The Asian Poker Tour concluded its first event of the new year with eight days of games running from January 30 to February 6 at online platform PokerBaazi.com. The event, coined APT India Online Series, was the third of its kind. A total of 43 players walked away as champions and ~IN₹ 7.75 Crore (~US$ 1,038,000) was paid out. Among the winners, Amar “kidpoker0109” Mehta outshined with two events bagged, the featured Main Event and Monday Major. Other two time winners were Punya “madhumangal” Prabha and Ashish “rocky3705” Ahuja. Player “dilbaghsingh” claimed the festival’s largest first prize payout at the Super High Roller event. We’ve got those stories, top results, other event highlights, and what’s next for the brand down below.
Main Event: AMAR “KIDPOKER0109” MEHTA – IN₹ 17,50,000 (~US$ 23,445)
Outstanding performance by Amar “kidpoker0109” Mehta with two major events claimed at the series. On the second day, Mehta won the Monday Major for his first ever APT win and a score of IN₹ 3,76,470, then six days later, he defied the odds at the featured Main Event to collect an added IN₹ 17,50,000. Mehta earned a combined IN₹ 21,26,470 (~US$ 28,370), locked up two APT Trophies and the APT Championship Ring.
The Main Event amassed a field of 919 entries, however it was still short of breaching the IN₹ 1 Crore (~US$ 133,375) guarantee. At the final table, Mehta and Rubin “kornkid” Labroo were frontrunners until they banged heads to send Labroo soaring and Mehta plummeting to just 6 bb. Mehta’s impressive road to recovery included three double ups plus the eliminations of Mitesh “mikeknp” Gupta (5th) and Yogiraj “Yogiraj” Singh (4th). After Labroo finished off Suresh “oil_trader” Kolli (3rd), it was heads up with Labroo leading 62 bb over Mehta’s 23 bb.
Despite having the shorter stack, Mehta dominated the early action, claiming numerous pots to grind to par. From there, it was a tug of war for the lead. Mehta landed a full house 
over 
straight on a board 
to cripple Labroo to 1.5 bb. A few shoves later, Mehta went on to win it.
Also reaching the Main Event final table were side event champions Rishab “ryuk Malik (7th) and Ritwik “Ritwikkhanna” Khanna (8th). Notable pros in the money were Neel “worm33” Joshi (11th), Mithun “thepokeraja” Mahesh (12th), Rajneesh “msdhoni” Thakur (17th), and WSOP bracelet winners Kartik “TheInternetKid” Ved (24th) and Abhinav “griezmann” Iyer (52nd).
For Mehta’s victory at the featured Monday Major, he came out on top of the 580 entry field to claim the lion’s share of the IN₹ 23,20,000 (~US$ 31,050) prize pool. At heads up, he struck a deal with Pavanikran “rootahuamachi” Bellamkonda that secured him the higher pay. Among the players at the final table were notables Raghav “thatssosick” Bansal (5th), Mohammad “chandlerbing” Azhar (6th), and Dhaval “rehab77” Mudgal (8th).
Date: February 6
Buy in: IN₹ 11,000 (~US$ 147)
Guarantee: IN₹ 1 Crore (~US$ 133,375)
Entries: 919 (479 uniques, 440 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 1 Crore
ITM: 108 places
Final table payouts
1st Amar “kidpoker0109” Mehta – IN₹ 17,50,000
2nd Rubin “kornkid” Labroo – IN₹12,26,000
3rd Suresh “oil_trader” Kolli – IN₹ 7,93,000
4th Yogiraj “Yogiraj” Singh – IN₹ 5,86,000
5th Mitesh “mikeknp” Gupta – IN₹4,38,000
6th “p0kerguru” – IN₹ 3,54,000
7th Rishab “ryuk Malik – IN₹ 2,93,000
8th Ritwik “Ritwikkhanna” Khanna – IN₹ 2,33,000
9th Shubham “ShUbh1995” Nirban – IN₹ 1,75,000
Championship Event: PUNYA “MADHUMANGAL” PRABHA – IN₹ 10,44,567 (~US$ 13,870)
Punya “madhumangal” Prabha outshined on Day 5 of the series, winning both the featured Championship Event and the PLO-5. This awarded him a combined IN₹ 11,59,657 (~US$ 15,470) plus his first ever APT Trophy and APT Championship Ring.
Recapping his victory at the Championship Event, it was a 6-Max tournament with 285 turning up to build a guarantee crushing prize pool of IN₹ 57,00,000 (~US$ 76,000). A long list of known online pros earned a share that included Ashish “rocky3705” Ahuja (12th), Sahil “bluffme19” Chutani (13th), Arman “Armaan007” Kochhar (15th), Sumit “boronyx” Sapra (21st), and Abhishek “singhsaab” Goindi (28th). Among the finalists were Kartik “TheInternetKid” Ved (6th), Gautam “M8a7” Rohilla (3rd), and Karan “Apocalypto” Radia.
Radia was chip leader at heads up and was looking to add another trophy to his shelf having won the Day 3 featured PLO High Roller tournament. The pair struck a deal that guaranteed Radia the higher payout, however at the runout, a second title was denied. Prabha came from behind to bag his first major APT title and trophy and IN₹ 10,44,567 (~US$ 13,870). Hours prior to this win, Prabha took down the PLO-5 side event defeating Karan “conversestruck” Thakur at heads up. Prabha gained the larger IN₹ 1,15,090 ICM payout.
