Day 1: Aman “stardust” lifts first trophy; Vinayak Bajaj, Aman Parakh, Myron Pereira, Tarush Gupta, and Rishab Malik win events

Roaring opening day at APT Online Series India 2021 with players flooding online platform PokerBaazi.com for the first titles and trophy of the series. When the dust settled, the tally was 3,848 entries and IN₹ 93.79L across 6 completed tournaments. The first trophy was claimed by user name Aman “stardust” at the Sunday Major. Other champions were Vinayak “salmanbhai” Bajaj, Aman “KarmaPoker” Parakh, Myron “priyankAAchoprAA” Pereira, Tarush “Busterr” Gupta, and Rishab “ryuk” Malik. Check out the recaps down below. 

The APT Player of the Series race is officially underway. The player with the highest number of points accrued at the completion of the festival wins the APT POS Trophy, APT POS Ring, and a luxury watch. Top 25 players will also receive a piece of IN₹ 30 Lac in Real Cash Bonus (RCB) with the winner guaranteed IN₹ 6 Lac. Here are the top ten in points after Day 1:

 

Action continues with games running from August 1 to 8. The festival guarantees IN₹  8 Crore (~US$ 1,075,570) across 44 tournaments. Nine trophies and two rings still up for grabs. Full details can be found here and via the link provided.

APT Online Series India 2021 schedule

Event recaps

Trophy Event: Sunday Major – Aman “stardust” – IN₹ 7.77L (~US$ 10,483)

Magical day for player Aman “stardust” who outlasted the 488 entry field of the Sunday Major to claim the first APT Trophy of the series. Along with the prize was a sizeable IN₹ 7.77L payout. 

The Sunday Major was the most expensive opening day event coming in at a price tag of IN₹ 8,250. With 488 turning up, players were looking at a small overlay worth IN₹ 340K. The hunt for the trophy ran a fierce 9 hours and 42 minutes, making it the longest event of the day. 

Buy in: IN₹ 8,250 
Guarantee: IN₹ 40 Lac
Entries: 488 (255 uniques, 233 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 40L 
ITM: 63 places
Running time: 9 hours and 42 minutes

The final table took two hours to complete with Aman “stardust” leading the chase. First big showdown was a three-way with Ankit “d00mtr00p3r” Wadhawan railing player Megha “acessorted” Khandelwal in 8th place. For Khandelwal, it was another deep run having topped Mini Main Day 1A. Harsh Kumar “100crdream” Dembla was booted in 7th place by “stardust”. Overall it was a good day for Dembla who reached three final tables. As chips moved around the table, Gautam “M8a7” Rohilla climbed up top and added more to his arsenal by railing Arsh “Button_Hai_Bro” Grover and Amar “kidpoker0109” Mehta in separate hands.  

Down to four players, Rohilla lost the lead to “stardust” then quickly regained it by delivering a bad beat bust to Romit “tilt83” Advani with  A Q finding a queen on the board to deny A K. The next big showdown awarded “stardust” a massive double up when Rohilla tried to steal the pot by pushing on the turn  10 10 4 A 8 while holding Q 8 flush draw but he missed giving “stardust” the pot with 10 7 trips. Two hands later, Rohilla was eliminated with pocket Twos dominated by stardust’s pocket Fours. Prior to this cash, Rohilla also reached the final table of the Monster Stack event and bagged the second largest stack of Mini Main Day 1A. 

Heads up, “stardust” was ahead over 2:1 which widened to 3:1. Wadhawan doubled up twice to grab the lead, but it was short lived. “stardust” catapulted to the top with 2 10 two pair over 3 3 on a board  2 10 K 5 A. “stardust closed it out on the next hand with 8 10 full house beating Q 3 on a final board 5 8 10 8 3

Final table payouts

1st Aman “stardust” – IN₹ 7.77L
2nd Ankit “d00mtr00p3r” Wadhawan – IN₹ 5.45L
3rd Gautam “M8a7” Rohilla – IN₹ 3.5L
4th Romit “tilt83” Advani – IN₹ 2.59L
5th Amar “kidpoker0109” Mehta – IN₹ 1.94L
6th Arsh “Button_Hai_Bro” Grover – IN₹ 1.56L
7th Harsh Kumar “100crdream” Dembla – IN₹ 1.3L
8th Megha “acessorted” Khandelwal – IN₹ 1.04L

APT #1: Kickoff – VINAYAK “salmanbhai” BAJAJ – IN₹ 3.93L (~US$ 5,300)

The Kickoff event pulled in the biggest crowd with 709 entries (345 uniques, 364 re-entries) for a prize pool of IN₹ 21.27L. After a lengthy 9 hours and 20 minutes, Vinayak “salmanbhai” Bajaj shipped it for his first ever APT victory. He collected IN₹ 3.93L for his accomplishment. 

