NEW DELHI: National Poker Series India (NPS) 2023 – hosted on PokerBaazi – witnessed an exhilarating finish to its 3rd edition after a gruelling 18 days as three top poker talents of the country battled it out for a ticket to Las Vegas to represent India on the global stage.
Outpacing intense competition, Vikram Mishra from Darbhanga, Bihar emerged victorious with a total tally of three gold medals and two silver medals (medal leaderboard) registering 40 points. The finish for a podium spot heated up as Anirban Das from Haryana pipped Uttar Pradesh’s Abdul Aziz Ansari for the second spot after both players registered a tally of three golds and a silver medal but were separated from the number of hands played between them.
In a total of 107 tournaments to participate in, the 2023 edition registered a more than 25% increase in the total number of entries, from 96,000 in 2022 to over 1.25 lacs.
Players from Delhi registered secured a pole position with a total of 55 medals, with Maharashtra coming in second with 51 medals. Uttar Pradesh, with 45 and Haryana with 32 held the third and fourth positions respectively. Notably, the National Poker Series India 2023 also witnessed a 33% rise in the number of female players on the roster.
On the National Poker Series India Leaderboard, Avneesh Munjal of Gurgaon took the top spot with 18,516 points, while Chirag Sodha of Goa came in second with 18,187 points, continuing to extend his winning run from the previous edition of the tournament. Additionally, the tournament witnessed significant participants from tier-two cities such as Kolhapur, Nautanwa, Jabalpur, Chattisgarh, Ranchi, Darbhanga, Katihar and Chamba, among many others, who made their mark on daily tournaments by registering medals to their names.
Over the course of National Poker Series 2023, 324 medals were awarded across 107 tournaments and the tournament’s podium. To celebrate the success of the coveted tournament and its players, the National Poker Series India Awards Night will be held in Delhi on 6th May where the winners will be felicitated.
