Monday night saw a fresh surge of high-stakes action, even as the weekend poker thrill appeared to fade. Natural8 India took the stage with its Bounty Hunters Big Game 215 as Poker Baazi’s record-breaking ₹60 Crore GTD Indian Poker Masters approached their last week, and tournaments on Junglee Poker and Adda52 wrapped up on Sunday. Once more proving his poker skills, Neel Joshi, the Player of the Year (POY) runner-up, is now a fleeing leader. Fresh off his latest victory in 7-Max’s IPM#90, Joshi focused on Natural8 India’s Bounty Hunters Big Game 215.
Having a solid field of 1,424 players, Joshi skilfully and fiercely negotiated the enormous stakes. His efforts got him a third-place finish and a fantastic ₹14.55 Lakhs award in Natural8. This triumph is his 12th seven-figure performance on the platform this year. Joshi is on a path to poker immortality since his 2024 income already exceeds ₹4.93 crores.
Tarun Goyal Keeps Up Excellent Streak in Poker Baazi
Tarun Goyal is another participant causing waves. Goyal showed no slowing down following an excellent second-place result in Natural8 India’s Bounty Hunters HR Main Event, which paid ₹1.04 Crores on Sunday. Monday saw him collect ₹5.77 lakhs to his wallet with three outstanding finishes on Natural8 India. His 2024 performance on the platform now surpasses ₹1.35 Crores, confirming his virtuosity in poker.
Indian Poker Masters by Poker Baazi
At Poker Baazi’s Indian Poker Masters, the action was as fierce. Loyal poker Baazi player Varun Sareen finally broke through with a fantastic win in the IPM#108 (Plo-6) HighRoller. His first IPM trophy and second of the year, this victory brought him the hefty ₹8.10 Lakhs reward. Along with his triumph, Sareen ranked tenth on the IPM third-week leaderboard. Remarkably, Sareen got an incredible 176X ROI by winning both of his High Roller entries from ₹1,150 satellites.
Aditya Kulkarni also performed relatively well, ranking runner-up in the High Roller for ₹5.58 Lakhs. Deep runs in four more IPM events added to his hot streak, totaling Monday profits of ₹5.81 Lakhs overall.
Capturing his first IPM title in PokerBaazi’s IPM#110 (7-Max), Satyam Bhalla had a remarkable night, earning a ₹6 Lakhs reward. Bhalla’s total Monday earnings, combined with his previous cash finish in the IPM#104 Monsterstack, topped ₹6.02 Lakhs, ranking him fourth on the IPM 3rd Week Leaderboard. With ₹3.91 Lakhs, “harsh1327,” the runner-up in the Turbo event, too, showed an outstanding performance.
A notable performance came from Bengaluru Allstars at the Pocket52 Poker Sports League Season 6, Avneesh Munjal. Munjal won ₹3 lakhs after securing his maiden IPM title in PID#105 (5-Max). Deep runs in all five IPM events of the day helped him to keep up his excellent performance, accumulating ₹4.81 Lakhs and ranking sixth on the IPM Series Leaderboard.
The Comeback Stories of Adda 52 Natural8
Shiven Meena was authoring his comeback narrative at Adda 52. Meena became triumphant in the Iron Man at last following an eight-week title drought, hauling home ₹1.61 lakhs. Adding another ₹4.11 Lakhs to his earnings, he carried on his winning run with final table finishes in PokerBaazi’s IPM#110 (7-Max) Turbo and Junglee poker. Completing second for ₹1.18 Lakhs, newcomer “Jograj001”
Laksh Sharma grabbed headlines by defeating Poker Baazi’s IPM#106 Deepstack and landing a career-best ₹2.77 Lakhs from a heads-up deal. Sharma’s triumph was his maiden marquee championship and first win in over a year. Collecting ₹3.42 Lakhs from the contract, Dhaval Joshi placed second in the Deepstack. Joshi’s outstanding success across three more IPM events took his Monday income to ₹3.78 Lakhs overall.
Highlights from Spartan and Junglee poker
Mohawk Kapoor, the yearly TLB ranking kingpin and POY challenger, won ₹66,600 in the Supreme on Spartan Poker. His sixth of the month, this victory marks an outstanding 44th title of the year. Deep runs in six more tournaments pushed Kapoor’s daily earnings to ₹1.40 Lakhs. In the Monday Monster, Junglee Poker witnessed “emcnirvana” triumph and win ₹1.10 Lakhs. At ₹48,510, Kabir Tandon came in second.
Finally
Monday’s poker performance showed the active and fierce online poker scene. The thrill and stakes of the game keep skyrocketing, with players like Neel Joshi, Varun Sareen, and Satyam Bhalla giving exceptional performances. Both players and supporters should expect more exciting events and high-stakes drama in the next few days as the Indian Poker Masters’ culmination approaches.
