The second edition of the WPT India tournament has come to a close and has turned out to be a great success for the WPT and Indian poker players. The tournament which took place on board the Deltin Royale in Goa was well attended as poker players from all over the country showed up to take a crack at the massive pool of guaranteed prize money.
There were a number of exciting events scheduled at WPT India but the highlight was the Main Event as 697 players registered and paid a buy-in of 55,000 rupees. The player turnout was impressive as all of India’s top poker pros showed up in strength to make the Main Event very competitive and interesting.
In the end it was Nikunj Jhunjhunwala who was able to keep calm under pressure and come up with a winning strategy that helped him defeat Sahil Mahboobani and finish in first place. He received a seven figure pay out (₹6,635,000) which was his biggest cashout till date while Mahboobani took home ₹4,653,000 for his second place finish.
Prior to the WPT India Main Event victory, Jhunjhunwala’s biggest cashout was a win in 2015 when he took down a High Roller event and a Main Event in a 72 hour period that allowed him to take home close to ₹3,000,000.
Jhunjhunwala’s Experience Pays Off
This victory was especially sweet for Jhunjhunwala because he entered the final table with the second lowest amount of chips and really had to work his way to the top with patience and a solid game plan. He had some tough competition facing the likes of Amit Jain who is a brand ambassador for Adda52.com. Jain was eliminated in seventh place and that gave Jhunjhunwala a lot of confidence as the two have played a lot together and he knew that the final table would be a lot easier with Jain gone.
Jhunjhunwala admits that when it came down to him and Mahboobani, he was very confident that he could take down the Main Event as Mahboobani played more online poker than live poker and that gave him the edge.
In a statement, Jhunjhunwala said
Coming here, I had this prop bet with my friend that I was either going to final table the Main Event or the High Roller. So now that it's all happened, it’s just starting to sink in
