With the first Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) of 2022 being just a few days away, we decided to take a look back and relive the top moments and highlights from the inaugural DPT held at the Deltin Royale casino in Goa. The first-ever DPT running from 21st to 26th January 2016 is remembered as a trailblazer in the history of Indian tournament poker. Featuring a massive INR 1 Crore guarantee for the 100K Main Event, the 6-day poker festival received an overwhelming response with players from all across the country coming out in big numbers and making it a resounding success. More than 450 entries enrolled in and over INR 1.5 Crore in prize money was distributed through the series.
From renowned pros of the industry to mid-level players as well as amateurs, we saw a good mix of players, including the Adda52 Game Ambassador Kunal Patni, Praveen Dwarkanath (serving as head of poker at Adda52 Live), Akash Malik, Madan Kumar, Aditya Sushant, PSL CEO and Co-founder Pranav Bagai, Adda52 Co-Founder Anuj Gupta, Jaideep Sajwan, Shravan Chhabria, Dhaval Mudgal, Jasven Saigal, Raghav Bansal, Romit Advani, Zarvan Tumboli, Jagdeep Singh, Anil Adiani, Spartan Poker CEO Amin Rozani, Kavin Shah, Tarun Goyal, gaming law expert Jay Satya, & many more.
100K DPT Main Event Winner – Raghav Bansal – INR 30.60 Lac
The crowning glory of the inaugural series was the 1 Crore GTD Main Event, which turned out to be a smashing success with a guarantee-busting field of 102 entries. The tourney had a dream ending for Delhi’s Raghav Bansal who defeated his fellow city man Akash Malik (2nd for INR 18,87,000) in the heads-up to win the title for INR 30.60 Lac and earn the distinction of becoming the first-ever DPT Main Event champion. Raghav (623k) entered the final table with the second largest stack behind Dhaval Mudgal and played some top-notch poker to finally clinch the coveted title. He eliminated 6 players on the final table to enter the heads up with Akash Malik. On the final hand, Raghav bet 80,000 and Malik shoved all-in. Raghav made the call and turned over Kh Qh against the Ac 4h of Akash. The board 6d Ks 4s 3h 8h gave both the players a pair but Raghav shipped it with a King-pair.
The final table was a star-studded affair and featured the likes of the 2018 Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal (3rd for INR 13,26,000), Rishabh Jhunjhunwala (4th for INR 10,20,000), Abhay Bokadia (5th for INR 7,14,000), Madan Kumar (6th for INR 5,61,000), Romit Advani (7th for INR 4,08,000), Ujjwal Rana (8th for INR 3,06,000), & poker vlogger Jaideep Sajwan (9th for INR 2,55,000).
The Main Event had paid out the top 12 finishers, with Aman Dhamija (12th), Anirban Das (11th) and Sumit Asrani (10th) being the other players who made it to the ITM list in the prestigious tourney.
Adda52 25K Deepstack Event (Freezeout) – Y J Kim – INR 7,10,000
The second biggest attraction of the first-ever DPT series in Goa, Adda52 25K Deepstack Event, was taken down by the popular poker pro Y J Kim who took home a hefty INR 7.10 Lac, following a three-way deal with Manoj R (2nd for INR 7,35,000) and Nitesh Baliyan (3rd place for INR 6,85,250). Kim started the final table as one of the shortest stacks, far behind the start of the final table chip leader Jagdeep Singh (291,300). However, he played some splendid poker to stack up and eventually take it down to earn the distinction of becoming the first-ever Adda52 25K Deepstack champion.
Adda52 Game Ambassador Kunal Patni (9thfor INR 87,500), Adda52 Co-Founder Anuj Gupta (8th for INR 1,05,000), Shravan Chhabria (7th for INR 1,40,000), Jujhar Kochar (5th for INR 2,45,000), & Rajat Jain (4th for INR 3,50,000) were the other notable names finishing on the final table of the event.
The dpeepstack tournament came to a close with a thrilling hand where Kim opened to 50K and Manoj shoved all-in, which Kim tank-called and turned over 5d 5c against the Ac Jd of Manoj. The pocket fives held up on a runout of 2d 10h 2c 6d 7s, giving Kim the coveted pot as well as the title.
