The 2022 Indian National Poker Series is officially scheduled to start on March 6

India's most prestigious poker tournament, and one of the most recognized and prestigious in the poker industry, has just shared the date for 2022. As stated in the official announcement, the Indian National Poker Series will begin on March 6, 2022 and will run for 15 days.

A total of 84 tournaments will be held

The tournament will feature 84 events over the course of 15 days and will crown the best poker players in the country. It will be held online at PokerBaazi.com, a platform recently ranked as the number one poker site in India by Poker Scout, the world's top poker listings site.

In addition, there will be a guaranteed prize pool of INR 1.85 billion ($2.5 million) in addition to 252 medals for the entire series. In order to win a ticket to the NPS Championship, players must pass the qualifying rounds, which will begin on January 15 at PokerBaazi.com.

Navkiran Singh, CEO and founder of Baazi Games, said that NPS allows players to engrave their names in the golden book of Indian poker history. The series is about respect, fame and glory. Thanks to this concept, many poker enthusiasts across India have access to this game.

He also added that with the massive popularity of the Internet in India, the PokerBaazi app has been designed to meet the standards of international poker apps and has become a driving force in recognizing poker talent and revealing them.

First Indian National Poker Series participants from 20 countries

The Indian National Poker Series was the first edition of this prestigious tournament and was hailed as a huge success. It was followed in many regions and had participants from 20 states. In addition, it had 64 tournaments and 83,793 entries. The total prize money was 1.9 billion rupees ($2.6 million). What makes this unique concept so acclaimed is the careful timing. The original plan for the Indian National Poker dates back to December 2020.

Poker is one of the leading segments of the digital wave in India, and it is rising fast. The country's UPI-powered online transaction system has allowed numerous industries to adapt to this payment method, and as KPMG estimates, India's online gaming industry could grow at a CAGR of 22% to reach 118.8 billion ($1.6 billion) by 2023.

As for Indian national poker, the five states holding the highest number of medals are Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka with 12, Haryana with 18, New Delhi with 37 and Maharashtra with 44.

In addition to a medal won by the winner of each tournament, the series also features a leaderboard for the total number of medals won. 2021 podium finishers were Kritagya Sharma from New Delhi (bronze), Ankit Wadhawan from Punjab (silver) and Mohammad Azhar Tak from Rajasthan (gold), who received tickets to represent the country at one of the world's most important poker events in Las Vegas.

Azhar Tak was crowned the champion of champions, while Vivek Bajaj was the winner of the Golden Rush competition.