The moment we all have been waiting for has finally arrived! The much-awaited and the first major live poker series of 2021 – DPT Xpress – kicks off today at the champions den Deltin Royale, Goa.
Touted to be “India’s Most Buzzing Poker Tournament,” DPT Xpress has come a long way since its inception in 2018 and is hugely popular especially among the upcoming players seeking a quality live tournament experience. The main feature of the series is that you can go with a small budget and grind through the entire series. The organizers have kept the format of the upcoming DPT Xpress almost similar to previous editions, with buy-ins ranging from INR 5K to INR 15K. There are a total of events spread over 4 days and you can grind through the entire series with a budget of INR 40K.
Running from March 11 to 14, the upcoming poker festival kicks off today with the 5K Burn ‘N’ Turn (RE/A) starting at 5 PM. The series opener is followed by a 10K Bounty (RE) on March 12. Headlining the series will be the 15K Main Event running from March 13 to 14. The series will culminate with a 10K Deepstack Turbo (RE) on March 14. This is the second time the DPT Xpress is being hosted at the Deltin Royale. The previous edition of the series took place last year and saw healthy participation.
Let us look back and relive the top moments and highlights of the previous edition ‘DPT Xpress February 20202 Edition’ hosted at the same venue last year before the enforcement of lockdown.
5K Burn N Turn Winner – Anish Juwarkar
The first event of the DPT Xpress February 2020 Edition hosted for the very first time on-board the stunning Deltin Royale was the 5K Burn N Turn. The series opener registered a field of 197 entries (94 unique entries, 41 re-buys, 62 add-ons) posting a prize pool of INR 9.17 Lac. Coming out on top of the field was Anish Juwarkar, a Management Consultant by profession, who had won his seat into the event through an online satellite. It ended in a five ICM deal with Rajat Singh securing the fattest payday of INR 1.58 Lac. Dhaval Doshi (INR 1.37 Lac), Clinton Fernandes (INR 1.28 Lac), Anish Juwarkar (INR 1.08 Lac), and Karan Mehta (INR 98,200) shared the remainder of the prize money.
Juwarkar had started off as one of the shortest stacks on the final table but quickly found a monster double up through Anuj Laddhad. He then went on to eliminate Niyut Shah, Dhaval Doshi, and Karan Mehta, before facing Rajat Singh in the heads-up. In the heads-up too, he started off as the shorter stack but made his way to the top, ultimately outlasting Singh to clinch his first-ever DPT title!
The top 17 places were paid out, and Gaurav Gupta was the last player to fall out empty-handed.
Final Table Results (INR)
- Anish Juwarkar – 1,08,700*
- Rajat Singh – 1,58,800*
- Karan Mehta – 98,200*
- Dhaval Doshi – 1,37,300*
- Clinton Fernandez – 1,28,700*
- Sam Reddy – 38,000
- Niyut Shah – 32,000
- Sharan Randhawa – 29,000
- Anuj Laddhah – 26,000
- Dipika Agarwal – 23,000
*denotes five-way ICM deal
10K Bounty Winner – Tanmai Relwani
Day 2 of the DPT) Xpress February Edition was an action-packed affair and saw Tanmai Relwani taking down the 10K Bounty (1RE) for INR 2.08 Lac (includes 7 bounties).
Relwani was among the short stacks at the start of the final table. He scored a massive double-up through Priya Agarwal early on. After that, he went on to eliminate Gaurav Gupta, Suraj BU, and Doshi, before squaring off against Sandeep Sharma in heads-up. There was a considerable chip gap between the two finalists, with Relwani dominating his rival. Unsurprisingly, the heads-up lasted for just two hands, ultimately declaring a winner in Relwani who claimed his career-first DPT title!
The top 16 runners were paid out in the tournament with a min-cash being INR 12,000. Some notables among them who cashed the event were Vishal Gupta (11th for INR 65,300), Pawan Jaiswal (13th for INR 48,300) and the 5K Burn N Turn Event runner-up Rajat Singh (15th for INR 28,300).
TIPS co-founder Jaydeep Dawer bubbled the final table, finishing in 10th place for INR 45,300.
Final Table Results (INR)
- Tanmai Relwani – 2,08,000 (Includes 7 Bounties)
- Sandeep Sharma – 1,28,000 (Includes 4 Bounties)
- Dhaval Doshi – 84,500 (Includes 4 Bounties)
- Rahul Trivedi – 55,500 (Includes 3 Bounties)
- Vivek Karwa – 50,000 (Incudes 4 Bounties)
- Suraj BU – 40,000 (Includes 3 Bounties)
- Gaurav Gupta – 57,500 (Includes 7 Bounties)
- Kshitij Kucheria – 45,000 (Includes 5 Bounties)
- Priya Agarwal – 32,500 (Includes 3 Bounties)
15K Main Event Winner – Deepak Raina
The last day at the 2020 DPT Xpress February Edition kicked off in grand style on-board the Casino Deltin Royale. Day 2 of the 15K Main Event saw the 24 survivors from the previous day return to battle it for the top honors. After almost six hours of rigorous play, it was Deepak Raina who emerged as the champion and banked INR 7 Lac! It was a hard-fought final table that saw the likes of star performer Dhaval Doshi, veteran pro Chirag Sodha, Clinton Fernandes, and Radhika Shankar exit before reaching the heads-up. Raina clashed with Anuj Laddhad in HU who banked INR 4.73 Lac.
During the heads-up, Raina suffered a brutal bad beat that resulted in Raina facing a 6:1 chip deficit. However, Raina refused to give up, persisted and eventually made an epic comeback with two double-ups in subsequent hands. From there on, it was a cakewalk for the more experienced player, who claimed his third live title and second DPT Xpress title, along with an impressive INR 7 Lac prize.
The top 24 players were paid out in the two-day long tourney, with Daniel Kazi (24th for INR 25,300) becoming the first player to finish ITM. Rahul Melwani bubbled the FT, finishing 10th for INR 60,000.
Final Table Results (INR)
- Deepak Raina – 7,00,000
- Anuj Laddhad – 4,73,000
- Radhika Shankar – 2,80,000
- Daipayan Banerjee – 1,70,000
- Clinton Fernandes – 1,31,000
- Niyut Shah – 1,10,000
- Chirag Sodha – 93,000
- Dhaval Doshi – 80,000
- Vikaash Shah – 70,000
10K DeepStack Turbo Winner – Abhishek Sharma
The series concluded after four-days of electrifying action. Wrapping up the series in style was the 10K DeepStack Turbo that drew 78 entries to create a prize pool of INR 7.49 Lac. Abhishek Sharma won the event for INR 2.07 Lac, after a HU chop with Vaibhav Saxena (2nd for INR 1.95 Lac).
Top 10 runners paid with a min-cash of INR 22,100 and the breakout performer of this series, Dhaval Doshi, went out on the money bubble. Doshi final-tabled three out of the four events at the series.
Final Table Results (INR)
- Abhishek Sharma – 2,07,000*
- Vaibhav Saxena – 1,95,000*
- Natesh Sirpaul – 90,000
- Abhishek Chinna – 60,000
- Somshekhar KM – 48,000
- Amit Mishra – 38,000
- Sam Reddy – 33,000
- Nitin Moghe – 30,000
- Aman Gupta – 25,000
Brace yourself for another exciting edition of DPT Xpress starting today at the Deltin Royale, Goa, and stand a chance to be the next DPT X champion. Good luck at the felts… run good!