WPT India Returns to Deltin Royale Casino Nov. 13-19
For the second year in a row, the World Poker Tour (WPT) will return to India to host what's touted as the biggest live poker tournament in India. Deltin Royale will once again provide a stellar stage as the tournament is held onboard a luxury ship docked in the bay of Goa.
WPT India debuted in November 2017 with the WPTDeepstacks Series hosted in Deltin Royale. The inaugural tournament was a resounding success with over 1,500 poker enthusiasts duking it out in eight events. For 2018, Deltin Royale once again partners up with Adda52.com and Delta Corporation to deliver another stellar tournament series in the vibrant seaside city.
India has slowly but surely become a force on the poker circuit in recent years, with familiar names like Vivek "Psyduck" Rajkumar, Aditya Agarwal, and Paawal Bansal making waves in the international circuit over the past years.
Nipun Java broke India's dry spell during the 2017 World Series of Poker and captured two WSOP-gold bracelets in one year; one with fellow Indian Aditya Sushant in the $1,000 Tag Team event, and a second one in the $1,000 WSOP.com Online event. Nikita Luther continued Tag Team glory this summer by conquering the same event with Giuseppe Pantaleo, winning $87,902 each.
2018 WPT India features INR55,000 Main Event, seven side events
The 2018 WPT India runs from November 13 through 19 and sports eight events on the schedule, ranging from INR7,000 (~$96) (all the way up to the INR100,000 (~$1,377) High Roller. There are seven side events scheduled in addition to the INR 55,000 Buy-in Main Event.
The INR55,000 (~$758) WPT India Main Event will kick off on Friday, November 16 with the first of three starting days. The four-day Main Event will crown its new champion on Monday, November 19. The winner will follow in the footsteps of Vikash Mantri, who defeated a field of 527 last year to crown himself the inaugural WPT India champion. Mantri received INR6,030,000 (~$92,539) on top of the bragging rights of being India's first WPT champion.
Manish Adnani, Business Head - Poker, Delta Corp, said the following: "WPT 2017 was a great start for the WPT Family in India with 527 entries in the Main Event with a INR 2.8 Crore [28 million] prize pool and INR 60 Lakh [6 million INR] for the winner. This was indeed a milestone for Indian Poker. This year looks more promising judging by the numbers that the DPT [Deltin Poker Tournament] July Main Event witnessed with 457 entries in the Main Event with a INR 1.59 Crore [15.9 million] prize pool. We should witness a 20% jump in the WPT November Main Event numbers which would be a very healthy turnout."
Follow WPT India live on PokerNews
For the first time ever, PokerNews will send a dedicated team to India to deliver live coverage out of the Deltin Royale casino in Goa. Follow along with PokerNews for all the live updates of the WPT India Main Event from November 16-19. In addition, PokerNews' dedicated India portal will deliver coverage on all side events as well.
2018 WPT India Schedule
| Date | Time (GMT+5:30) | Tournament | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 13 Nov | 5:00 p.m. | Kickoff NLH (2-day event) | INR20,000 |
| Wed 14 Nov | 4:00 p.m. | Superstack NLH (2-day event) | INR30,000 |
| Thu 15 Nov | 5:00 p.m. | Big Bounty NLH (2-day event) | INR25,000 |
| Fri 16 Nov | 3:00 p.m. | WPT India Main Event Day 1a | INR55,000 |
| Sat 17 Nov | 2:00 p.m. | WPT India Main Event Day 1b | INR55,000 |
| 7:00 p.m. | SHIP IT NLH | INR7,000 | |
| 9:30 p.m. | WPT India Main Event Day 1c | INR55,000 | |
| Sun 18 Nov | 2:00 p.m. | WPT India Main Event Day 2 | - |
| 2:00 p.m. | Shootout NLH Flight 1 | INR20,000 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | Shootout NLH Flight 2 | INR20,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | High Roller NLH | INR100,000 | |
| 9:00 p.m. | Shootout NLH Final (6-Max) | - | |
| Mon 19 Nov | 2:00 p.m. | WPT India Main Event Final Table | - |
| 3:00 p.m. | Megastack Turbo NLH | INR20,000 |
A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.
