MUMBAI: GPL India has announced that PokerStars India (Sachiko Gaming Private Limited) will be their exclusive skill game partner for the country’s first long-run poker league, held over a two-month period.
Free online qualification for the 1st season of GPL India will be open from May through to the end of August directly on PokerStars India, where enthusiasts can compete for the chance to join one of GPL India’s six first-year teams.
GPL India’s six city-based teams will compete over a four week long ‘regular season’, with the top four scoring teams moving on to the GPL India finals to play for the title and 5 Platinum Passes – each valued at roughly Rs 2 million – to the PokerStars Championship in the Bahamas in January 2019, where the prize pool features Rs 650 million additional prize money.
GPL India teams will each be comprised of five players & led by one of GPL India’s superstar managers: Vikram Kumar – Manager of the Chennai Sharks; Muskan Sethi – #1 GPI-ranked female player in India and new Pokerstars India Team Pro member, who leads the Delhi Diehards; Abhishek Rathod – Pokerbaazi Pro, elite poker coach and manager of the Alphas; Kavinn Shah – the high stakes cash game boss and manager of the Mumbai Jetsetters; Aditya Agarwal – PokerStars’ first Indian Pro and Manager of the Kolkata Creators; and Vidwath Shetty – one of the hottest players in India right now and manager of the Bengaluru Hackers.
Two players from each city – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi – will qualify directly via PokerStars India, with the remaining three team members chosen by the team managers from a pool of qualifying Global Poker Index (GPI) ranked players during GPL India’s Draft Day – tentatively set for early to mid September 2018.
GPL India’s regular season will begin right after the draftees are announced, with all 6 teams competing against one another in the 6-Max and Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Poker variants online and live in GPL’s India Studio to decide weekly winners, based on their skills. The GPL India Finals are set to happen in November – a live-streamed, 2day finale for the game of skill that will see the leagues top 4 scoring teams compete to decide who will be GPL India’s first National Champions.
In December 2017, Mediarex confirmed a multi-year strategic partnership with Kwan Entertainment, to bring the Global Player League to India, in a move that would give poker enthusiasts an avenue to experience – and potentially participate in – the GPL’s innovative take on the modern sports/esports league concept.
