India Online Poker Championship (IOPC), one of India’s most prestigious online poker tournament series is known for getting bigger and bolder with every successive edition. With the increasing series guarantee, the Main Event of every edition also keeps getting bigger and better, both in terms of participation and the guarantee of course.
And with that, the top prize of the Main Event winners has also increased over the years. So let’s have a look at the previous IOPC Main Event winners list, who will inspire you to ace your poker game and to be one of the champions who shine bright in the IOPC Hall Of Fame.
Edition | Name of the winner | GTD | Entries | Prize money won |
July 2016 | Abhishek Jalan | ₹3.78 Lakh | ||
January 2017 | Nitin Jain | ₹7.3 Lakh | ||
July 2017 | Rajesh Mahapatra | ₹12.04 Lakh | ||
January 2018 | Yash Brijwasi | ₹1.5 Crore | 1,470 | ₹37.5 Lakh |
July 2018 | Sangeeth Mohan | ₹1 Crore | 1,011 | ₹19.28 Lakh |
January 2019 | Ashish Munot | ₹1.5 Crore | 1,354 | ₹37.50 Lakh |
July 2019 | Srihari Bang | ₹2 Crore | 2,842 | ₹48.56 Lakh |
January 2020 | Anurag Srivastava | ₹3 Crore | 3,490 | ₹59.33 Lakh |
July 2020 | Harshit Sanghi | ₹3 Crore | 4,081 | ₹47.33 Lakh |
January 2021 | Laksh Pal Singh | ₹3.5 Crore | 3,985 | ₹51.8 Lakh |
July 2021 | Vaibhav Temani | ₹3.5 Crore | 3,758 | ₹57.26 Lakh |
January 2022 | Amit Gehani | ₹3.5 Crore | 3,938 | ₹56.40 Lakh |
June 2022 | Saurabh Rohila | ₹4 Crore | 4,721 | ₹53.78 Lakh |
January 2023 | Aditya Agarwal | ₹5 Crore | 5,030 | ₹57.73 Lakh |
June 2023 | Utkarsh Vaish | ₹5 Crore | TBU | ₹56.20 Lakh |
Abhishek Jalan aka ‘Abhishekj’ was the first-ever IOPC Main Event crusher, who took down the title at a young age of 21-years. He opted for a heads-up deal with Keshav Chadha and walked away with ₹3.78 Lakh. This Varanasi-based player is one of the first mascots of the IOPC series. Know more about Jalan and his victory here.
Sometime in March 2021, the entire Indian poker industry was talking about a boxing match between poker pro Aditya Agarwal and Nitin Jain aka ‘DarkWorld.’ The latter is the IOPC January 2017 Main Event crusher who pocketed ₹7,30,000 in prize money.
The IOPC July 2017 Main Event title was claimed by Rajesh Mahapatra, who cashed a top prize of ₹12.04 Lakh.
Yash Brijwasi aka ‘kajuman’ shipped the fourth edition of IOPC in January 2018. He clinched the title and took a lion’s share (₹37.5 Lakh) share of ₹1.5 Crore prize pool. He defeated the ‘bulldog’ in the heads-up apart from emerging on top of the 1,470 entries at this event. Read all that you need to know about Brijawasi’s victory here.
Sangeeth Mohan aka ‘Nangaanaach,’ one of the most respected players in the Indian poker circuit took down the IOPC July 2018 Main Event and bagged prize money worth ₹19.29 Lakh. Sangeeth Mohan spoke to us about his victory and said, “I only played the Main Event that year because I was playing cash online and I had screen space open for one more table. I decide to autopilot it on the side while I was playing cash. In a few hours, my cash tables broke and I realized I was deep in the tournament and focused on it only after that.” Mohan beat mystery player ‘JaiBalaji’ in the heads-up after overcoming a 1,011 entry-field at the ₹1 Crore GTD event.
Ashish Munot aka ‘Donkey 07’ won the IOPC January 2019 Main Event title after beating Ram Kakkar in heads-up, and took home ₹37,50,000 for his efforts. The total 1,354 entries at these event generated a final prize pool of ₹1.5 Crore GTD. Want to know more about this champion? Click here.
At the age of 20 years, Srihari Bang aka ‘banbang99’ became the cynosure of attention when he won the IOPC July 2019 Millionaire Main Event. Taking home He took home ₹48.56 Lakh, he became the youngest player to win an IOPC Main Event. “IOPC has been uplifting and setting new high standards for the Indian poker every year. Always excited to be a part of this,” he said about his victory.
After overpowering a field of 2,842-entries, and finally beat Goonjan Mall aka ‘gmtesting’ in heads-upto claim the title. The event saw the advertised guarantee of ₹2 Crore being surpassed as the final prize pool stood at ₹2,93,80,000. Read more about Bang’s victory here.
