Coronavirus Lockdown: An Update From Poker Pros in Goa

The current Coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented global incident that has shaken us all out of the rigmarole of our daily routine. Last we checked, the virus had infected over 664,000 people across the world, and claimed over 30,800 lives. As of the time of publishing this report, the Indian tally of Coronavirus-infected people stood at 979 cases, with the death toll at 25.

Like most other countries, India too, is on a 21-day nation-wide lockdown to check the spread of this deadly disease!

In this new series, we will be bringing you updates from poker pros, who are under lockdown in various parts of the country, to find out what they have been up to since the lockdown and how they are coping with the restrictions.

We start with Goa, and for obvious reasons – it is the heartbeat of the live poker scene in the country! However, the Coronavirus outbreak resulted in the casinos being asked to shut operations on March 15 even before the nation-wide lockdown was enforced.

The tourist state reported its first three COVID-19 positive cases on Thursday, while as many as 60 samples were transported to Pune for testing on Saturday. The situation is worrisome, but with many Goan villages sealing their borders and residents staying at home, for the most part, the lockdown has been effective in the state so far.

The thriving live scene, coupled with the return of major tournaments has brought many poker pros to settle down in Goa. Moreover, the culture and the vibe of the place resonates well with many in the circuit.

Among the many poker pros based in Goa is India’s poker pioneer, Aditya Agarwal, who was recently blessed with a son. WPT Vietnam Main Event champion, Dhaval Mudgal, moved to Goa only in February and has been sharing the roof with Romit Advani and Abhinav Iyer. Poker coach and commentator, Abhishek Goindi, along with Raghav Bansal, are the other prominent names in the circuit living in Goa. Our very own PokerGuru Ambassador, Kartik Ved, is also in Goa during the lockdown.

So what have the poker pros in Goa been doing? Let’s find out!

Aditya Agarwal

The poker pioneer of the country, Aditya Agarwal, shifted base to Goa two years ago. Even though he’s been keeping busy with daddy duties since January, the poker maestro has been finding time to put in decent volume in the online MTT’s and with phenomenal results. He is currently ranked second on the 2020 profits leaderboard with over ₹70 Lakhs in profits.

Talking about the time he’s been devoting to playing during the lockdown, Agarwal said, “I start around 9 or 10 PM and play till I’m in my last MTT. Right now, I’m just mostly sleeping during the day, and mostly awake during the night. I do wake up during the day to take an update on the crisis. But otherwise not been doing much.”

So what else has he been doing during the lockdown? “I have been pretty worried about the situation, so haven’t really picked up any hobby or fitness project as yet. I was on a break from coaching, but I think this is a good time to make some money, so I’m going to start playing more, start studying more,” he said.

Agarwal was positive about the current situation in India. “I don’t think we’ll get into stage 3, but the lockdown could go on for at least three months before we see any kind of normal life return. But I’m feeling better about the situation, so I think I’m going to start trying and play a bit more.”

Pointing out how crucial it was to maintain social distancing, and ruling out the possibility of international travel for at least a year, he said, “I would highly encourage players to be smart, not to be ignorant…this virus is spreading. It’s really important that people practice social distancing. India might recover faster than the rest of the world, but normal life is not going to be back until the whole world gets a grip on the pandemic. So, I feel like in India in three months, there’s going to be limited movability, and in six months, I think different states will open up. I myself will not be traveling anywhere, not going to be leaving my house for at least three months. After that, I don’t think international travel will be on the agenda for at least a year.”

Dhaval Mudgal

One of the old-timers in the sport, the musician, turned poker pro-Dhaval Mudgal only recently moved to Goa. He was following a rigorous routine for poker and fitness. Now because of the lockdown, Mudgal’s personal trainer is unable to come home and train him, and this has affected his routine. But Mudgal isn’t giving up as he intends to start an online workout routine soon. Apart from taking care of his health, he’s also been getting a lot of practice playing FIFA. “Since moving to Goa, I had a trainer coming to make me workout, but since the lockdown, I’ve laxed a bit. Gonna start an online workout routine soon. I’ve been playing a few FIFA tourneys on the PS with a bunch of friends. Considering learning a new language as well!”

His online volume has surged, though. “Before this lockdown, I was playing 5 days a week, now it’s pretty much every day. Start around 8.30 (PM) most days,” Mudgal informs. “To be honest, I haven’t been studying enough due to the really high volume we had in the last few months. Hopefully can find a more balanced study work schedule in the coming weeks.”

We asked him what would change if the lockdown gets extended, and he was quick to point out, “I don’t think we are equipped to answer this question as we don’t know what the situation will be. It’s needed tbh (to be honest), but much more planning to supply essentials needs to happen from the government’s end.”

He cautioned, “Please stay home. India is a disaster waiting to happen with our density of population and low sanitation standards. Try to meditate, exercise, and find something fun to do apart from poker and remember to help the needy in this crazy time.”

Kartik Ved

PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved is a protégé of Aditya Agarwal, and he is one of the most consistent winners, both live and online. Ved has been in Goa for over 10 days now and has been putting in a lot of volume playing online MTT`s lately.

The lockdown hasn’t changed much for him, as he informs us, “My schedule has been the same as before the lockdown. I plan to go swimming more often in this lockdown as a form of exercise, that’s about it. I’m playing 12 hours a day nowadays.”

Commenting on the increased online traffic at this time, he said, “The poker scene is booming due to this lockdown, I will be battling at the felts.”

On a parting note, he added, “Stay indoors. For you and your family. Respect the lockdown, it’s for everyone’s benefit.”

Abhishek Goindi

Former poker pro turned poker coach Abhishek Goindi is another prominent player who lives in Goa. With the nation-wide lockdown in place, Goindi has been keeping himself busy with coaching. “Not playing any poker off late. Been focusing more on the coaching side of things,” Goindi said, talking about what he’s been doing recently.

Sharing how the lockdown has changed things for him, Goindi said, “Yeah, loads of changes. I have actually been doing a home workout even before the lockdown started. So I’m two weeks into the home workout. The routine change is that I wake up in the morning, and we have a total of 27 students, so it’s a lot of work. Yeah, I do some videos, and by the time I finish, it’s already evening. Then I do my workout, and then I just watch some training videos before I go to sleep.”

“What changes for me is that I won’t be able to go to the beach! Yeah, I won’t be able to travel, but apart from that, not much. I have been focusing the last couple of weeks in the coaching bit because a lot of people are at home, and the demand has gone up for Poker Bootcamp India,” he added.

Advising others to stay indoors and not panic, Goindi compared the current situation with what a player may have to face on the poker table, “It’s as good as getting all-in with ace-king versus ace-queen! You can’t control the runout of the cards, but you have to just trust the process and keep doing it! Use your time wisely to learn something different. You can’t experience any FOMO right now, everyone in the world is on the same tangent. Make sure it’s used productively, rather than getting anxious or losing your mind over something you can’t control.”

That’s all for our update from Goa. But do check back for more updates from other cities!