It has been quite an eventful year for me. A lot has happened, and that is what I am going to talk about in the blog, as well as a few key advices for all the young aspiring poker players.
Last year was very good for me as a player as well as a commentator, I managed to work in almost all big live events whether it be Baazi Poker Tour in Goa, IPC in Jhapa and did some offline work for Adda52. Not everything was good, though, I got the news at the start of the year that my mom has stage 3 Ovarian Cancer so I knew that playing Poker won’t be a thing this year since I wanted to be there for my mother. But call it destiny or luck, I kept on topping my biggest scores this year. I was playing maybe a day or two a week, whenever I could honestly, and got super lucky.
One of the big scores and my best score at that time came in March when I won Super High Roller, which I registered at 30bb and bluffed for all my stack in the very first hand, luckily, I didn’t get caught. It was actually on the night before my mother’s first chemotherapy, so couldn’t wish for a better time. That win allowed me to take a little break from playing poker, but I made sure that I was studying on the regular basis. I studied a lot during that time because that was all I was doing.
Almost 6 months passed, and I hardly played 50 tournaments in total but decided to do a live trip to APPT Cambodia, my second time going there and a month still left for the treatment. Not many Indians this time there, and I was let down by the numbers of side events. But I was determined to make the most of it, and boyyyy we did that. From bagging 30bb on Day 1 of the main event to being in the top 3 stacks on day 2 and eventually finishing runner up in the main event for my career-best score.
It’s 31 December today, and mom is well, thanks to all the good wishes and hard work of doctors and my super strong mother. The plan is pretty simple for 2023, and I am going to share that with you all in a moment.
I am going to do half-half this year; what does that mean? Well 150 days of live poker, 150 days of online poker, and 65 days of holidays. I am very glad to share that we have been approached to do commentary for an international brand, fingers crossed that it turns out to be great. Also, I want to be more regular on the blogs, so will aim to push one blog every month.
My 2023 Goals are as follows :
1. Put Volume – Simple
2. No interviews, no matter how big or small I win
3. Reduce my social media time, sadly no vlogs in 2023
4. Be in a better shape
5. Launch my Podcast
My advice to all the young and crushers of India are as follows
1. Get yourself out of any reporting site; it harms you more than it benefits you
2. Get in a peer group and study at least once a week.
3. Plan your live trips in advance to save any cost you can.
4. Be involved in a community
On the ending note, I will be taking my databases from all the reporting sites, (PokerGuru reporting, sharkscope etc) to protect myself, and I will always be available on discord for anyone who wishes to reach out to me. Good luck and I hope 2023 brings you happiness and luck.