With the first DPT series of 2022 just a few days away, we take a trip down memory lane to rekindle those good old live poker days in Goa by featuring the top winners from the third DPT edition held from 9th to 14th November 2016 onboard the Deltin Royale casino in Goa. Featuring a brand new 15K 6-Max PLO for PLO enthusiasts and several exciting NLH events like High Roller and Main Event, the third edition of the DPT opened to the dampening news of demonetization of high denomination notes, which prompted several players to cancel their participation. Despite the demonetization, we saw an impressive turnout at all the events with several hundreds of players joining the action. As many as 647 entries came in for the prestigious fiesta and more than INR 1.54 Crore was distributed in the prize pool. Here is a quick look back at the top moments and highlights from the series!
DPT 10K Kickoff Event – Vidwath Shetty – INR 4.3 Lac
The series kicked off on 9th November 2016 with an online “5K Warm Up” Event featuring INR 5K buy-in and INR 5 Lac GTD prizepool. The event took place exclusively on Adda52.com and found a winner in a Mumbai-based poker pro in Nishant ‘DoJingBULLETS’ Sharma who banked INR 2 Lac.
The live action for the DPT November 2016 began on 10th November with 10K Kickoff that drew an impressive 159-entry field and generated INR 15,90,000 in the prize pool that was shared by the top 18 players. Walking away with the lion’s share was Vidwath Shetty from Bangalore. He finally bested Keshav Chadha (2nd for 2.7 Lac) in the heads-up to win his maiden DPT title for NR 4.3 Lac!
The final hand of the event was a pre-flop all-in and saw Vidwath with Ks Js and Keshav holding Qc 10c. The board ran out Kh-4c-Ac-5d-8s, giving Vidwath a King pair to win the title for INR 4.30 Lac.
DPT 60K High Roller – Gagandeep Malik – INR 17.66 Lac
Running from 11th to 12th November, the DPT 60K High Roller fared pretty well, attracting a field of 92 entries and generating a whopping INR 55,20,000 in prize pool. Gagandeep Malik from Raipur, Chhattisgarh claimed the title and top prize of INR 17.66 Lac. Malik eventually outlasted Vivek Rughani who walked away with INR 10.76 Lac for his runner-up finish. The final hand of the tourney was a pre-flop all-in and saw Rughani with Qd-Jh & Gagandeep holding Kh-Kd. The board ran out 4c-10d-5c-Jd-9c where the pocket kings held up, giving Gagandeep the coveted pot as well as the title.
The top 9 finishers were paid out in the tourney, with Ronak Gidwani (3rd for INR 7,73,000), Aditya Sushant (4th for INR 6,07,000), Danish Shaikh (5th for INR 4,42,000), Praveen Dwarkanath, who is now a head-poker at Adda52 Live (6th for INR 331,000), Vaibhav Sharma (7th place for INR 221,000), Sahil Agarwal (8th for INR 166,000), and Vikas Singh (9th for INR 1,38,000) being the other ITM players.
DPT 30K Main Event – Gautam Sachdeva – INR 13.04 Lac
Running from 12th to 13th November, the Main Event was also a 2-day event that attracted 161 entries, resulting in a massive INR 48,30,000 prize pool. The top 18 places were paid out in the event, with Gautam Sachdeva from Gurgaon winning the title for INR 13.04 Lac. Sachdeva began the final table sixth in chips but did exceptionally well, chipping up nicely and finally shipping the title. The tournament ended in a three-way action that saw Nitin Jain getting busted in third place for INR 6.16 Lac, Kanishka Samant finishing second for INR 8.21 Lac and Sachdeva claiming the title for 13.04 Lac.
All the three players moved all-in, Jain with 2h 2c, Samant with Jh Jc and Sachdeva with As Ah. The board ran out 5h 8d 5c 10d Ad, giving Sachdeva a full house to take down the title for INR 13.04 Lac.
The final table was a star-studded affair with the likes of Vikas Mantri (4th for INR 4,83,000), Pranay Kapoor (5th for INR 3,62,200), Anup Palod (6th for INR 2,65,700), Akash Masand (7th place for INR 1,81,000), Dhaval Mudgal (8th for INR 1,44,900), and Ankit Wadhawan (9th for INR 1,08,700).
DPT 15K Bounty Event – Masood Shaikh – INR 4.32 Lac
The penultimate event of the prestigious series, 15K Bounty, played out on13th November 2016 and drew a field of 160 entries, creating a massive INR 24 Lac in the prizepool. The top 18 players were paid out in the tournament with Amit Sur being the first player to cash at 18th place for INR 16,000.
Masood Shaikh came out on top to win it for INR 4.32 Lac. Shaikh started off well by eliminating the DPT Main Event August 2016 champion Vikas Singh at eighth place. He then railed the Adda52 Game Ambassador Kunal Patni at sixth. Sahil Agarwal exited at fifth and by then Shaikh had a massive lead of 561,000. Shaikh continued his domination and then busted Ronak Agarwal and Mitul Mehta at fourth and third places respectively to eventually enter the heads-up for title with Aditya G.
The heads-up lasted a little longer and it was Shaikh dominating it for the majority of time. Finally, it all ended with Aditya moving all-in with Ah Jc and Shaikh calling him with 4s 10s. Fortunately for Shaikh, the board ran out 8s As Ks 9s Jh, giving him a flush to win the pot as well as the title.
DPT 15K 6-Max PLO – Kunal Patni – INR 2.52 Lac
The third edition of DPT concluded on 14th November 2016 with a 15K 6-Max PLO, which was added to DPT after seeing the rising popularity of the PLO game in the country. The INR 10K+5K buy-in tourney attracted 77 entries, creating a prize pool of INR 11.55 Lac that was shared by the top 9 players. The tournament ended in a 3-way deal with the Adda52 Game Ambassador Kunal Patni claiming the title for INR 2.52 Lac, Siddharth Mehndiratta finishing runner-up for INR 2.52 Lac and Vikram Kumar exiting at third for 2.52 Lac. Talking in an interview about this win, Patni said, “It’s ironic that a PLO fish shipped a PLO event and that too after making 19 final tables in Hold’em.”
Congratulations to the champions from the third edition of the DPT and good luck for the upcoming edition scheduled to run from 14th to 19th April 2022 at the Deltin Royale casino in Goa. The April 2022 edition promises to be bigger and bolder with INR 2 Crore GTD prizepool and much more on offer. Come join the series and stand a chance to become the next DPT champion! See you there!