The India Poker Championship (IPC) kicks off its first edition of the 2016 season from 24-28 February at the Deltin Royale Poker Lounge in Panjim, Goa. With the official schedule now in place, players can look forward to yet another action packed series at India’s biggest poker event.
This February edition goes back to a 5-day format beginning from Wednesday and ending on Sunday. The recently concluded December edition, being the season-ender, was the longest in IPC history held over 8 days. The organisers have now reverted back to the regular schedule but there are quite a few changes as compared to the editions held in 2015. The first and most marked change is the absence of a couple of events. The Mega Satellite has typically been the opening event in past IPCs where players will try and win seat packages for the rest of the events in the schedule. This satellite is not a part of the upcoming schedule. The other notable absence is the 5k Warm Up which has traditionally been the first side event of the series. The February edition now opens with the 10k Kickoff, this time a one day event, unlike its multiple starting flight avatar in December. Thursday evening has the 15k Bounty tournament which is a very popular format with players where 5,000 from every buyin is the bounty amount one gets on knocking out an opponent. Both events mentioned will carry a minimum guaranteed prizepool of INR 10 lacs.
There are two big ticket tournaments in the schedule – the 60k Highroller and the 30k Big Game (Main Event). After the phenomenal success of their first ever Highroller event in August, the IPC decided to skip it in the October edition and doubled the buyin to 100k for its grand finale December edition. More than 100 players participated in this highest ever buyin event at the IPC in its 6 year history! So the Highroller makes it return and is expected to be a more regular part of the schedule going ahead. The Big Game is the highlight event of the series and a much sought after title among players attending the IPC. Another common thing between the two big tournaments is a 30 lac guarantee prizepool on each and both tournaments are 2 day events. The final event of the schedule is a 10k Turbo event which is expected to be a whole lot of action packed fun as it’s one final chance for players to score a title in this February edition.
2015 was a tremendous year for the IPC and their continued success through the season has drawn eyes from across the Asian region showcasing this brand and as a result the Indian poker market as a destination for tournament poker lovers across Asia. “2015 will be remembered as the year the poker boom started in India. We are proud and humbled by the love and support we received from the poker community and we hope to build on this in 2016!”, said Sameer Rattonsey, co-Founder of the IPC.
The year gone by, albeit a magnificent one for the IPC, is now done and dusted and all eyes will be on the IPC in 2016 too. In the meantime, here’s a look at the detailed schedule for IPC February.
