Online Poker Sports League Qualifiers still on.
The Indian poker market has grown considerably in the last few years as both domestic and international poker operators are looking to educate the public and teach them that poker is a game of skill and not a game that is based on luck! Poker Sports League (PSL) is one of the key operators in the Indian market that is looking to promote the game and get more people into playing poker.
The PSL has so far organized two seasons which have been well received by the growing poker community in India. The Dabur Group which owns the PSL had big plans for Season 3 and had scheduled both land-based and online qualifiers from Jan 18 to April 5, 2020.
Poker Sports League – Online Qualifiers
The PSL released an official statement and confirmed that all land-based qualifiers for Season 3 have now been cancelled. The PSL had no choice but to cancel its land-based qualifiers as India is under a complete lockdown till April 14 due to the corona virus pandemic. Players who were looking at having a crack at the land-based qualifiers will now have to change their plans if they still want to play in Season 3.
The PSL has confirmed that online qualifiers will continue to take place as usual. Players who are interested in taking place in these online qualifiers can do so by accessing the PSL app which is available for both Android and iOS platforms.
The PSL had scheduled a total of 72 online qualifiers which started from 14 Nov 2019 and will run till 5 April 2020. The rules governing these online qualifiers allowed players to take part in a maximum of 18 online qualifiers. The PSL has confirmed a strong spike in registrations for online qualifiers stating that there is a 50 percent increase when compared to numbers from Season 2.
Poker Sports League – Season 3
The PSL in many ways is similar to the Global Poker League (GPL) concept where different teams compete against each other. The objective of the PSL was to convey a clear message that poker can be played as a mind sport. The first Season of the PSL brought in an international flavour as the tournament organizers allowed two foreign players to be a part of each team.
However, Season 3 of the PSL has been restricted to only Indian players as the organizers wanted to give the 40,000 poker players in India as much opportunity as possible to be part of the PSL.
The six teams in participating in Season 3 are: Mumbai Anchors, Deccan Aces, Goan Nuts, Delhi Czars, Kolkata Kings and Gujarat Falcons. Each team will have a total of 12 players and 7 of these players will be amateur poker players who are selected from the online qualifiers. Each team will have a mentor/captain who will be chosen by the owners of each team during a selection ceremony.
The PSL selection ceremony was scheduled to take place on April 30. Team owners were set to get together, look at the different drafts and then choose their players and captain. However, given the on-going concerns brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, this selection ceremony could be postponed to a later date.
PSL – Grand Finale
The PSL has also scheduled a boot camp to take place on 17 and 18 May. This is where the teams get together and get to know each other and work on their poker strategy. The boot camp plays an important part in the lead up to the PSL – Grand Final as it helps poker players – especially the amateur players who have been selected based on the online qualifiers to settle down, see what the team captain expects from them and be prepared for a tough week of poker.
The PSL Grand Finale is set to take place from 19 to 23 May and the teams will battle it out for more than 4 crore rupees in prize money. The top four teams will be able to cashout and hence the competition is expected to be as fierce as ever because of the massive guaranteed prize pool.
The PSL has not made any announcement with regards to its Grand Finale dates and for now Season 3 will proceed as per plan!
