Poker has received another boost as the World Poker Tour is set to feature in the country for the very first time.
WPT India is slated to make its debut this November 7 and the highlighting event of the series will be the ₹55,000 Main Event. The series will be hosted on board the biggest floating casino of India i.e. Deltin Royale in Goa.
WPT events are meant to be accessible, yet still profitable enough to draw the top poker players of the industry. WPT has additionally announced the first-ever WPT India Player of the Year (POY) Award. The POY leaderboard points will depend on the standings from Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) July, DPT September, WPT India and DPT tournaments in 2018 scheduled prior to the season ending WPT Tournament of Champions.
The top ranker of the WPT India POY race will earn a $5,000 buy-in credit for WPT events and designated Deltin events for Season XVII of WPT. Leaderboard scoring will be judged on basis of finishing position, buy-in and number of entries in the event.
Here is a list of the events on offer:
| Date | Tournament | Buy-in |
| November 7 | 20K Kick-Off NLH | ₹20,000 |
| November 8 | Superstack NLH | ₹30,000 |
| November 9 | High Roller | ₹100,000 |
| November 10 | WPT Main Event India Day 1A | ₹55,000 |
| November 11 | WPT Main Event India Day 1B | ₹55,000 |
| Ship It NLH | ₹7,000 | |
| November 12 | WPT Main Event India Day 2 | |
| PLO | ₹20,000 | |
| Bounty NLH | ₹25,000 | |
| November 13 | WPT Main Event Final Table | |
| Deep Turbo NLH | ₹20,000 |
Prominent poker pro Kunal Patni has been on a hot streak of late. Just last week, Patni finished second place in the WPTDeepStacks Berlin Main Event for $115,368.
The New Year is well and truly on its way with the WPTDeepStacks in Berlin, and followers of poker in India will be glad to know that notable pro Kunal Patni has made it to the final day of the Main Event.
The 28th edition of the Macau Poker Cup is presently underway, and Indian competitors have already made headway at the City of Dreams.
