With the third edition of the Colossus Series upon us, we decided to take a trip down memory lane to rekindle those good old memories and moments from the inaugural edition of the prestigious festival that ran from 26th to 29th April in 2018 at the luxurious Deltin Royale casino in Goa.
Needless to say, the first edition was a grand success and saw some of the biggest names of the domestic industry including entrepreneurs, investors, top pros, and celebrities attending the event.
Featuring high buy-ins and deep stacks, the tournaments in the series offered players hefty prizes, tested their mental strength, analytical skills and endurance. Stimulating player’s experience was the live streaming of the final table action from the 200K High Roller and 50K Warm-Up tournaments.
Adding to the glamour quotient at the inaugural series was the ‘Universe Boss’ – Chris Gayle and 888poker ambassador Sofia Lovgren alongside many top pros from the domestic poker circuit!
200K Super High Roller – Sriharsha Doddapaneni
Of all the marquee events at the inaugural edition, players were most excited about the 200K Super High Roller, which holds the highest value in the poker fraternity. The need for unparalleled action, thrill, excitement and mega prizes drew in some of the biggest names of the industry. While the event saw several nail-biting moments, it had a dream ending for Sriharsha Doddapaneni, a well-known professional poker player from Hyderabad who defeated Meherzad Munsaf heads-up to pick up the title for a massive INR 28.70 Lac, making him the biggest winner at the prestigious series.
The event ended with a pre-flop all-in. Sriharsha held Q-J, while Meherzad Munsaf had A-4. The board J-5-10-2-6 didn’t help Munsaf and gave Sriharsha the coveted title with a Jack pair.
Bollywood actress Minissha Lamba, who had finished second in the warm up event of the series, finished third in this event for INR 14,36,000. A 3-day deep-structured event, the super high roller drew 44 entries and generated a prize pool of INR 87.12 Lac, which was shared by top six finishers.
Final Results (INR)
- Sriharsha Doddapaneni – INR 28,70,000
- Meherzad Munsaf – INR 19,16,000
- Minissha Lamba – INR 14,36,000
- Abhinav Iyer – INR 10,90,000
- Raghav Bansal – INR 8,00,000
- Madan Kumar – INR 6,00,000
50K Warm-Up Event – Vivek Rughani
The series-opener, 50K Warm Up event, was won by Vivek Rughani for INR 9.05 Lac after a thrilling heads-up with celebrity poker player Minissha Lamba who pocketed INR 5.73 Lac for her runner-up finish. Interestingly, three players, namely Minissha Lamba, Vivek Rughani and Meherzad Munsaf, who had final-tabled this event went on to make it to the final table of the Super High Roller as well.
The event saw several celebrities in action including cricketing sensation Chris Gayle, 888poker ambassador Sofia Lovgren and Bollywood actress Minissha Lamba along with WSOP bracelet winner Aditya Sushant, Kunal Patni, Abhinav Iyer, Abhishek Goindi, Zarvan Tumboli, Nikita Luther, etc.
It was a two-day event that drew 61 entries to generate INR 30,19,500, which was finally shared by the top seven players. Nikita Luther bubbled the tournament exiting in eighth place. She was busted by Minissha Lamba who held pocket kings against the A-10 of Luther and won the K-5-10-7-9 runout.
On the final hand, it was a pre-flop all-in. Rughani held A-J, while Lamba was ahead with pocket tens. However, the board opened 6-A-5-J-9, giving Rughani two pairs to win the 50k Warm Up Event title!
Final Results (INR)
- Vivek Rughani – INR 9,05,800
- Minissha Lamba – INR 5,73,700
- Dhaval Mudgal – INR 4,52,900
- Sahil Agarwal – INR 3,62,300
- Manish Lakhotia – INR 2,71,700
- Meherzad Munsaf – INR 2,42,000
- Sameer Chaturvedi – INR 2,11,100
25K NLH Bounty Event – Satguru S
The last event of the EST 2 Crore series, the 25K NLH Bounty, wrapped up proceedings. The event was taken down by Satguru S who eventually defeated Adda52 Game Ambassador Kunal Patni (runner-up for INR 1.54 Lac) heads-up, winning the title for a cool INR 2.57 Lac in prize money.
Final Results (INR)
- Satguru S – INR 2,57,400
- Kunal Patni – INR 1,54,400
- Lokesh B – INR 1,03,000
Congratulations to the winners from the inaugural Colossus edition and good luck for the upcoming edition set to run from 2nd to 7th August 2022 at the Deltin Royale casino in Goa. The upcoming edition promises to be bigger and bolder with hefty prizes and the shiny gold, silver & bronze trophies. Come join the series to #UnleashYourself and become the next Colossus champion!