Buy in: IN₹ 3,300 
Guarantee: IN₹ 20 Lac 
Entries: 709 (345 uniques, 364 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 21.27 Lac 
ITM: 81 places
Running time: 9 hours and 20 minutes

Picking up the action at the final table, Vinayak “salmanbhai” Bajaj entered with a commanding stack that despite doubling up several short ones, he kept his lead intact. At four handed, Bajaj surged to over half the chips in play after railing Aman “KarmaPoker” Parakh. With a lot of help from the poker gods, Bajaj went on to clean out the next two players. Up against Aniket “Anteman” Waghmare, Bajaj pushed with  K J, Waghmare risked it all with 10 A, the board came 6 10 K K 4 for trips to Bajaj. It only took two more minutes to ship it with  Q 8 outdrawing “tiltonlytilt” K J on a board running 8 K 10 7 Q

Final table payouts

1st Vinayak “salmanbhai” Bajaj – IN₹ 3.93L 
2nd “tiltonlytilt” – IN₹ 2.75L 
3rd Aniket “Anteman” Waghmare – IN₹ 1.78L 
4th Aman “KarmaPoker” Parakh – IN₹ 1.31L –
5th Harsh Kumar “100crdream” Dembla – IN₹ 98.27K
6th Myron “priyankAAchoprAA” Pereira – IN₹ 79.34K
7th Avadh “Sting240” Shah – IN₹ 65.72K
8th pablo_escobar – IN₹ 52.32K

APT #2: Monster Stack – Aman “KarmaPoker” Parakh – IN₹ 1.81L (~US$ 2,440)

After a three way deal, Aman “KarmaPoker” Parakh went on to take down the APT #2: Monster Stack for a cool IN₹ 1.81L payout. In addition to this win, Parakh also reached two other final tables, finishing 4th at the Kickoff and 7th at the Megastack. 

Buy in: IN₹ 2,200
Guarantee: IN₹ 10 Lac 
Entries: 516 (275 uniques, 241 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 10.32 Lac
ITM: 63 places
Running time: 6 hours and 51 minutes

The final table ran a fast 32 minutes with plenty of firing action leading up to the win. Gautam “M8a7” Rohilla railed Nawneet “nawchunu2089” Thakur with a higher flush, “VanlalNEIGH” bad beat bust Rony “bisadip176” Chowdhury when his pocket eights improved to a set to dust pocket nines, and Vinod “figureitout” Megalmani denied Rohilla with ladies prevailing over A-10 suited clubs. In back to back shoves, Parakh doubled up off Megalmani then finished him off in 4th place. Parakh proceeded to rail “VanlalNEIGH” in 3rd place to face Prabhat “comeon” Kumar at heads up. After four hands, they opted to deal. Parakh went on to win it with J 10 full house over 8 A on a final board  9 J 9 J Q (hand pictured above). 

Final table payouts

1st Aman “KarmaPoker” Parakh – IN₹ 1.81L (deal)
2nd Prabhat “comeon” Kumar – IN₹ 1.61 L (deal)
3rd “VanlalNEIGH” – IN₹ 90.4K
4th Vinod “figureitout” Megalmani – IN₹ 66.87K
5th Gautam “M8a7” Rohilla – IN₹ 50.16K
6th Rony “bisadip176” Chowdhury – IN₹ 40.25K
7th Nawneet “nawchunu2089” Thakur – IN₹ 33.54K

APT #3: 6-Max Turbo – Myron “priyankAAchoprAA” Pereira – IN₹ 1.09L (~US$ 1,470)

Myron “priyankAAchoprAA” Pereira turned his third bullet into a win at the 6-Max Turbo event after overcoming the relentless Anurag “13anurag” Srivastava who came back from just 5bb to chip leader at three handed. Just before heads up, Srivastava lost a big pot to Pereira and made up for some of it by booting  “jpyadav” in 3rd place. Entering heads up, Pereira had an 8 bb lead which he never relinquished. Two minutes in, the final hand was tabled. Pereira all in with Q Q, Srivastava A 8, board ran 4 10 6 9 K. For his victory, Pereira scooped up the IN₹ 1.09L (~US$ 2,180) first prize. He also placed 6th at the Kickoff event for an added  IN₹ 79.34K. On a side note, Chirag “miyagi” Sodha turned a profit despite buying in a shocking nine times. Sodha finished 4th for IN₹ 36.42K. 

