PokerStars India Pro and the first sponsored female poker player in India - Muskan Sethi announced further details around the official launch of the Global Poker League India (GPL India). Launched in collaboration with PokerStars.IN, operated by Sachiko Gaming in India, GPL India will reveal landing pages that will allow players the first chance today to pre-register to participate.
GPL India features six region-specific teams, each with a team manager; for example, Muskan Sethi will captain the Delhi Diehards while Aditya Agarwal, another PokerStars.In pro will lead the Kolkata Creators. Each team will comprise two yet unnamed candidates selected by the team captain and two PokerStars.IN qualifiers.
GPL India will kick-off with weekly qualifiers on June 25 on PokerStars.IN. All six team rosters will be finalized by 9 September. From there teams will compete for the Season 1 Championship and the chance to win the hottest poker tickets in town, five Platinum Passes – worth a total of Rs. 20 lac Platinum – Rs. 1 crore to play in the PSPC, in the Bahamas in January 2019.
Commenting on the league, Muskan Sethi, said, “This is too exciting and I cannot wait for the GPL online qualifiers to begin on the PokerStars India website. GPL India is the first long run poker league in the country and the prize on the line is huge! It is important for any poker player to get the right platform to showcase his/her talent and PokerStars.IN and the GPL India rightly serves this purpose. I'd recommend everyone to check out GPL India's qualifier's schedule today and pre-register for the qualifier's for their home team. This is the only way players from India can win the chance to compete on the world stage at the PSPC in Bahamas, January 2019.”
Mr Ankur Dewani, CEO, Sachiko Gaming said, “GPL India is the world’s leading poker league format. We are excited to be a part of it and to host qualifiers on Pokerstars.IN. India is home to a growing number of poker aficionados and experts and it is our endeavour to present them with the right platform to help promote their skills and take it to a global level. The poker industry in India offers unparalleled experiences to the players who visit PokerStars.IN to be a part of GPL India.
The online qualifiers will run on PokerStars.IN for six weeks starting June 25, with each week based on GPL India’s six regional teams: the Kolkata Creators, Pune Alphas, Chennai Sharks, Delhi Diehards, Mumbai Jetsetters and Bengaluru Hackers.
Seven ‘Round 1’ MTT (multi-table tournament) satellites will run on Pokerstars.IN starting June 25 i.e. one each day from Monday – Sunday. The top ten finishers in each first round will qualify for the week’s Team Final. After the online qualification period, the top 10 finishers in each Team Final - 60 hopefuls in total - will then go on to participate in the GPL India Bootcamp, to be held on September 8, 2018 in Dehli.
The 60 GPL India Bootcamp hopefuls will undergo quickfire interviews to explain why they should join their respective teams as finalists. The judging panel for this interview will be a mixture of PokerStars India pro’s, GPL India managers and local celebrities. The finalists will then be randomly assigned to play in a Sit-and-Go with each table representing a regional GPL team. Each player’s starting stack will depend on how they scored in the panel interview, with the lowest starting stack being 1k and the largest 5k.
GPL India Online Qualifiers Schedule
June 25, 2018 – July 1, 2018 – Kolkata Creators Week – Online Qualifiers each day with Final Qualifier on July 1, 2018 : Team Manager – Aditya Agarwal
July 2, 2018 – July 8, 2018 – Pune Alphas Week - Online Qualifiers each day with Final Qualifier on July 8, 2018 : Team Manager – Abhishek Rathod
July 9, 2018 – July 15, 2018 – Chennai Sharks Week - Online Qualifiers each day with Final Qualifier on July 15, 2018 : Team Manager – Vikram Kumar
July 16, 2018 – July 22, 2018 – Delhi Diehards Week - Online Qualifiers each day with Final Qualifier on July 22, 2018 : Team Manager – Muskan Sethi
July 23, 2018 – July 29, 2018 – Mumbai Jetsetters Week - Online Qualifiers each day with Final Qualifier on July 29, 2018 : Team Manager – Kavin Shah
July 30, 2018 – August 5, 2018 – Bengaluru Hackers Week - Online Qualifiers each day with Final Qualifier on August 5, 2018 : Team Manager - Vidwath Shetty