indiapokerseries

Poker continues to grow at full speed in India

September 20, 2011 in News

Hi friends

I am blogging after a long long long time. I truthfully don’t know how to blog.

Poker has been having a big boost this year. We have had 2 lovely seasons by Aces Unlimited earlier in the year and we shall see them in their Winter schedule in the first week of November (3rd to 6th). More about Aces at [url]www.acesunlimited.net[/url] India Poker Pros had a grand opening event in June which will followed by an event later this month from 28th Sep to 2nd Oct. The highlight is the ladies event on 2nd. More details at [url]www.indiapokerpros.com[/url]. Then we had India Poker Legend by The Shark. More details about their event at [url]www.theshark.in[/url]. Then we had an awesome PGT event earlier this month which was unique in its own way. They need no introduction. Complete details at this very own site where I am blogging. Then we have IPC which is pioneer in the industry. They also do not need any introduction. You get details at [url]www.indiapokerchampionship.com[/url]. Last but not the least, my very own company Ways2Events hosts the IPS or the India Poker Series. We also happen to be the oldest poker tourney at Casino Royale Goa. The site is [url]www.indiapokerseries.com[/url]. Our last event was a week back and next one is in the 3rd week of November.

I was never a tourney player and dint play tourneys till March this year. Yes I actually dint play my own tournaments for one year since April 2010. I have since then played 14 tourneys and made it to the final table in 3, and missed 2 of them by a whisker. I still am yet to learn the nuances of tournaments. I keep watching good players play to learn about how to excel in tourneys. Watching good tourneys players in action is a great way to improvise. I strongly suggest to players to watch good players when they play and you will learn a lot.

Festive season is round the corner. We have Dussera, followed by Diwali. I have lots of travel lined up during this period and lots of days off from work as well 😉 .The Diwali period is such when the action shifts from poker to teen patti at many places.Poker still has its place in the hearts of some and that includes me.

Its a delight to see poker grow at every nook and corner in the country. Its growing at a fast pace. I thank all the players for participating in this growth story.

Monsoons in India

June 18, 2011 in News

Hello friends

As usual, I am making my blog post after an interval of a month. And this time I had to wait for a topic for the same and I got it yesterday when Monsoons finally hit the East Coast of the country as well. It was a wait of 3 weeks almost before it first hit the South and West and now finally the East.

The rains are lashing all cities and Kolkata witnessed it first Monsoon shower yesterday and the authorities were not prepared for it and we saw all round water logging and the city came to a stand still. The other cities have got their share of rains already.

Goa the Mecca for gambles and beach lovers have been seeing such rains since the first week of June and it continues to lash the small western state which is a huge tourist attraction. The months during the peak summer and the monsoons become low tourist season as there is a smaller footfall during these months of June to Sept and it starts to pick up only in October.

The Casino activity is the main attraction during these months. Tournament organizers are the ones who are most affected by it. But that does not deter them from holding events. In the period of June to Sept which is a full fledged 4 months, Goa will witness atleast 2 tournaments each month. Wishing all organizers and players good luck for the same.

Signing off

Bharat Agarwalla

My first experience in a Poker tournament !!!

