Backed and endorsed by the chess grandmaster, Viswanathan Anand, franchise-based poker league is back in a new avatar as Poker Sports League – Virtual Season 3 (PSL-V). With online-based format, PSL aims to establish poker as a mind sport by putting on display – a combination of skill, mathematics, decision making and grit which are required in the right mix to emerge as a poker champion.
The season three of the league was to initially be played between six teams, however, with the growing potential of online gaming in India and a great response from the recently concluded online qualifiers, Mind Sports League (owners of PSL) has now extended a chance to poker enthusiasts across other cities, to partner with PSL for two more teams.
The virtual format will now see a total of eight teams, with 10 players each, compete against each other for a prize pool/payout of over two crores rupees. Poker Sports League promoter Amit Burman said, “With the commendable response we received for the exhibition tournament – Virtual Poker League and the online qualifiers of PSL V, we are positive for an increased participation and elated to onboard two more team owners.”
Following the advent of PSL V, Mind Sports has signed a contract with six team owners for 10 seasons for the next five years with – one live and one virtual season/league. Speaking about the season three of the PSL and welcoming the six teams on board, Poker Sports League CEO and co-founder Pranav Bagai said, “I am thrilled to bring forth the six teams namely Delhi Czars, Deccan Aces, Goan Nuts, Gujarat Falcons, Mumbai Anchors, and Kolkata Kings and welcome them to the PSL family. Furthermore, owing to the overwhelming response received from the recently concluded online qualifiers and the Virtual Poker League we are excited to add two more teams and looking for the right partner to be our next team owner. We have some very exciting things lined up; Rap song, onboarding A – list celebrities, campaigns and more. Besides this we will be announcing a partnership with an OTT player for the live streaming of the season very soon”
The league will have a total of 30 events (poker games) where each participant will get a chance to play a maximum of six out of these 30 games. With Rs. 15,00,000 as the prize pool for each team, every qualifier will receive a match fee of Rs. 10,000 per match. The mentor, wild cards and pros will get Rs. 20,000 per match. The mentors will also be given a base fee of Rs. 2,00,000 along with a coaching budget of Rs.3,00,000 for the season that they or the team owners can decide on how to spend for training their team members, as per discretion.