The 5th season of the world’s first professional Match Poker league, the Match Indian Poker League (MatchIPL), is set to take place in early 2023 with a minimum of six teams. The exact dates are yet to be announced, but the hype has been building up for a long time.
The MatchIPL was started back in 2017 by the owner of Viaan Industries, Raj Kundra. It started as the third business venture by Kundra after a franchise in the IPL named Rajasthan Royals, and the second was the launch of a league involving mixed martial arts called Super Fight League. The MatchIPL was recognized as one of the biggest events of the International Federation of Poker (IFP), and the team winning the MatchIPL tournament represents India in the national cup. The tournament has successfully hosted 4 seasons till now.
Season 1 kicked off with 7 teams with a prize pool of 2.5 crore for the top 3 teams.
1. 1.25 crores (Mumbai All-Stars)
2. 75 lakhs (Jaipur Jewels)
3. 50 lakhs (Ahmedabad Hearts)
Season 2 saw even more teams with a prize of 1 crore distributed among top 4 teams
1. 40 lakhs (Haryana Hawks)
2. 25 lakhs (UP Indians)
3. 20 lakhs (Delhi Aces)
4. 15 lakhs (Kolkata Diamonds)
The third season also distributed the prize among 4 teams, with 9 competing in the tournament.
1. 1.35 crores (Pune Kings)
2. 90 lakhs (Mumbai All Stars)
3. 65 lakhs (Bangalore Royals)
4. 50 lakhs (Delhi Aces)
The fourth season again gave the top 4 teams a shared prize of 1.7 crore.
1. 65 lakhs (Haryana Hawks)
2. 45 lakhs (Mumbai All Stars)
3. 35 lakhs (UP Indians)
4. 25 lakhs (Delhi Aces)
Viaan Industries and International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) joined hands and created MatchIPL, for which the owner has now been transferred to the Indian national federation and its partner West Nally Pvt. Ltd. and is sanctioned by INF and the match holdem sports confederation. The season’s winning team gets a chance to represent India at global poker events.
Another event called “Champions League” is being introduced by the IFMP where various top teams from their respective nations will face each other for the prize, similar to other IFMP events happening throughout the year like Asian National Cup, where India will be defending its title won during the last event in Taiwan and also other tournaments like Hong Kong Championship and the World Championship in Zurich.
At least six teams are expected to join the 5th season of MatchIPL, with the winner becoming the national champion and the runner-ups representing India at the Global Level.