New Delhi, Apr 22 (IANS): National Poker Series India (NPS) 2023 -- hosted on PokerBaazi -- witnessed an exhilarating finish to its third edition after a gruelling 18-days as three top poker talents of the country battled out to achieve glory and 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 broke previous records by registering more than a 25% increase in the total number of entries from 96,000 (in 2022) to over 1.25 lakh.
While the participants poured from across the country, players from Delhi registered secured a pole position with a total of 55 medals whereas Maharashtra secured the second spot with 51 medals. Uttar Pradesh acquired (45) and Haryana (32) held the third and fourth positions respectively which is a testament to the rise of the sport in more regions. Additionally, and quite notably, the National Poker Series India 2023 also witnessed a surge of 33% 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 18516 points, while Chirag Sodha of Goa came in second place with 18187 points, continuing to extend his winning run from the previous edition of the tournament. Additionally, the tournament witnessed significant participants from tier-two towns 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 by India's pride and boxing queen – Mary Kom.