The top 12 places were paid out from the INR 35 Lac prizepool. Zarvan Tumboli bubbled the event and after 3 more eliminations of Praveen Dwarakanath (12th for INR 70,000), Anirudh Bakshi (11th for INR 78,000) and Vikranth Varma (10th for INR 87,500), it came down to the final table where Jagdeep Singh (291k) started as the chip leader but in the end it was Kim who emerged the winner.
DPT 10K Hangover – Shravan Chhabria – INR 3,30,000
The 10K Hangover drew 110 runners who ponied up INR 10,000, creating a prize pool of INR 11 Lac. Walking away with the lion’s share of the prizepool was a Mumbai poker pro in Shravan Chhabria who earned INR 3,30,000 after beating Vinayak Malani (2nd for INR 2,03,500) in the heads-up battle.
The top 12 places were paid out with a min-cash of INR 22,000. Jayant Yewale bubbled the tournament and after 3 more eliminations Sumit Sapra (12th), Deepanshu (11th) and Sujith S (10th), the tournament came down to the final table that began with Vinayak Malani (223,000) holding the chip lead. Shravan Chhabria (67,000) began the FT as one of the shortest stacks though, he did amazingly well to stack up and eventually ship it. On the final hand, Shravan went all-in with Kh 7h and Vinayak called with As 6d. The board 10h Jc 2c Ks 3c gave Shravan a pair of Kings to win the title.
The organizers had announced the last lady standing prize of INR 10,000 which Shalini Bhandari won and she also made it to the FT (7th for INR 44k), earning a total of INR 54,000 from the tourney.
Final Table Payouts (INR)
- Shravan Chhabria – 330,000
- Vinayak Malani – 203,500
- Akshay Limaye – 143,000
- Vaibhav Jain – 110,000
- Guru Prasad – 77,000
- Prasanna J – 60,500
- Shalini Bhandari – 44,000
- Abhishek Kumar – 33,000
- Adarsh J – 27,500
DPT 5K Warm Up – Shekhar VP – INR 160,000
The first-ever DPT kicked off with a 5K Warm-Up that saw Shekhar VP from Bangalore overcoming a guarantee-busting field of 157 entries to win the coveted trophy and INR 160,000 in top prize money.
Shekhar began the final table in the middle of the pack with a 99,000 stack but played exceptionally well to win the title. He gained the control after busting the start of the FT chip leader Rishab Gupta (4th for INR 50,500) and did not look back from there. He finally entered the heads-up for the title with Alexey who could not go all the way, eventually settling for the runner-up payout worth INR 98,000. On the final hand of the tourney, Shekhar shoved all-in and got a snap call from Alexey.
At showdown:
Shekhar: 9c 9d
Alexey: As Jh
Alexey had a top pair and a straight draw on the flop Ac Qs 10s but with 8h on turn and Js on the river, Shekhar shipped the title. “Feeling good..! Final table was challenging. Didn’t want to chop, doesn’t matter whatever place I could have ended up but I did it finally”, said Sekhar post his victory.
Top 18 players were paid out with Shravan Chhabria (18th for INR 8,000) being the first ITM finisher.
Final Table Payouts (INR)
- Shekhar – Rs 160,000
- Alexey – Rs 98,000
- Uladislav Dats – Rs 70,650
- Rishabh Gupta – Rs 50,500
- Yauhen Paulouski – Rs 38,000
- Shyamal Sharma – Rs 29,000
- Anuj – Rs 22,500
- Madibek – Rs 17,600
- Leo Cecil – Rs 14,000
To make this event more exciting for the female poker players, the organizers had announced INR 10,000 for the last lady standing in the tournament, which Sheena Sareen won finishing 23rd.
Congratulations to the first-ever DPT champions and a big shoutout to the Indian Poker Community for their overwhelming participation in the inaugural series. From its launch in January 2016, the DPT has grown into one of the most-sought after poker festivals in India and no live poker enthusiast wants to miss the festival. Thanks to the DPT organizers, they continue to propel the game to greater heights and look forward to seeing you for the next edition of the DPT, which runs from 14th to 19th April 2022 and promises to be bigger and bolder with INR 2 Crore GTD prizepool and much more on offer. Come join the series and become the next DPT champion! See you there in Goa……Good luck!!
