On August 13, Goa’s poker scene just leveled up, witnessing an electrifying clash of strategy and star power. The Pocket52 Poker Sports League (PSL) Season 6 auction, held at the luxurious Novotel Goa Resort & Spa, was not just any event—it was a grand spectacle, streamed live on JioCinema. The air buzzed with excitement and anticipation as seven teams, each with their eyes set on poker glory, prepared to build their rosters for the biggest PSL season yet, featuring a whopping INR 2 Crore prize pool!
Three new franchises—the Bengaluru Allstars, the Goa Gators, and the Kolkata Wizards— joined the league, adding an extra layer of excitement and expanding the league from six to seven teams. These newcomers are ready to shake things up, taking on the defending champion Mumbai Anchors and other seasoned titans like Deccan Aces, Gujarat Falcons, and Lucknow Kings. With its expansion to seven teams and bigger prize pool, the PSL season 6 promises to be an epic showdown ahead.
PSL Auction Ceremony: A Masterclass in Strategy and Suspense
With every player’s fate hanging in the balance, PSL co-founder Prajit Ghambir led the teams through a tense and strategic bidding war. The auction featured two different base prices, with INR 2 Lakhs as the base price for the pro lot featuring established poker pros and a starting price of INR 50,000 for the qualifier lot featuring emerging talents who are hungry to prove their strategic prowess.
Each team entered the auction with a budget of INR 27.50 Lakhs, and with every bid, the stakes grew higher. Some teams adopted a high-risk, high-reward strategy, pouring their funds to buy or secure their top picks, while others took a cautious approach, conserving it probably for the next PSL season.
Ritwik Khanna Tops The List of Most Expensive Players for PSL Season 6
The PSL is not just a poker event; it’s a fusion of sports and entertainment that captivates audiences from all over India. Since its inception in 2017, the PSL has redefined poker as a mind sport, transcending boundaries and bringing together players from diverse backgrounds to compete at the highest level.
The auction for PSL Season 6 saw teams spend a lot of money to build their squads, breaking previous records. The team vied for 17 seasoned professionals and the most expensive player of the auction in the pro lot was none other than the rising star Ritwik Khanna, who was bought by the Kolkata Wizards for INR 5.80 Lakhs.
Nishant Sharma (INR 5.60 Lakhs) bought by Bengaluru All Stars, Ankit Wadhawan acquired by Lucknow Kings for INR 5.20 Lakhs) were the next on the list of the most expensive players. Arsh Grover (INR 5.10 Lakhs) and Sagar Raj (INR 4.70 Laksh) were the season’s other most expensive players bought by Gujarat Falcons and Mumbai Anchors, respectively.
In the qualifier lot, five qualifiers were sold for over INR 3 Lakhs each, with Saransh Garg topping the list of this season’s most expensive players, joining Mumbai Anchors for INR 4.50 Lakhs.
Pradip Ghosh joined Gujarat Falcons for INR 3.80 Lakhs, while Ritesh Khatwani (INR 3.20 Lakhs) and Nandan Pugalia for INR 3.10 Laksh were bought by Bengaluru All Stars. Jaikishan Jangid was acquired by Deccan Aces for a cool INR 3 Lakhs, showcasing that talent is valued the most during the PSL auction.
To watch how the PSL Season 6 Auction Ceremony unfolded, check out this link HERE!
Captains, Wildcards, and Retained Players To Build Ultimate Squad
Each team in the league has 11 players – a captain, a wildcard, three pros, and six qualifiers. Captains and wildcards were pre-decided, ensuring a solid leadership for each team before the auction.
A Quick Look At Captains
Bengaluru Allstars – Zarvan Tumboli
Deccan Aces – Kunal Patni
Goa Gators – Kovid Saraswat
Gujarat Falcons – Romit Advani
Kolkata Wizards – Shardul Parthasarthi
Lucknow Kings – Gaurav Sood
Mumbai Anchors – Laksh Pal Singh
A Look at Wild Cards
The addition of the Bajaj brothers, Vishal and Gopal, as wildcards for two rival teams – Lucknow Kings and Kolkata Wizards, respectively – added an extra layer to this season’s already impressive narrative. Given below is the list of the players selected as the wild cards by different teams
Bengaluru Allstars – Abhishek Goindi
Deccan Aces – Adwait Rajguru
Goa Gators – Vikhyat Ahlawat
Gujarat Falcons – Sreekanth Narayan
Kolkata Wizards – Gopal Bajaj
Lucknow Kings – Vishal Bajaj
Mumbai Anchors – Alok Birewar
Players Retained by Their Respective Teams
Alongside the pre-selected captains and wildcards, teams also retained eight key players, including four professionals and four qualifiers. Among the retained professionals were Kanishka Samant for Gujarat Falcons, Akshay Nasa for Mumbai Anchors, Mithun Mahesh for Deccan Aces, and Ashish Ahuja for Goa Gators.
On the qualifiers’ front, Adwait Pol was retained by Gujarat Falcons, Satyam Verma by Lucknow Kings, Honey Bijlani by Mumbai Anchors, and Mohsin Shaikh by Deccan Aces.
For the final team line up or squads, you can check out the Poker Sports League social media pages.
With the auction in the books, we have seven teams ready to rumble – Bengaluru Allstars, Deccan Aces, Goa Gators, Gujarat Falcons, Kolkata Wizards, Lucknow Kings, and Mumbai Anchors. However, the PSL season is not just about the auction, it is in fact a road to glory and stardom. Over 20, 000 players battled out in qualifiers between June 16 to August 4 on the virtual felts of Pocket52 and a few worthy of them who ruled the tables made a cut to have a shot at glory at PSL this season.
Coming up next are the virtual matches to be streamed live on JioCinema from August 26 to September 8, where teams will battle on the virtual felts of Pocket52. The epic season will finally conclude with a grand finale from September 13-15 in Goa with the crowning of the next PSL champion!
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates from the ongoing Poker Sports League season.