Buy in: IN₹ 1,100
Guarantee: IN₹ 5 Lac 
Entries: 562 (296 uniques, 266 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 5.62 Lac
ITM: 63 places
Running time: 5 hours and 29 minutes

Final table payouts

1st Myron “priyankAAchoprAA” Pereira – IN₹ 1.09L
2nd Anurag “13anurag” Srivastava – IN₹ 76.54K
3rd “jpyadav” – IN₹ 49.32K
4th Chirag “miyagi” Sodha – IN₹ 36.42K
5th Armaan “Armaan007” Kochhar – IN₹ 27.31K
6th Ashish “Notoriouskonvict” Nailwal – IN₹ 21.92K

APT #6: Megastack – Tarush “Busterr” Gupta – IN₹ 1.6L (~US$ 2,156)

Another long running event with the Megastack clocking at 8 hours and 16 minutes. In the aftermath, the last three players opted on a deal with chip leader Tarush “Busterr” Gupta earning the biggest cut worth IN₹ 1.6L and eventually the win. 


Buy in: IN₹ 1,650
Guarantee: IN₹ 10 Lac
Entries: 696 (353 uniques, 343 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 10.44L 
ITM: 81 places
Running time: 8 hours and 16 minutes

The Megastack attracted 353 players with 343 re-entering for 696 total entries and a prize pool of IN₹ 10.44L. Gupta carried in the biggest stack to the final table and dominated in chips until “LuckyLuke” landed a double up at heads up with 3 7 straight bad beating Gupta’s Q Q on a board 2 4 5 6 K with the shoves seen at the flop. “LuckyLuke” widened to a 5:1 advantage but lost it on a double up to Gupta who used the chips to muscle back to command. From there, Gupta shipped it holding 7 A against 8 Q on a dry board (hand pictured above).

Final table payouts

1st Tarush “Busterr” Gupta – IN₹ 1.6L (deal)
2nd “LuckyLuke” – IN₹ 1.51L (deal)
3rd “silentkid” – IN₹ 1.04L (deal)
4th Harsh Kumar “100crdream” Dembla – IN₹ 64.41K
5th Anhishek “abhiom” Chhajer – IN₹ 48.23K
6th “donkabomber2” – IN₹ 38.94K
7th Aman “KarmaPoker” Parakh – IN₹ 32.26K
8th “Mkaaa” – IN₹ 25.68K

APT #7: 6-Max Turbo – Rishab “ryuk” Malik – IN₹ 1.07L (~US$ 1,442)

The last event of the day was another 6-Max Turbo that offered a IN₹ 5 Lac guarantee for just IN₹ 770 buy in. 471 turned up with 406 re-entering for a huge 877 total entries and a prize pool of IN₹ 6.14 Lac. Out of the 108 places paid, it was Rishab “ryuk” Malik pocketing the lion’s share IN₹ 1.07L for his triumph. Malik railed three players at the final table then faced BhanuPrakash “Chennano1” KC at heads up. KC doubled up twice to take a slight lead but it didn’t last. Malik regained control and soon closed it out with 9 8 rivering a higher pair to beat 7 7 on a board 5 Q 10 Q 9



Buy in: IN₹ 770 
Guarantee: IN₹ 5 Lac 
Entries: 877 (471 uniques, 406 re-entries)
Prize pool: IN₹ 6.14 Lac 
ITM: 108 places
Running time: 6 hours and 5 minutes

Final table payouts

1st Rishab “ryuk” Malik – IN₹ 1.07L 
2nd Bhanu “Chennano1” Prakash KC – IN₹ 75.26K
3rd Aditya “KesarDa” Kesharwani – IN₹ 48.68K
4th Siddharth “Siddonuts” Pandey – IN₹ 35.97K
5th Chirag “miyagi” Sodha – IN₹ 26.89K
6th “rv1911” – IN₹ 21.73K