March 11, 2011 in News

I have been involved with poker tournaments as an organizer uptil now. In March 2011, during IPS (India Poker Series), on the Sunday 6th March 2011 event which was a 10K Buy In Freeze Out event.
The field size was 60 participants and most of the players were good. It was a tough tournament and very few players had a bingo attitude.
I never considered myself a good poker player, neither cash nor tourney. My good friend Aditya “Mastermind” Agarwal used to always tell me that my game style (he has played lots of cash based home games with me) is very much suitable for tourneys. He used to use a phrase to encourage and prompt me to play tourney though I never did so, his phrase was “Even Phil Ivey cannot take out chips from you” and that I had immense patience and I could keep on grinding so that the other player got frustrated. I used to always think he is just doing ego massage to me and trying to inflate me up. But then this time round, Craig Wildman, our Tournament Director (TD) also told me to play saying that he has seen me play cash games and I should give it a try to play a tourney. Encouragement coming from two such quarters whose words I value when it comes to poker, I went ahead and registered myself as one of the last participants to do so.
The table was very tight. The players playing super safe. I had to be careful. I played my game in a different style. Mixing my tight game with a few hands to steal the blinds. It made me last for quite a while. I was most of the time ahead or rather over double of the average stack. Then one hand sent me down crippled and I was a shade below the average stack. I started to lose my calm at that time. I left my table, took a round of the poker room and after a deep breath came and sat at my seat. I had skipped a hand where I was the big blind. I did that as I needed to get my nerves back in control.
I started to regain back control over the game and I was soon the 2nd chip lead in the tournament. I realized that losing the calm is the worst thing for a poker player. Just at that time the TD broke our table and we were all sent to 3 different tables. Here I was with 3 people from my original table and 6 new faces. I had to replan my strategy. I left the table and took a round of the other tables to see the chip stacks of others. I was no doubt the 2nd chip lead but the person with the chip lead was almost 3 times as me. This shook me off but then I realized that this is a benefit to me as the table he is playing on, he can bully others and it gives me an edge at my table.
I seated myself and started to play my calm game once again. I was at that time almost double of the average stack. But soon players started to get busted and my stack was same while the average stack kept rising. I had to ensure I had the percentage edge maintained. This is when i stole a few more blinds (and antes) and busted one player with my back to back AA and AK suited. I was back in the game with classic action on. 14 players left, average stack and I were at par because I had lost one hand and also folded pocket JJ. This folding was a strategic fold. I just wanted that 5 players get busted and I reach the final table, I dint want to be amongst the busted 5. I was lucky and quickly the 5 went bust and we were down to the final 9. Average stack was now, creeping up and I was just ahead of that. I was 3rd chip lead with one player close on heels while the leaders were 50% and 150% ahead of me, and now the game was getting tougher as the blinds and antes kept going up. The final 9 were all brilliant players. They had been grinding for 6 hours just like me.
The players with stacks shorter than me kept falling like nine pins, much as I had expected. I was losing my chips in posting antes and blinds. And now we were down to 5 players. Just then Alex Willson from USA lost his stack to me and I was into the game though with the shortest stack but there was one more player with a stack shade bigger than mine. Alex had said earlier in the day twice, he would be most glad if I got him busted and his stack came to me. Alex has now returned back to USA after playing IPS Jan and Mar 2011 events. I take this opportunity to thank him for his kind and generous words.
Just as what destiny had in store for me, moment later I got a AK suited and the player who was UTG shoved all in, he was 3rd chip lead and had chips a shade more than me. I thought and I thought what to do. Shall I fold and then wait for the 3 of them to fight it out and secure a 3rd place for myself, or shall I call and test the waters. I was tempted to fold. I was thinking for a long while. No one called for the time and I had enough thinking time. I finally decided to call. People behind my back were murmuring, why was I thinking, it was an insta-call, but little did they understand what I was thinking. Jasven (he is my friend as well) flipped open 93os and I showed my AKs. I had my 6th sense telling me that its pack up time for me. I just was not feeling good about my call. And it so happened that Jasven paired up on the flop and on the turn I got my 2 spades and now the river was crucial to me. Prashant, the dealer, opened and made Jasven his 2nd pair and there was nothing for me in the game now. I was out after a wonderful experience. I thank all players for my wonderful experience.
What I wish to convey to new players from my experience over the years is that there are a few key things to keep in mind while playing poker.
1. Keep your patience. You will get your share of good cards. Exploit them when you get them. Dont over play them. Like Sachin Tendulkar waits for the lose ball, you too have to wait for the opportunity.
2. Keep your nerves in place. When you are tending to lose your calm, take a walk, take a deep breath and calm your nerves. Reminds us of Baba Ramdev.
3. Poker has its share of luck but it is primarily a game of skill. Use the skill and also the experience to your advantage. No sense on keeping on saying you got a bad beat or tell stories of suck-outs. Just play your game right and if your game is good then one of the days you will be in the money and also be the winner.
4. Don’t let another players past track or his chip stack psyche you out, if you get psyched, you have lost half the battle there itself.
5. High rollers play tournaments so that they can improve their game by playing against a variety of players and also they learn how to play within their restricted stack as they cannot top up unlike a cash game where they can keep doing so. They are brilliant players but there only to further improve their game. Respect their game and learn from their style, you will never regret it. One person whom I keenly watch is my friend Rohit Bhalla whose game I regard as outstanding. He is most down to earth and never shows that he is superior to others.
6.Folding is an art. Try and master that. You can only master it if you play regular tourneys. If you can lay down hands then you will save a lot of money in the long run. I am good at it but still a long way away from being very good at it.
My poker journey continues as I look forward to participating in more freeze out tournaments. I wish to learn from these tournaments rather than just look at money finishes.
Looking forward to my next tournament at India Poker Series which would be from 6th to 8th of May 2011.
Signing off…..
Bharat

IPL 4

May 11, 2011 in News

20/20 Cricket in India for 2011 is seeing newer colours with IPL 4. We first saw all teams get reshuffled specially the KKR team which chnaged all its members including its captain Saurav Ganguly popularly called “Dada”. The team which remained close to the bottom for 3 seaons is placed at 2nd place this season.

