One of the most anticipated tournaments of the year in the Indian poker calendar is the Main Event at the India Poker Championship (IPC). This annual tournament takes place in December every year and is most prestigious in the poker fraternity because the winner of the Main Event is crowned the India Poker Champion for that season.

The Main Event was first introduced in December 2010. The idea was to have a big year-ending tournament weekend which would serve a dual purpose – end the calendar year yet at the same time signal the start of the new poker season at the IPC.

That first Main Event in 2010 had a buy-in for INR 25,000 which, at the time, was the highest buy-in amongst all the IPC tournaments. For a buy-in of that size, it was a record-breaking field of 87 players who took part to determine who would be Champion. That Champion turned out to be young Aditya Sushant from Chennai from the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The Main Event in 2011 then underwent a bit of a change in the 12 months that went by to go from a single day event to a 2 day affair. The buy-in was marginally increased to INR 30,000 and the structures were tweaked as well to provide more play to the participants. From the 83 players who eventually took part, it was Mumbai’s Sameer Rattonsey who eventually emerged victorious taking home the title of India Poker Champion for 2011-12.

The Main Event for the 2012 season is expected to be a 3 day affair.