After Indian pros Aditya Sushant and Nipun opened the Indian account of bracelets at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2017, there was no stopping for the Indian contingent. After the duo won the first-ever WSOP bracelet for India in 2017, the very next year, in 2018, it was poker queen Nikita Luther, who earned the second bracelet for the country.
At the 2019 WSOP, it was another Indian who made headlines. This time, it was Mumbai pro Abhinav Iyer. While the first two WSOP bracelets for India came from the tag team event, which had a team of two players, Iyer claimed his bracelet in an individual event. This made him go down in history as the first-ever solo WSOP bracelet winner from India.
ALSO Read: FLASHBACK FRIDAY: REFLECTING ON INDIA’S SECOND WSOP BRACELET WIN
ALSO Check: FLASHBACK – REFLECTING ON INDIA’S FIRST WSOP BRACELET WIN
A Little About Abhinav Iyer’s Poker Journey
Talking of the Mumbai-based pro’s early poker days, he started playing poker during his college days in Chennai. He later moved to Australia to pursue his post-graduation degree wherein he became a regular at the Crown Casino regularly. It was then that he gradually increased his stakes.
By the end of 2018, Iyer was reportedly on a downswing, however, he started 2019 with a bang by emerging victorious at the APT Vietnam Main Event in January pocketing an impressive ₹69.51 Lakhs. Fortunately, his form continued at the WSOP series in Las Vegas too.
Notably, the 2019 WSOP also witnessed the biggest-ever contingent of Indian poker players to be a part of a WSOP series. He was among the first players to arrive for WSOP in Las Vegas that year, and played the entire month and a half long schedule. In total, he cashed at eight events including his bracelet victory, and collected a total of ₹4.03 Crores in winnings that year.
In an interview, he said, “2019, luckily for me, started really well. I managed to win the first live tournament I played, which was in Vietnam. It was a big boost for me because I had a long year planned ahead. I had planned to go to the Aussie Millions. I wanted to go to the WSOP again since I did not have a great series in 2018.”
Coming to his 2019 WSOP experience, Iyer said, “I planned my whole schedule. I played a lot more events than I was supposed to play. I did so because somewhere or the other, I kept busting or fired an extra bullet. Vegas is like a candy shop, as a lot of poker players will say. There are just multiple tournaments available to play every day. You just keep going from one casino to the other and playing from one tournament to the other. So, we were just tirelessly playing poker throughout the summer, and luckily it paid off on the last day!”
Flashback To Abhinav Iyer’s Victory In The Closer at WSOP 2019
Iyer made his way through a massive 2,800-entry field in Event #84: The Closer – $1,500 No-Limit Hold ’em to secure the coveted victory and gold bracelet. Following two days of unparalleled action including three starting fights, Iyer gradually made his way into the final day and eventually the final table. The event with its 2,800 entries generated a prize pool of $3,780,000, assuring $565,346 to the ultimate winner.
Iyer had to clash with some of the top players on the final table, including the four-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb. In fact, the player who had 16 cashes already at the WSOP 2019 was just second to Iyer in chip counts at one stage. However, Deeb departed the event in 7th place giving Iyer some more confidence.
Iyer maintained his composure and dominated the table thereon as the pay-jumps slowly increased. After Sergio Martiaguilar was busted in 3rd place, the heads-up was set with the Indian pro having a 2:1 chip lead against Canada’s Sammy Lafleur.
Merely ten hands into heads-up, Iyer had already collected considerable chips from the table leading 7:1. The final hand saw Iyer shoved all-in with Qs Ts, as Lafleur quickly called with pocket Sevens. The flop of 3 K 9 gave Iyer a gutshot, while the T on the turn awarded him a higher pair and put him in the driver’s seat.
The river of 3 made no difference as Iyer took home his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet. Along with the bracelet he also collected a massive paycheque, his personal-best of ₹3.87 Crores from the win.
With an enthusiastic and excited rail by his side, Iyer got his hand on the coveted gold bracelet. He was thrilled to be able to get another WSOP bracelet back to India.
Iyer’s victory at the WSOP is indeed a special one, which remains to be talked about even today almost five years later. And from there on, the poker champion has continued to grow leaps and bounds in his poker career. Over the years, he has been consistent and claimed many notable results in the domestic as well as international circuit. He has also been a source of inspiration for several upcoming and emerging generations of poker players who are inclined towards the game.
As of 2024, he has $1,785,851 in live tournament earnings and is currently ranked 5th on India All-Time Money List! One of his notable scores in recent times was $49,415, which he achieved for his 4th place finish in the Super High Roller at the 2024 USOP Da Nang Part 1.
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