This week’s poker news features a number of headlines from around the world. From big wins in Los Angeles to Sochi, to PokerStars’ expansion into India, here is a look at the major news in the poker world from this past week.
Engel Collects His First Six-Figure Win Of 2018
Alan “Ari” Engel, a favorite on the poker circuit, has picked up his first six-figure win of 2018. The big victory came at the No-Limit Hold’em Mega Millions XVIII Quantum Reload event in Los Angeles. The Canadian took home $315,142 for his efforts while China’s Min Zhang was next with $178,565. A trio of Americans rounded out the top five as David Marshall was in third place with $116,350, Pat Lyons won $90,080 and then Igor Zekster finished with $68,585.
Engel won out over a field of 6,087 in a unique tournament that allowed players to buy in directly into the second day for $4,300. That was a steep price to pay compared to the $160 for players who bought in on Day 1.
It was Engel’s first six-figure win since he took home first place and $162,154 at the HPT Championship Open in December but neither of these wins was a personal best for him. His high-water mark is a $1,120,110 payday for first place at the 2016 Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne. Engel has now won around $5.8 million at live tournaments in his career.
Karmatchkii Wins EPT Sochi Main Event
The first European Poker Tour Sochi Main Event has been won by Russia’s Arsenii Karmatckii, who also claimed his biggest payday to date. Karmatckii won $478,451 on a leaderboard that was dominated by Russians as he was followed by Viktor Shegay, who took home $290,225, and Ernest Shakarian, who won $204,840. Armenia’s Vahe Martirosyan was in fourth place with $153,630, while Russia’s Mikhail Kovalyuk rounded out the top five with $121,335.
It was Karmatckii’s first six-figure win since he won the partypoker German Poker Championships in August 2017 when he took home $217,238. This win now brings his career total to $825,493 for live tournaments, which is pretty good when you factor in that his first win didn’t come until March 2014. This was just another day in a big week for Karmatckii, who got married just a few days later. Along with the win, Karmatckii earned a PokerStars Platinum Pass, which also gets him a spot into the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship. That event will take place in the Bahamas in 2019.
PokerStars Launches In India
PokerStars has finally expanded to India, which they are hoping proves to be one of their bigger markets in the future. This is a massive pull for PokerStars, who are owned by Canadian-based The Stars Group. Poker is becoming more and more popular in India and when you factor that along with the fact that it’s the second-largest country in the world in terms of population (behind China), this should be a big win for PokerStars. The operations will be run by Sachiko Gaming, which is the biggest lottery operator in the country, but marketing will be done by PokerStars.