Heads-up With IPC January Edition Champion Sumit Asrani

Heads-up with IPC January Edition Champion Sumit Asrani
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  • PG News January 30, 2015
  • 5 Minutes Read

On Jan 25th Mumbai based cash game player Sumit Asrani (cover image) successfully overcame a player field of 212-players at the IPC Jan Edition 30K Big Game Main Event. He picked up his career’s best tournament score of ₹13.5 Lakhs for the 2-day performance.

Sumit may seem like a surprise winner, but this low-profile player is no stranger to tournament success and in 2012, he took down three tournaments. At the India Poker Legend Sep Edition’12, he won ₹12 Lakhs for 1st place in the 100K Main Event, besides winning the APT Goa 15K Freezeout and the Aces Unlimited 5K Freezeout events the same year.

PokerGuru spoke to the 28-year-old player and found that he started playing professionally just a few years ago at PokerStars.com Home Games under the online moniker ‘sum playa‘.

An educated professional, like many others he quit his job to pursue a career in poker and today, his family is proud of his achievements. Sumit’s story highlights the fact that India has many talented players, who are yet to get the right exposure and media spotlight for their skills. As Sumit adds, with the return of the IPC, certainly the country is set for a poker rejuvenation ahead, which will provide a better platform for aspiring Indian players.

In his interview, Sumit shares his journey in the world of poker, his family`s response to his career choice and like many of his predecessors, reiterates the importance of hand analysis in improving one’s game.

Speaking about his win in the IPC Main Event, Sumit recounts the moment, when he thought he had lost his tournament life early on in the event. An eventful hand saw his queens fail against an opponent’s AK and he was made to believe that his Main Event journey was over. However, presence of mind made him ask the dealer to recount the chips and it turned out that he still had 3- 4 big blinds left. These were enough to propel him to the top of India`s largest Main Event tournament field till date.

Read all this and more in Sumit’s interview.

 

Hi Sumit, congratulations on the big win in the IPC Jan Edition Main Event. How does it feel to outlast such a big and tough field?

Thank you so much. Awesome. I have had few tournaments and a lot of cash game victories, but this one is the sweetest till date. I remember the only time I was a little nervous in the tournament was when I was heads up and the trophy was kept on the table. It was then that I wanted to ship it badly and thought that if I could take that home my mom will be proud of me. And when I did ship it all I could felt was relieved, that the wait was over :-).

 

Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in poker. What does your average day look like – poker wise?

So this one time my dad got me a play station portable from one of his business trips. It had some games pre loaded one of which was WSOP 2008. I was instantly hooked on to it. But it is only last couple of years that I started playing poker professionally. I was just a recreational player before that.

I am 28 years old. I was born in Kolkata, did my schooling from a residential school near Pune. I did my B.Com from HR College, Mumbai and MBA from IIPM, Mumbai. I come from a family where no one prior to me has ever touched cards ever, let alone gamble. So obviously, when I started off playing poker professionally my family and close friends were very much against it. After I finished my MBA, I was working in an Investment banking firm. I quit that to play poker professionally. Thanks to Kavin Shah, a friend and a mentor who has always been there through thick and thin and taught me the game and gave me the confidence I needed to go out there and make money. Soon I started doing good and showing results. Side by side, I kept making my mom and other family members read articles about how poker is a game of skills and not just gambling. Today my mom and friends are really proud of me.

I wake up when my eyes open naturally most of the days except when I have some work or game scheduled prior to closing my eyes. Then once I surface, I find out if there’s any good cash game happening today whether I am in Goa or any other city, which is lately almost everyday. On the days when there is no action happening I am chilling with my family and friends.

 

You are primarily a cash game player; will we be seeing a lot more of you in tournaments after this win?

I have always believed that a very good deep stack cash game player with some experience in tournaments will always do well in deep stack tournaments by making adjustments comfortably.

I would like to play a lot of deep stack tournaments (live) but still cash tables will be where I plan to spend most of my time. I would try and make trips to international events as and when I can.

I would also be playing all IPC events. They are doing great stuff for poker in country and I would like to show my support.

 

Coming back to the Main Event, any hand/s that stand out? When did you realize you could have a shot at winning the event? Any hand/s you think you misplayed?

