It was the year 2020, and by now India already had three WSOP bracelets to its credit, earned in three consecutive years. As the world went under lockdowns caused by COVID-19, it disrupted the normal flow of events across sectors including poker.
Nonetheless, Indian poker pro Kartik Ved made sure to keep India’s streak of claiming WSOP bracelets alive by clinching another one for the country at WSOP Online 2020. It was the night of August 17, 2020, when Kartik etched his name in history as India’s first online WSOP bracelet winner, thus establishing the country’s poker prowess on live as well as virtual felts.
His bracelet came in Event #64 ($840 Turbo Bounty NLHE) of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online. Ved, who played the event with the username “Mandovi”, captured his first-ever and the country’s fourth WSOP gold bracelet in just over six hours of gameplay. If we include Nipun Java in the list of Indian bracelet winners, it was India’s fifth bracelet win at the WSOP.
The Pune-based player topped the 2,207-player entry field to bag a paycheque of $131,461 for his win. Besides, he also added his own progressive bounty of $102,972 to his bag, thus taking home a total prize of $234,433.
WSOP Online Event #64: $840 Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold’em Final Table
Interestingly, when the final table of Event #64 ($840 Turbo Bounty NLHE) of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online began, Kartik Ved was the smallest stack. The eight-handed table had Kartik sitting with the least number of chips, just 3.5 big blinds to be precise of the eight players. However, within just over an hour Ved consistently and gradually built his stack, watching the other players on the table depart one after the other. Finally, he beat Russia’s Konstantin Maslak aka ‘makRUSgreaga’ in the heads-up to claim the fourth gold for the country.
The shortest stack at the beginning of the final table, Ved began the heads-up with a 6-1 lead over Maslak. Nonetheless, it was a swingy heads-up that saw the chips on the tables switch sides. In the first 30 minutes of heads-up play, Maslak managed to double up a couple of times which eventually put him in the driver’s seat at one point.
The Indian pro bounced back from the deficit to reclaim his dominance and did not look back until he had swept away all the chips from Maslak. The Russian player was down to just about 11 big blind stacks when he moved all in for 17,097,520 from the button holding Kh 6c. The massively stacked Ved called with Jh 8h.
The dry flop of Tc 5d 5c was inconsequential. However, the Jd on the turn gave Kartik a top pair. By now Malask was praying for a king to fall on the river, but the Poker Gods refused to favor him, as the river showed Td. And with that Ved successfully eliminated him to win the bracelet and claim the top spot. Interestingly, the event also marked Kartik’s first WSOP cash of that season.
Post that, Kartik has yet to claim a title, however, he has had multiple cashes over the years. His most recent cash was his 58th place finish at Event #26 No Limit Hold’em – Mystery Bounty at the European Poker Tour – EPT Paris, Paris in February 2024.
In his almost decade-long poker career, Kartik has accumulated a total of $1,272,392 in live tournament winnings, ranking him 7th on India’s All-time money list. The biggest cash of his career came from his third-place finish at Event #66 Mini Main Event at the 53rd World Series of Poker in 2022, wherein he grabbed his career best of $275,593.
The WSOP bracelet is undoubtedly the most precious achievement in Kartik’s long list of accolades. The pro player has since then continued to shine bright and make his presence felt across the online and live poker felts.
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