Confirming earlier rumour and speculation GPL India announced this week that PokerStars India (Sachiko Gaming Private Limited) will be its exclusive skill game partner for the country’s first long-run poker league, held over a two month period.
Free online qualification for the first season of GPL India will be open from May through to the end of August directly on PokerStars India, where enthusiasts can compete in the ‘mind sport’ for the chance to join one of GPL India’s 6 first-year teams.
GPL India’s six city-based teams will compete over a 4 week long ‘regular season’, with the top 4 scoring teams moving on to the GPL India finals to play for the title and 5 Platinum Passes – each valued at roughly Rs. 20 Lac (US$ 30,000) – to the PokerStars Championship in the Bahamas in January 2019, where the prize pool features Rs. 65 crores additional prize money.
GPL India teams will each be comprised of 5 players led by one of GPL India’s superstar managers: Vikram Kumar – manager of the Chennai Sharks; Muskan Sethi – top GPI-ranked female player in India and new Pokerstars India Team Pro member, who leads the Delhi Diehards; Abhishek Rathod – Pokerbaazi Pro, elite poker coach and manager of the Alphas; Kavinn Shah – high stakes cash game boss and manager of the Mumbai Jetsetters; Aditya Agarwal – PokerStars’ first Indian Pro and Manager of the Kolkata Creators; and Vidwath Shetty – one of the top players in India and manager of the Bengaluru Hackers.
Two players from each city – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi – will qualify directly via PokerStars India, with the remaining 3 team members chosen by the team managers from a pool of qualifying Global Poker Index (GPI) ranked players during GPL India’s Draft Day – tentatively set for early to mid September 2018.
GPL India’s regular season will begin right after the draftees are announced, with all 6 teams competing against one another in the 6-Max and Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Poker variants online and live in GPL’s India Studio to decide weekly winners, based on their skills.
The GPL India Finals are set to happen in November – a live-streamed, 2-day finale that will see the leagues top 4 scoring teams compete to decide who will be GPL India’s first National Champions.
In December 2017, Alex Dreyfus’ Mediarex confirmed a multi-year strategic partnership with Kwan Entertainment, to bring the Global Player League to India. The GPL is a competitive gaming, poker and eSports league with 30 teams all over the world.