Match IPL concludes Season 3; Pune Kings emerge victorious

Raj Kundra-promoted Viaan Industries Limited and Switzerland-based International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) hosted the third edition of the Match Indian Poker League (Match IPL) tournament at a Mumbai studio on 23rd and 24th October.

The two-day event started with a glitzy Bollywood-style opening ceremony that saw performances by Sanjeeda Sheikh, Karishma Tanna and Shamita Shetty as well as guest appearance by actor R. Madhavan.

Nine city-based teams competed against one another in the Match Poker format of the two-day event for a total prize pool of Rs. 3.40 crores. At the end of the nine sessions, Pune Kings teams dislodged the first-day favourites Haryana Hawks to emerge at the top of the table.

The winning team Pune Kings, which was led by poker pro Gaurav Gala and featured players like Tanmay Bagga, Suchi Chamaria, Rubin Labroo, Akash Shekhar, Tanay Hargunaney and Akshay Nasa, received a cheque of Rs. 1.35 crores, while the Mumbai All Stars team finished at second place and received prize money of Rs. 90 lakhs.

The Bangalore Royals team finished at the third place taking home a prize of Rs. 65 lakhs while fourth-placed Delhi Aces received a prize cheque of Rs. 50 lakhs. Poker pro Eka Vedantham of the Jaipur Royals team received the ‘Player of the League Award’ for his exemplary performance.

The Pune Kings team which emerged victorious at Match IPL will now represent India at the Nation Cups that will be organised by the International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) in February 2019 in Ireland.

The first edition of Match IPL last year was won by the Harman Baweja-led Mumbai All Stars team, while PokerBaazi sponsored Haryana Hawks team won the second edition that was held earlier this year.