes across 154 events, and as expected, it received an overwhelming response, attracting a total of 60,434 entries to generate a guarantee-crushing prize pool of INR 15,15,24,396 that got distributed among the 2,856 players. Well known live tournament players such as Ashish Munot, Abhinav Iyer, and Raghav Bansal were among those who banked big wins. However, the culmination of the series had a dream ending for Kumar Sahaj, a relatively less known player who won the biggest tourney of the series, 2.5 Crore GTD Main Event, to win his first ever WPT title. Let us look back and relive top moments and highlights from the series!

WPT India Main Event – Kumar Sahaj “kumar69” – INR 50 Lac

Headlining the inaugural online festival was the WPT India Main Event with ten entry flights offered for a chance at the juicy INR 2.5 crore guarantee. In total, 2,573 poured in to breach the guarantee in exchange for a richer INR 2.57 crore (around ~US$ 347,385) prize pool. Kumar Sahaj “kumar69” emerged as the champion to win his first ever WPT trophy and title. In addition to the INR 50 Lac, first place cash, Sahaj was awarded a WPT Passport worth U$ 5,000 and a Hublot Classic Fusion chronograph watch worth U$10K . Online reg Siddharth Barot “psychg0d” finished runner-up to Sahaj and banked INR 26.49 Lac prizemoney. Sahaj joined Ashish Munot (2019), Nikunj Jhujhunwala (2018), and Vikash Mantri (2017) in the exclusive WPT India Main Event champions circle.

Buy in: INR 11,000
Guarantee: INR 2.5 crore
Entries: 2,573
Prize pool: INR 2.57 crore
ITM: 269 places

WPT India Mini Main Event – Anuj Yadav “anuj25395” – INR 4.09 Lac

Already a winner of several big ticket tournaments like former Mega Suits AF and Godfather, the young talent Anuj Yadav “anuj25395” outlasted a field of 2,704 entries, the largest WPTOI field, in the multi-day WPT India Mini Main Event to win INR 4.09 Lac and his first WPT trophy. Yadav also finished 3rd for INR 4,13,600 in the 35 Lac GTD WPT India 6-Max Championship at the online series.

Buy in: INR 1100
Guarantee: INR 25 Lac
Entries: 2,704
Prize pool: INR 27.07 Lac
ITM: 287 places

WPT India Super High Roller – Siddhanth Kripalani “Sidstack” – INR 19.38 Lac

Former Game Changer winner and 2018 WPT India Big Bounty 4th place finisher Siddhanth Kripalani “Sidstack” shipped the 65 Lac GTD WPT India Super High Roller after defeating a field of 137 heavy hitters including Adda52 Team Pro Tarun “aggtarun” Goyal (runner-up for INR 12.20 Lac). For the win, Kripalani won INR 19.39 Lac and a beautiful WPT trophy. This was Kripalani’s first WPT title.

Buy in: INR 55,000
Guarantee: INR 65 Lac
Entries: 137
Prize pool: INR 71.76 Lac
ITM: 15 places

Reacting to his win, Kripalani said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

WPT India High Roller – Abhinav Iyer “checkshove” – INR 17.55 Lac

2019 WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer “checkshove” has been busy cashing in at various online felts during this pandemic and it was no different at the inaugural WPT online India series powered by Adda52. Iyer claimed the High Roller title for INR 17.55 Lac to earn his first ever WPT title and trophy, after defeating WPT Online India Bounty Classic PKO Champion, Peushup Eugene aka ‘peushup’, (runner-up for INR 10.46 Lac) in the heads-up. This was his third known major victory with the APT 2019 Vietnam Main Event won just before the WSOP. Iyer has an impressive $870,437 in live tournament earnings and is currently ranked 5th in The Hendon Mob’s India All Time Money List.

Buy in: INR 27,500
Guarantee: INR 50 Lac
Entries: 270
Prize pool: INR 6,682,500
ITM: 27 Places

Talking about his Highroller win and experience, Iyer said,“WPT is one if the most historic poker brands in the world! It’s a great feeling to find a win in the Highroller! Remember coming really close in the last two years in the same tournament at Deltin. Feels good to finally get the win! Big kudos to WPT and Adda for hosting such a huge event. GL on the tables!”.

WPT India Mini High Roller – Nagendra Vadlamani “Doravad” – INR 8.75 Lac

Nagendra Vadlamani “Doravad” came out on top of a strong 535-entry field in the 30 Lac GTD WPT India Mini High Roller to win his first WPT title and an impressive INR 8.75 Lac. WPT Big Game Champ Raghav ‘balugawhale’ Bansal came close to winning it but had to settle as a runner-up for INR 5.10 Lac. Kanishka ‘kanishka27’ Samant took the final spot on the podium, finishing 3rd for INR 3.46 Lac.