Anurag Srivastava aka ‘Norman Bates’ won the IOPC Millionaire Main Event after emerging on top of the total 3,490 entries. In the heads-up he beat Wilson Yomso aka ‘PokerBadger’ to claim the ultimate title for a top prize of ₹59 Lakh. Talking about his victory, Srivastava says, “IOPC January 2020 was a great experience for me, it was also a very good start for the year. Hope to have a good IOPC in January 2021 also. The previous IOPC had a bunch of good value tournaments.”
The event surpassed its advertised guarantee of ₹3 Crore and recorded ₹3.49 Crore as the final prize pool, thanks to the 3,490 entries. Want to know more about Srivastava and his Main Event victory click here.
On the same day, Srivastava also took down another title on Adda52, APOS Millions.
Harshit Sanghi aka ‘HeroCaller’ won IOPC July 2020 Main Event after he struck a deal with Kunal Bhatia aka ‘Alex52’ in the second place and Sumit Sapra aka ‘Sands Myth’ at the third spot. Sanghi took home a whopping ₹47.33 Lakh. The Main Event of this edition had a total entry-field of 4,081 entries, who helped crush the initial guarantee of ₹3 Crore and record a final prize pool of ₹4.08 Crores. You can know all about Sanghi and his victory here.
Laksh Pal Singh aka ‘LuckyBhai$’ ruled the virtual felts of Spartan Poker when he shipped the IOPC January 2021 Main Event after beating Avijit Jaiswal heads-up and crushed the title for a prize of ₹51.8 Lakhs. He overcame a entry-field of 4,000 to emerge victorious. The event had an advertised guarantee of ₹3.5 Crore to record a final prize pool of ₹3.98 Crore. Know more about Singh and his IOPC title here.
Vaibhav Temani aka ‘AllinPavBhaji’made headlines in the July of 2021 after he beat one of India’s top pros Aditya Agarwal in the heads-up to nail The Crown Main Event. He pocketed a gigantic prize money of ₹57,26,064, a gold badge, a diamond badge, and a coveted diamond studded 18K gold crown and the ultimate title, while Agarwal settled for ₹33,20,756. The event saw participation from 3,758 to surpass the advertised guarantee of ₹3.5 Crore and recorded a final prize pool of ₹3.75 Crore. Know more about Temani and his win, click here.
Banker cum poker player Amit Gehani aka ‘Kavipri’ claimed the IOPC January 2022 title and pocketed a career-best ₹56,40,288. This Dubai-based player became a star overnight after he walked away with a diamond-studded 18K gold crown, beating a total of 3,938 entries across starting flights. The ₹3.5 Crore GTD of the event was surpassed to generate a final prize pool of ₹3,93,60,000. Gehani beat Ashish Munot, a well-known name in the Indian poker circuit to take home the crown. Munot cashed ₹34,59,744 for his runner-up finish. Read more about the IOPC January 2022 Main Event here.
The 13th edition of IOPC held in June 2022 was shipped by Saurabh Rohila. The Bengaluru-based player nailed the top spot for ₹53,77,936. He beat an entry-field of 4,721 entries across all starting flights. The event had an advertised guarantee of ₹4 Crore, which was crushed as the final prize pool of ₹4.72 Crore was recorded. Interestingly, the IIT Delhi graduate also recorded more than 20 cashes in the same edition of the IOPC. To know more about Rohila and his IOPC June 2022 Main Event victory click here.
Poker veteran made it to the list of IOPC Main Event winners after taking down the title at the IOPC January 2023 edition of the series. And mind you, his Main Event journey wasn’t an ordinary one. He carried four stacks with him to Day 2 of the event and cashed from three of them, and nailed The Crown with the remaining one. He struck a heads-up deal with Arsh Grover to take home the title, the diamond-studded gold crown and a pay cheque of ₹57,73,214. Grover took the runner-up spot for ₹48,35,055. It was an indeed special one for him as he finally got his hands on the crown after narrowly missing it to Vaibhav Temani during IOPC July 2021.
Utkarsh Vaish aka ‘kidpokerNJ’ took down the title after striking a heads-up deal with Goonjan Mall aka ‘PresentSIR’. Vaish claimed the title and pocketed a massive top prize of ₹56,20,217, along with a diamond-studded gold crown. Vaish snatched away the title from final table chip leader Mall, who added ₹44,49,782 to his bankroll. Mall brought two of his stacks to the final table and cashed at the eighth spot and second spot, respectively. Know more about Vaish’s victory here.
IOPC keeps getting bigger and better with every passing edition and promises to grow in the future too. To know more about the upcoming IOPC editions and timely updates, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram.
Amarylisa Gonsalves is a Content Writer at Gutshot Magazine. Advancing from a marketing background, she found her calling in writing. She takes delight in exploring genres and is a curious learner. Patient and ambivert, she believes in letting her work speak for itself. Apart from content writing, she finds solace in writing poetry by expressing herself through words. Additionally, she adores indulging in anything that satisfies her creative self, like drawing and DIY crafts.
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