National Poker Series Shows Poker Is A Game Of Skill

Shagun Jain from Jaipur, claimed the top spot on the NPS podium with four gold and two silver medals.

Golden Rush winners - Medal Ceremony

Courtesy - PokerBaazi

Indians have a newfound love for Poker. In the last few years, the game has recorded a huge spike in the interest level for the game and platforms have witnessed an ensuing growth in its audience.

Spaces like PokerBaazi.com have further facilitated the establishment of a growing community of professional and amateur Poker players in the country. With minimal buy-in tournaments, PokerBaazi.com has put the remotest corners of the country on the map for Poker enthusiasts, giving the game a much-needed boost.

Not only have they helped build a community of Poker players, but they have also busted a few misconceptions in this process. They have set the record straight on everything from de-mystifying the idea of Poker to demonstrating that it is a game of skill. They have highlighted how experience, and basic mathematical analysis are major pre-requisites for excelling the game. These traits are best demonstrated in Poker Championships.

India’s most notable poker series - National Poker Series India (NPS) 2022 saw nail-biting match-ups between the top poker players of India. The series which concluded in style with the final three tables at Majestic Pride, Goa saw Shagun Jain emerge as the ultimate poker champion of the year.

Hailing from Jaipur, Rajasthan, Shagun claimed the top spot on the NPS podium (Medal leaderboard) with four gold medals and two silver medals (50 Points) and won a package worth Rs. 10 Lac. While Rohit Begwani from Churu, Rajasthan ended in the second position with four gold medals (40 Points) and a package worth Rs. 7.5 Lac. The third spot on the podium was taken by Dhaval Doshi from Mumbai with 1 gold and 3 silver medals (25 points) and has received a package worth Rs. 2.5 Lac. All the three podium finishers will be heading to Las Vegas to represent India on the largest stage of Poker in the world.

The final tables on the other hand, saw top Indian players battling it out for glory. The first final table was NPS Super High Roller. The table was won by Kartik Ved from Goa who clinched gold, Vipin Pantola from Haldwani, Uttarakhand clinched silver while the third place and bronze medal went to Gokul Raj from Goa. They took home Rs 22.09 Lac, Rs. 15.50 Lac and Rs. 9.97 Lac, respectively as prize money.

The second final table was the “NPS Main Event” which again saw Goa claiming top spot with Chirag Sodha (Rs. 44.84 Lac) clinching gold, the surprise came in the second spot with Riteish Kumar (Rs. 39.34 Lac) from the small town of Gumla in Jharkhand clinching silver while the third spot and the bronze medal went to Ashutosh Balodhi (Rs. 20.90 Lac) from Delhi.

On the final day of the event, it was time for the most loved event of the National Poker Series i.e., NPS Golden Rush. The event which had an Rs 550 buy-in and saw nearly 15,000 entries was won by Sankesh Kumar A Jain from Chennai (Rs. 9 Lac) taking home the gold medal, the silver medal was won by Arbaaz Ahmed (Rs. 7.01 Lac) from Bengaluru, Karnataka followed by the bronze medal to Dilip Kumar (Rs. 4.38 Lac) from Jalore, Rajasthan.

The top five states which registered the highest number of medals include Maharashtra (46 medals), New Delhi (36 medals), Rajasthan (35 medals), Uttar Pradesh (27 medals), and Haryana (21 medals). Over the course of NPS, 252 medals were awarded across 84 tournaments.