Buy in: INR 7500
Guarantee: INR 30 Lac
Entries: 535
Prize pool: INR 36,48,706
ITM: 55 Places

Raghav Bansal “balugawhale” – INR 24,08,846 For Multiple Deep Runs

The Delhi-based pro Raghav Bansal “balugawhale” was one of the star performers with several deep runs at the series. His largest payout of INR 9.67 Lac was earned at the WPT Big Game 3L where he triumphed past the 280 entrants, while his second biggest score of INR 8 Lac from the series came in the 30 Lac GTD WPT Thursday Feature. Bansal also finished runner-up for INR 5.10 Lac in the 30 Lac GTD WPT India Mini Highroller. With his multiple deep finishes across various events at the online series, he raked in a massive INR 24,08,846 in total earnings. According to The Hendon Mob, Bansal is ranked 4th in India’s All Time Money List with over U$ 1.1 million in live tournament earnings.

Pratibha Arya “TeamRocket” – Only Woman To Win A Trophy At The Series

Pratibha Arya aka “TeamRocket”, who is primarily a cash game reg, was the only female player who won a trophy event at the WPTOI series. She came out on top of a strong field of 376 entries in the 35 Lac GTD WPT India 6-Max Championship tourney to add a WPT Trophy and a hefty INR 9.40 Lac to her name. With the win, she also became the first female player to win a WPT title in India.

Buy in: INR 1100
Guarantee: INR 35 Lac
Entries: 376
Prize pool: INR 37.60 Lac
ITM: 38 Places

Mega Leaderboard – Ashish Munot “ragspoker” – 778 Points

It was a nail biter for the WPT Online India 25 Lac Mega Leaderboard title. Players earned points across 29 featured events. After tallying up, it was none other than the WPT India 2019 Main Event champion Ashish Munot “ragspoker” who raced ahead to claim the 10 Lac in top prizemoney.

Munot was star performer with two major victories at the marquee online festival. He won the INR 5,500 buy in WPT Mega Stack 30 Lac guaranteed and the INR 2,750 buy in WPT Wednesday Feature INR 20 Lac guaranteed. At the former, Munot topped a 723-entry field to bank INR 903,000 and at the latter he outlasted a towering 958 runners for another INR 4,11,000 in top prizemoney. Munot raked in a combined INR 13,14,000 in victory earnings and two additional WPT titles under his belt.

Sharing his experience, Munot said, “Great experience playing the WPT Online India on Adda52. Looking forward to the next edition!”

Mini Leaderboard – Arjun Arora “Beatthefish66” – 2,152 Points

Topping the 10 Lac Mini Leaderboard was the most consistent player of the series, Arjun Arora aka ‘Beatthefish66’. He shipped an incredible 10 tournaments and made several FT finishes to secure 2,152 points and win the leaderoard race. He was awarded a beautiful WPT trophy and 3 Lac for his amazing consistency. Finishing runner-up was Gadadhar “gd1921” Behera (2152 points) to win 2 Lac.

Sharing his experience, Arora said, “WPT has always been my favourite series in the Indian Poker circuit and winning one of the leaderboards made it more sweeter. An awesome first time online experience at Adda52.Looking forward to many more titles. Play Hard, Keep Grinding!”

Some Interesting statistics

The first-ever WPT Online India series on Adda52.com lived up to the expectations of both organizers as well as players, and the following statistics are the testimony to the same.

Overall Series Statistics

Number of Series Events: 154
Total Series Guarantee: INR 13,55,80,000
Total Series Prizemoney Awarded: INR 15,15,24,396
Total Number of Entries: 60,434
Total ITM Players: 2,856

Largest Field Event: WPT Mini Main Event

Buy in: INR 1,100
Guarantee: 25 lakhs
Entry flights: 7
Entries: 2,704
Prize pool: INR 27.04 Lac
ITM: 287 places
Winner: Anuj Yadav “anuj25395” – INR 409,000

Biggest Prizepool Event: WPT India Main Event

Number of Flights: 10
Guaranteed Prize: INR 2.5 Crores
Prize Pool Reached: INR 2.57 Crores
Unique Players: 803
Total Entries: 2,573
ITM Players: 269
Winner: Kumar Sahaj “kumar69” – INR 50 Lac

Five Most Profitable Players From WPT Online India

1.Kumar ‘kumar69’ Sahaj – 50,00,000
2.Siddharth ‘PsychG0D’ Barot – 30,59,267
3.Laksh Pal ‘BoomTilt23’ Singh – 28,31,813
4.Raghav ‘BaLuGaWhAlE’ Bansal – 24,08,846
5.Siddhanth ‘Sidstack’ Kripalani- 21,97,832

Keep following Online Poker News for some interesting stories in our ‘Throwback 2020 Series’.