Dada who had no takers till now by any team suddenly saw Pune absorb him in place of Ishant Sharma. And to everyones surprise Dada scored a “match winning” 32 of 32 balls yesterday.

Earlier we had seen major controversy over many a teams with various scandals of promoters names and money (laundering). All teams made it the final list of participants ultimately.

Even before that we saw the mentor of IPL, Lalit Modi undergo the grilling and also disappear from the scene (forced to do so) and people said IPL wont be the same without him and lo !!, we see IPL be a major success.

Mumbai and KKR are front runners and next are CSK and Bangalore. Lets see which of these 4 make it to the final 4 and then to the final 2. My hunch says its KKR this time. Probably city loyalty speaking 🙂

IPS and more.

April 17, 2011 in News

Hello friends

I would like to reintroduce myself – a cash game player hailing from Kolkata a city which has very lots of cash game players playing in closed circuits and has very few tourney players and the tourney players which we have are less than a hand-full but they are all excellent players. I have been trying to learn the art of playing tourney, not to win or score in them, but to improve my cash game play. Tourneys teach me how to be patient and also how to play with limited chips in hand. besides that I am also the CEO of India Poker Series for those not aware of that fact. I am there on facebook at [url]http://www.facebook.com/Bharat.Agarwalla.IPS[/url]

I thought I would take this opportunity to inform all those who read this blog of mine and also track IPS, that IPS has tie up with Vikram Verma who will introduce India Poker Pros, a poker tourney. You will see India Poker Pros bring you some fantastic tourneys. We shall be complimenting each other, so one may say that under one umbrella you are getting two set of tourneys – one being IPS and other being Pros. One can find both on facebook and also the respective websites. The tourneys under Pros would be announced during IPS 6.

IPS 6 – to be held from 6th to 8th of May 2011. Formats are simple – Day 1 is our most popular format – the 5K rebuy, Day 2 is the Main Event of the 15K Freeze Out and Day 3 is the 10K Freeze Out.

Satellites for the same are available at MonsterBluffs.com, you may contact them for the same, also PokerGuru would be hosting two such ones for us on 20th and 27th April 2011 at 888. More would be worked out at different venues. While one such venue for Mumbaikars is at Vikram Verma’s place, please contact him for the same. Mumbaikars can also give their buy ins to him in Mumbai itself to secure a seat at IPS 6 or in future for all IPS and Pros tourneys. Kolkata patrons of IPS and Pros may do the same by connecting with me.

In a recent development in the online world of poker, US Govt has clamped down heavily on Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker etc a couple of days back. they have been charged with bank fraud, illegal gambling offenses and money laundering etc. Lets see how this issue gets resolved. I hope its resolved very very fast.

I have been reading time and again about how players have asked the Pros as to how they would play a certain hand. These questions are asked only after they get a bad beat. I would encourage players to put queries to Pros about the same in hypothetical situations as well and not only after getting a beat. Those who win hands never ask how it should have been played. It would be important to put the same query to the Pros even if you won a hand, because you may not necessarily have played it correctly. The Pros have become Pros or successful because their consistency is far more.

Signing off for the time being.

Have a great Sunday !!!

Bharat Agarwalla

Online Rankings

i Top Ranked Poker Players in India
Member Won
Member Won
Member Won
₹1,29,29,197
₹1,25,88,313
₹1,20,69,627
₹1,15,22,676
5.Vinay B Vinay B
₹1,14,52,995
6.M L M L
₹1,14,40,871
₹1,09,13,473
₹1,05,24,690
₹99,60,672
₹99,49,327
Member Profit
Member Profit
Member Profit
₹55,77,649
₹50,59,154
₹47,48,174
₹46,54,932
₹44,93,503
₹43,84,994
₹43,56,316
₹42,00,183
₹41,14,429
₹40,97,624
Member Points
Member Points
Member Points
42,268
35,945
28,827
4.N K N K
28,311
25,814
25,649
24,477
24,446
9.M L M L
23,604
22,922

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