The Qualified games, scheduled to take place across New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore throughout March and April have now been canceled due to COVID-19. The novel coronavirus has now reached every country in the world and we’re seeing increasing amounts of lockdowns and quarantine regimes. While India is still in the beginning stages of the virus contamination and recorded the first cases way later than most countries in the western world, now it seems like the risks are higher, hence the government has issued a new set of restrictions, banning all public events, including this Poker qualifiers.

Luckily the cancellation only affected the offline games, meaning that those who were hoping to participate in the online version or have already been playing since January don`t have to worry about losing their progress because the online championship will go on business as usual. Online gambling communities can access all of their real money casino games online, while those who were hoping to continue going to real casinos, following weeks are going to be tough.

You will still be able to access the online games, through its app, #HashtagPoker for iOS as well as Android.

Qualifiers will go on as usual

The qualifiers have been going on since November of last year and were set to end on the 5th of April. The schedule remains unchanged with each playing having a maximum limit of 18 online qualifiers. The demand for these games has increased 50% from its last season and the organizers are actually, the teams have also become more diverse.

According to the Poker Sports League founder Amit Burman, in previous seasons the teams would have 1-2 international players at best, but this time around the teams are made up of only Indian players.

Across the country, there are 40,000 professional poker players and their skills are getting better and better with each season. The company wanted to give the local players more opportunities since in previous seasons the online sports would get filled up with international players.

As the founder went on to say, Indian players no longer need their international colleagues to make the game interesting since the players have been improving and mastering the skills, reaching a completely new level over the course of the year.

Poker Sports League structure

The setup of this League includes 6 teams, with 12 players each. The current teams are Deccan Aces, Delhi Czars, Gujrat Falcon, Mumbai Anchors, and Kolkata Kings. What’s interesting is that each team also gets to pick a mentor to guide them through the Poker Sports League, and 7 out of 12 players are actually amateurs selected online through different qualifiers and events.

The selection ceremony was set to take place on the 30th of April. This is where the mentors along with the professional players choose their amateur teammates but because of COVID-19, this has also been postponed for now. But when it comes to the PSL Boot Camp the dates are still on for now. Scheduled to take place from 17-18th of May, the Boot Camp allows people to get to know their opponents and teammates. While the event hasn’t been canceled yet, one can’t be too sure about whether or not this will actually happen.

Will the finale still happen in Kolkata?

The Grand Finale, on the other hand, is supposed to take place by the end of May, in Kolkata but if the situation is more or less cleared by then we can expect to see the final game unfold.

India`s poker potential is still unexplored, and as mentioned above the country has more than enough professional players willing to do their part in making India the next top poker destination. With projects like this, give motivation to young players to take their games more seriously is a great way to ensure that the industry continues to thrive in the future.

The online poker community has gotten a perfect chance to strengthen their skills, now that strict social distancing measures are in place. While it’s hard to see the positive in all of this, it doesn`t hurt to try and make the best of it.

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