I think during the first few hours I had my queens go up against this guys AK pre flop in a huge pot and the guy clipped. The dealer and others thought the guy had me covered, but I demanded for a proper chip count before making an exit. The guy didn’t have me covered and I was still left with 3 or 4 big blinds. Next hand I called an all in for my remaining chips without seeing my cards, tables 94 off doubled up and was back in the game ;-).

I was running pretty good and was playing well. I knew if would get a chip lead anytime I would cruise through it mostly. This only happened when we were three-way and as soon as I became the chip leader I knew it was mine for the taking.

Analyzing all the hands after the tournament, I think there were two hands that I made mistakes in. One I open folded UTG, which I should have shoved, and one A9 spades hand where I called off my 11 bb stack all in pre flop, risking my tournament life, but hey – I doubled up ;-).

 

Was there a particular strategy that you followed in the event?

Every time there was a break, I would plan my strategy according to the blinds and the players on the table. Every time I was not in a hand I was planning, adjusting and just kept going according to my plans.

 

You have three tournament wins in 2012 but have been missing from the tournament circuit since then. Why?

As a matter of fact, it was much after these tournament wins that I had decided to play poker professionally. I don’t think so I was a profitable tournament player back then. I thought I had to learn a lot about poker and improve a lot; I still have a long way to go. My initial goal was to build a bankroll and keep trying and improving my thought process about poker. The only way to go about this I thought is cash games. Hence, last couple of years I have spent a lot of time playing cash games only. In fact, last to last year, I was in Vegas for a month during WSOP but I dint end up playing any event. Only cash games. Now that I think I am getting better and could play tournaments also profitably, it would be different.

 

Do you play online as well? If yes, what’s your preferred site for playing and what’s your online moniker?

I started off playing poker professionally on PokerStars.com Home Games. There was this big Mumbai poker community playing then. It was an amazing platform to learn and perform. I used to play under the name ‘sum playa’.

 

How was your experience at the series? Any key takeaway from the trip?

Unheard and un-thought of numbers playing a poker tournament in India under one roof. I was enjoying right from the time I entered the poker room, meeting so many people after a long time, seeing so many new faces, catching up with close friends after a long time.

After winning it, I felt I was a part of some kind of Indian poker history. It felt like poker in India has now arrived and with collective efforts of IPC, PokerGuru and so many other names in Indian poker, it’s just gonna get bigger and bigger. Even WSOP started with small numbers and kept getting better.

 

What were your impressions of the Deltin Royale Poker Room and the management?

I have been familiar with Deltin Royale poker room and it’s management. I have spent a lot of time here playing poker. ‘IT FEELS LIKE HOME.’

Bluma, Roshan, Lilly, Rohit and lots of others are very hard working people I know at the poker room and they are all very efficient and fair. The Management team – Amin, Sameer Rattonsey and Rajeev Kanjani are a great team and it’s rightly said, with them in charge, you are in for a royal treatment.

 

Do you have a home game in Mumbai? Tell us about your poker group and friends from the circuit you hang out with and/or discuss strategy.

I am not going to talk about home games and my poker groups, I don’t want you all to rate them ;-). I am fortunate enough to be very close friends with Kavin Shah and Samay Parikh, two very talented poker players and humble human beings. They have helped me a lot to get to where I am today. Most of my learning has come through hand discussions with them. Also, I am good friends with Shashank (Siddharth) who is one of the smartest out there and Pulkit Kalia, Praz Corea, Raman (Gujral), Rohit Bhalla and few others. Whenever we hang out it’s always fun and learning through discussions about various aspects of the game and not just hands.

 

What is your view on the future on tournament poker in India? Any Indian players you think are world class?

From here on it looks like it’s only going to get better. Though the game is growing at a slower rate, I can sense a catalyst soon to bring a big poker boom in this country. I don’t know about the legality aspect but I am sure a lot more people would play this game soon. An Indian shipping a big international event, efforts of IPC, PokerGuru and others, tournaments will see higher turnouts and much more competition.

I think if this year any Indian could ship the WSOP event I would put my money on Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal, Rahul Byraju and Samay Parikh. Also, when it comes to cash games, Samay Parikh is world class.

Thank you Sumit for taking the time to answer our questions and congratulations once again on the win!

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