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Abhinav Iyer is an elite Indian professional tournament poker player hailing from Mumbai, Maharashtra. Etched permanently into the history books of Indian poker, Iyer made history in July 2019 by becoming the first Indian player to win a solo live World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet in Las Vegas.
Known for his deep tournament endurance, sharp ICM navigation, and versatility across both massive open-field championships and high-roller formats, Iyer has surpassed $2,060,000 in live tournament earnings.
Today, he sits firmly inside the top 10 on India’s All-Time Money List and remains one of the country's most respected international ambassadors.
Career Earnings & Biggest Results
According to The Hendon Mob, Abhinav Iyer has accumulated $2,068,598 in live tournament earnings across more than 200 recorded cashes, complemented by substantial online scores.
His career-defining milestone arrived at the 50th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP 2019) in Las Vegas, where he conquered a massive 2,800-entry field in Event #84: $1,500 The Closer to capture the gold bracelet along with a career-best $565,346.
Iyer's resume features deep runs across the world's most prestigious poker stages:
60th place in the 2021 WSOP $10,000 Main Event World Championship out of 6,650 entries for $113,800.
1st place in the 2019 APT Ho Chi Minh Main Event for $98,055.
3rd place in the 2023 Venetian DeepStack $1,600 NLH for $67,574.
7th place in the 2022 WSOP $800 Deepstack (Event #25) for $56,388.
2nd place in the 2024 USOP Taiwan High Roller: Double Stack for $44,689 (NT$ 1,411,000).
3rd place in the 2024 USOP Hai Phong Superstar Challenge for $39,291 (₫965,000,000).
Major Tournament Results
Year | Event | Place | Prize(USD/Local) |
|---|---|---|---|
2024 | USOP Taiwan (Taipei) – NT$ 70,000 High Roller: Double Stack | 2nd | $44,689 (NT$ 1,411,000) |
2024 | USOP Hai Phong – ₫120,000,000 Superstar Challenge | 3rd | $39,291 (₫965,000,000) |
2024 | USOP Da Nang Part 1 - Super High Roller | 4th | $49,415 (₫ 1,223,900,000) |
2023 | Venetian $1,600 Deepstack Championship | 3rd | $67,574 |
2022 | WSOP Vegas $800 NLH Deepstack | 7th | $56,388 |
2021 | WSOP Vegas NLH Main Event | 60th | $113,800 |
2019 | WSOP Vegas $1,500 Closer Event | 1st | $565,346 |
2019 | APT Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Main Event | 1st | $98,055 (₫2,269,000,000) |
Biography & Poker Background
Abhinav Iyer discovered poker in college and initially cut his teeth in the competitive Indian online tournament ecosystem.
Australia holds a pivotal place in Iyer’s poker career—serving as both his foundational training ground during his early days and a stop on his international tournament tours.
Transitioning into the live arena, 2019 proved to be his breakthrough year:
In January 2019, he captured the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Vietnam Main Event in Ho Chi Minh City for nearly $100K.
That summer, he traveled to Las Vegas and took down The Closer (Event #84) at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, outlasting 2,800 entries to win India's first individual live WSOP bracelet and $565,346.
Since his historic bracelet win, Iyer has maintained a regular presence on the international tournament circuit, dividing his time between the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, major European stops like EPT Paris, and premier Asian festival stops including the APT, WPT Prime, and U Series of Poker (USOP) across Taiwan, Vietnam, and South Korea.
Play Style & Strategy
Iyer’s strategic framework is built on adaptive stack preservation and disciplined deepstack ICM play:
Freezeout & Large-Field Navigation: Exceptional patience and risk mitigation in multi-thousand entrant fields, prioritizing equity realization over high-variance coin-flips.
Short-Handed Aggression: Proven high-stakes proficiency in 6-max and 8-max championship fields (e.g., deep runs in the WSOP $10K 6-Max and $5K 8-Max), leveraging positional ranges and aggressive flop c-betting.
High-Roller Acclimation: Consistently adapts between soft, recreational multi-flight fields and elite, reg-heavy high-roller events like the USOP Superstar Challenge.
Social Media & Online Presence
You can follow Abhinav Iyer on these platforms :
Instagram
Global Poker Index(GPI)
The Hendon Mob
WSOP