Date: February 3
Buy in: IN₹ 22,000 (~US$ 295)
Guarantee: IN₹ 50L (~US$ 66,688)
Entries: 285 (157 uniques, 128 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 57,00,000 (~US$ 76,000)
ITM: 36 places
Final table payouts
1st Punya “madhumangal” Prabha – IN₹ 10,44,567*
2nd Karan “Apocalypto” Radia – IN₹ 10,98,000*
3rd Gautam “M8a7” Rohilla – IN₹ 5,68,000
4th Haider “Haider” Madraswala – IN₹ 4,21,000
5th Nishant “rektace” Kumar – IN₹ 3,16,000
6th Kartik “TheInternetKid” Ved – IN₹ 2,53,000
*Heads up deal
Back-to-back wins: ASHISH “ROCKY3705” AHUJA – IN₹ 5,32,791 (~US$ 7,100)
Another player on a hot streak was Ashish “rocky3705” Ahuja who took down the Six-Max Turbo event on Day 5 and in Day 6. His back to back victories earned him a collective IN₹ 5,32,791 (~US$ 7,100). Ahuja also ran deep at the Championship Event, placing 12th for IN₹ 91,770.
Super High Roller: “DILBAGHSINGH” – IN₹ 21,26,000 (~US$ 28,355)
The Super High Roller was another featured 6-Max tournament that awarded a trophy to the winner. With buy in at the highest of IN₹ 55,000 (~US$ 734), it attracted the biggest names in India. A total of 171 ponied up for a prize pool of IN₹ 85,50,000 (~US$ 114,035). The title came down between APT India Online Series 1 multi winner “dilbaghsingh” and rising young star Neel “Worm33” Joshi. In the end, Joshi was denied his maiden APT title while “dilbaghsingh” bagged his third APT career win and first major APT title. He seized IN₹ 21,26,000 (~US$ 28,355), which was the single largest tournament payout.
Date: February 4
Buy in: IN₹ 55,000 (~US$ 734)
Guarantee: IN₹ 80 Lakhs (~US$ 106,700)
Entries: 171 (110 uniques, 61 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 85,50,000 (~US$ 114,035)
ITM: 21 places
Final table payouts
1st “dilbaghsingh” – IN₹ 21,26,000
2nd Neel “Worm33” Joshi – IN₹ 14,90,000
3rd Srihari “bangbang999” Bang – IN₹ 9,58,000
4th Gokul “Nygma” Raj – IN₹ 7,10,000
5th “dreamrekha” – IN₹ 5,33,000
6th Gaurav “gaug17” Sood – IN₹ 4,26,000
Other Trophy winners
APT #1: KICKOFF
Date: January 30
Buy in: IN₹ 3,300 (~US$ 45)
Guarantee: IN₹ 5 Lakh (~US$ 33,460)
Entries: 882 (407 uniques, 475 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ IN₹ 26,46,000 (~US$ 35,400)
ITM: 108 places
Winner: NISHAANT “shanni” SHANMUGHASUNDARAM – IN₹ 3,09,070 (~US$ 4,136)
APT #4: SUNDAY MAJOR
Date: January 30
Buy in: IN₹ 5,500 (~US$ 74)
Guarantee: IN₹ 35 Lakhs (~US$ 46,840)
Entries: 782 (395 uniques, 387 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 39,10,000 (~US$ 52,329)
ITM: 90 places
Winner: ANURAG “13anurag” SRIVASTAVA – IN₹ 7,07,710 (~US$ 9,471)
APT #14: PLO HIGH ROLLER
Date: February 1
Buy in: IN₹ 11,000 (~US$ 147)
Guarantee: IN₹ 25 Lakhs (~US$ 33,345)
Entries: 255 (130 uniques, 125 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 25,50,000 (~US$ 34,010)
ITM: 27 places
Winner: KARAN “Apocalypto” RADIA – IN₹ 6,00,015 (~US$ 8,003)
APT #19: MINI MAIN EVENT
Date: February 2
Buy in: IN₹ 5,500 (~US$ 74)
Guarantee: IN₹ 50 Lakhs (~US$ 66,690)
Entries: 985 (469 uniques, 516 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 50 Lakhs
ITM: 117 places
Winner: AMAN “Karmapoker” PARAKH – IN₹ 8,60,500 (~US$ 11,484)
APT #35: PLO-5 HIGH ROLLER
Date: February 5
Buy in: IN₹ 11,000 (~US$ 148)
Guarantee: IN₹ 20 Lakhs (~US$ 26,675)
Entries: 234 (117 uniques, 117 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 23,40,000 (~US$ 31,210)
ITM: 27 places
Winner: AKSHAY “sherlock52” NASA – IN₹ 5,50,602 (~US$ 7,345)
Up next for the APT
With the Philippines now open to tourists, it is full speed ahead for the APT. In just a few week’s is the APT Mystery Bounty Weekend which takes place at Resorts World Manila from March 3 to 6. This will be the first live event to be staged and hosted by the APT team in two years. The Main Event PHP 3 Million (~US$ 58,660) guaranteed headlines the series. Buy in is PHP 13,200 (~US$ 260). Head to the link for all the details.
*All pics courtesy of the APT
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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