The last twelve months have been tough especially for live poker players as there has been no major live tournament series in Goa since the lockdown announced in March 2020. However, the long wait is finally over as Deltin Royale and Adda52 have taken the initiative of hosting the first live series of 2021 – DPT Xpress. Touted to be “India’s Most Buzzing Poker Tournament,” DPT Xpress will become the country’s first live poker series to be held in Goa since the enforcement of COVID-19 lockdown.
The upcoming poker festival runs from March 11 to 14 at the Deltin Royale in Goa and promises a world-class live tournament experience. Like the previous editions, it will feature four events, namely the 5K Burn ‘N’ Turn (RE/A) on 11th March, the 10K Bounty (RE) on March 12, and the 15K Main Event on March 13 -14. The series will finally culminate with a 10K Deepstack Turbo (RE) on March 14.
Ahead of the first live series of 2021, we decided to look back and relive the top moments and highlights from its third edition hosted in June 2019 onboard Casino Deltin JAQK in Goa. Shifting the third edition to the beautiful Deltin JAQK came out as the best decision as the festival witnessed a record attendance with 700 + entries and distributed 60 Lac + in the cumulative prize money.
The biggest highlight of the series was once again the 15K Main Event and it was the online poker beast Anant Purohit who outlasted the largest-ever field at the event, 205 entries, to win his career`s first live title, along with an impressive INR 7.40 Lac in the top prize money.
5K Burn N Turn Winner – Aditya Sardana
The change of location was the best decision as the third edition’s 5K Burn N Turn event pulled in a record 303 entries. Aditya Sardana was the last player standing in the event. The Managing Director at Casinokart, Sardana not only claimed his first live title at this event but also earned his best live score INR 3.65 Lac in the process.
Sardana had just one live score before this win with a 30th place finish in the 2017 DPT July 15K Kickoff. Sardana’s FT journey was amazing as he went on to eliminate five players from the FT, including the only female player on the final table and his heads-up opponent Priya Agarwal who finished runner-up, taking home INR 2,50,000.
The top 24 places were paid out in the opening event with a min-cash of INR 14K.
Final Table Results
- Aditya Sardana – INR 3,65,000
- Priya Agarwal – INR 2,50,000
- Archit Garg – INR 1,45,750
- Vijay Suneel Kumar – INR 90,000
- Unknown – INR 70,000
- Abhinav Garg – INR 55,000
- Gaurav Mehta – INR 49,000
- Shubham B. – INR 42,000
- Anant Purohit – INR 36,500
Anant Purohit – 15K Main Event Winner
The biggest event of the DPT Xpress Goa was its 15K Main Event, which ran from 7th to 8th June 2019 and drew a record-breaking field of 205 entries. The 2-day long tournament found a champion in none other than the online poker beast Anant Purohit who eliminated five players from the FT and they included Mitang Soni, Prashob PJ, Amit Tejura, Siddharth Karia and eventual runner-up Kshitij Jain. Pruhoit earned INR 7,40,000 to emerge as the biggest winner at the super successful series.
On topping the list of biggest winners at the third edition of the DPT Xpress, Purohit said, “It feels awesome. I have been trying to put volume in live tourneys since long but rarely get opportunities. That’s why I almost always attend DPT Goa and now I am feeling on top of the world to achieve something good at the live felt.”
The top 26 players were paid out in the tournament with a min-cash of INR 24K.
Final Table Results
- Anant Purohit – INR 7,40,000*
- Kshitij Jain – INR 5,15,000*
- Siddharth Karia – INR 3,10,000*
- Amit Tejura – INR 1,85,000
- Anish Juwarkar – INR 1,45,000
- Venkata Phani Anne – INR 1,20,000
- Prashob PJ – INR 1,04,750
- Ashit Sharma – INR 85,000
- Mitang Soni – INR 75,000
Pawan Jaiswal – 10K Bounty Winner
The 10K Bounty Event (8th June 2019) went on to become a record-breaking success, attracting a total of 173 entries and thus smashing the previous edition’s 47 entries. It was taken down by Pawan Jaiswal for INR 2,40,000. He had entered the FT as third in chips and eliminated several players from the final table, including Kanishk Kapoor, Aditya Boddu, Saumil Krishnani, Ashish Choudhary, and the runner-up Devesh Thapar who earned 1,46,000.
The top 17 were paid in this event with Ashit Sharma a min-cash being INR 14,999.
Final Table Results
- Pawan Jaiswal – INR 2,40,000
- Devesh Thapar – INR 1,46,000
- Ashish Choudhary – INR 85,000
- Saumil Krishnani – INR 50,000
- Aditya Boddu – INR 40,000
- Anish Juwarkar – INR 35,000
- Myron Pereira – INR 30,000
- Kanishk Kapoor – INR 25,000
- Vishwanath Janku Borhade –INR 24,250
Pratibh Saluja & Adarsh – Tag Team Event
The final event of the series was the 20k Tag Team Event that took place on 9th June. The tourney fared much better, attracting a total of 25 teams with the top 4 of them finishing ITM. The team of Pratibh Saluja and Adarsh emerged victorious, earning INR 1.10 Lac after eliminating five out of the nine teams that made it to the final table. The runner-up to finish in the event was the team of Amit Singhal & Ashu Kalra who won INR 66 Lac.
Final Table Results
- Team Pratibh Saluja & Adarsh – INR 1,10,000
- Team Amit Singhal & Ashu Kalra – INR 66,000
- Team Sanket Deshmukh & Naman Khattri – INR 41,000
- Team Tanmai Relwani & Monish – INR 26,740