A Dream Start With PokerGuru Staking

Posted by Deepankur Gupta on 2021-07-22 at 7:08 PM

Hi guys! Deepankur Gupta aka dp179 here. Most of you wouldn’t know me yet – I’m relatively new to the poker circuit – but I am the latest addition to PokerGuru Staking and on the back of one of the best starts with the team I could’ve hoped for (I chopped the IOPC Tuesday Prime 3-way for a career-best score), let me share my story today, with the hope it inspires and entertains you!

Currently 23-years-old, I got introduced to poker at the age of 15. For the next several years, I played the occasional home games recreationally, with no idea of ranges, positions, bet sizing, and so on. I was never a mindless punter, though, and still managed to be a winning player for the most part.

I tried online MTT poker for the first time when the pandemic hit out of boredom. I deposited some cash I had won in home games onto PokerStars India, regged the late-night ultrasonic bounty tournament, and shipped it for 50K! Little did I know that I had just ended up on the right side of variance in this hyper bounty tournament, and I was not good, lol.

Nevertheless, this marked the start of my journey as an MTT player – March 2020. The passion grew quickly and wildly. In no time, I was investing 8-10 hours daily either playing MTTs or watching streamers like Bencb, Apesyles, and Egption.

In the time of Netflix and Amazon Prime, 90% of all content I absorbed was poker. At this time, I was still playing ABIs of Rs. 400-500, and my negligible bankroll was swinging wild with no clear winning pattern. I learned bankroll management the hard way, building and busting several rolls before I started being strict with myself about the 150-200 buy-in rule.

I did the BBZ bundles to study some theory, but I still lacked a proper study routine and theoretical knowledge, and I plateaued quickly. All I knew was that my passion for the game was immense, and I had to do something to keep improving. By this time, many of my friends knew of my love for poker and my desire to improve. I was told of a friend of a friend of a friend – an absolute crusher, a legend in the circuit already, doing poker full-time and dominating – and this was none other than Laksh Pal Singh aka BoomTilt23!

So, I reached out to Laksh on Instagram and basically asked for guidance on getting a bit closer to where he is. Since PokerGuru Ambassadors cannot coach anyone outside PokerGuru, he could not share any game-related info/theory. However, he still gave me a lot of advice and was super friendly about the whole thing.

Over the next several weeks, everything changed. I started working on my game off the felts more and more, and the results started coming in. This was when I decided my passion for the game is too strong to ignore, and I wanted to try it out full time. I mean, escape the 9-5 and achieve financial freedom pursuing your passion – the millennial dream, right?!

So, I spoke to my parents, explained the game to them and my passion for it, and my decision to pursue it full time, at least for a year or so, to see how it goes. Blessed with the open-minded ‘zen’ parents I have, they were on board.

The very next day, I got a job offer from Deloitte for an impactful role in M&A. It felt like a significant crossroad in life, like the Gully Boy moment when he’s deciding between a corporate job and his passion for rap. It wasn’t too hard a decision to turn down the offer and go ahead with poker.

I kept in touch with Laksh during this time and kept updating him on my scores and journey in general. I figure he saw how passionate I was and encouraged me to apply to PokerGuru Staking to get coached and improve. By the end of the application process, they wanted me to record a grind session to review my game and hand histories, and blessedly, I shipped The Mint in that session!

This brings us to last week when I officially joined PokerGuru, and even though it’s very early days, I think this will be one of the most significant steps of my poker journey, and I can’t give enough credit to Laksh for helping in making it happen. As one of the top pros in the country, the way he helped and guided a newcomer like me is genuinely heartwarming and shows how supportive and integrated the poker community in India is. So yeah, thank you Laksh, I owe you big time and can only hope I get to pay it forward someday.

And now, the future looks bright! I am super excited to learn from these legends and absolute crushers that make up the PokerGuru team.

GG, GL, and let’s crush!

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Deepankur Gupta

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