Coronavirus Lockdown: An Update From Poker Pros in Chennai

These are precarious times with the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, having gripped the entire world hostage with fear! The number of COVID-19 cases crossed the 1 million mark on Friday, and as on Sunday morning, the global tally of Coronavirus cases has climbed up to 1.2 Million.

Even with the Indian government claiming that the virus is still not onto the community spread stage in India, the numbers have climbed sharply this week. As on the time of publishing this report, as many as 3,374 positive cases had been reported in the nation and the death count stood at 77. This recent spike is majorly attributed to a religious gathering by the Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi.

As India struggles with the unprecedented increase in COVID-19 infected cases and the ongoing challenges of the nation-wide lockdown, we reached southward to some active poker pros in Chennai to find out what they have been up to.

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, is home to nearly 71 Lakhs people. The state has reported a sharp rise in Coronavirus cases recently, primarily due to Jamaat followers who have returned from the controversial religious gathering. While by Friday, the state had a confirmed 411 COVID-19 positive cases, today this number has spiked to X. In Chennai alone, there are X positive cases.

So how are some prominent poker players in Chennai holding up during this lockdown, and what have they been up to? For this feature, we connected with India’s first bracelet winner Aditya Sushant, PokerGuru Staking’s Vikram Kumar, PokerGuru Ambassador Vivek Singh and former Millionaire champion Sreekanth Narayan. Let’s see what they had to say about the lockdown and their current routine.

Aditya Sushant

One of the shining stars of Indian poker, Aditya Sushant, is also the first player from India to win a WSOP bracelet. The Chennai-lad is spending his lockdown days at home and seems to be taking a hard-earned break from poker. “I have been playing almost no poker at all, actually,” Sushant informed.

A player who enjoys a cult fan following in the game, Sushant, told us that he has brought in a lot of changes to his daily routine, especially with regards to general hygiene. “I have generally been taking care of hygiene a lot more. Washing hands/sanitizing often and eating foods that help build immunity. So not so much the outbreak but I decided to make some lifestyle changes around the same time to better my quality of sleep, health & well-being. Hence, I have been sleeping early, waking up early, and playing nearly no poker in the process. I’ve started cleaning the house every day. Dunno (don’t know) if that counts. Cooking is beyond me. This is something I felt I can take upon myself, and it’s a good overall workout as well.”

And yes, Sushant, who has been on a fitness binge that has helped him shred a lot of the extra weight, is now getting back to a more disciplined fitness routine. “I have also been focusing on fitness a lot more. Reading is something I’d like to start again.”

His advice to others at this time was to “try and get things done that you’ve been putting off for a while. Inculcate some good habits into your routine. Focus on health (mental & physical). Eat healthy, get adequate sleep. Focus on doing the simple things right.” Pointing out that there’s not so much that has changed for players apart from the bigger fields and increased pools, he went on, “So focus on playing the best you can. Work on your game on the side. It’s a good time to do so.”

He was candid enough to admit that the current situation has not affected him much though traveling for poker is out of the picture for him, at least for the foreseeable future. “Mainly no traveling of any sort, I guess. So live poker out of the picture indefinitely. Otherwise, just continuity of the general inconveniencing that’s been caused. Shouldn’t be too bad for me personally, though. I have managed fine so far. Kinda enjoying the peace!”

Vikram ‘Lungi’ Kumar

Vikram Kumar, who calls himself a recreational pro, is adept at donning several hats at the same time. All his talents are being to the test as he is spending his lockdown days at his Chennai home, helping his wife take care of their twin daughters. “Other than babysitting, I am just playing poker quite a bit. That’s the only time pass at the moment that I’ve got. In fact, I’m slowly becoming a pro again, from being recreationally professional. Eat, Sleep, Grind.”

With the lockdown taking away most of his other business obligations, Kumar has been using all the spare time for playing poker. In fact, as he reveals, this is the most poker he has ever played. “There is nothing, it’s a lockdown, not many meetings, no other working than playing poker and looking after the kids, so just taking it as it comes. In fact, clocked the most number of hands I have ever done online today. Probably I would not have played so many hands even in a week before today.”

Kumar refused to even contemplate the thought of an extended lockdown and pointed out how important it was for everyone to pitch in to control the crisis by following the social distancing and self-quarantine protocols put in place by the government.

“Let’s not even think about the lockdown getting extended. Let’s be positive, let’s hope India recovers, And COVID-19 let’s make it history, Social Distance. Let’s listen to the government guys, they are trying to do the best. Please co-operate with the authorities. Social distancing is the need of the hour. Be sanitized, be safe.”

Vivek Singh

Part of the PokerGuru Staking stable and a mentee of Aditya Agarwal, PokerGuru Ambassador Vivek Singh, is a diehard poker fanatic. And as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating; it’s this young poker star’s poker resume that does the talking for his talents. He’s a player equally at ease at MTTs as cash games and boasts of ₹2.29 Crores in online MTT winnings.

Like most other poker pros we have spoken to so far, he has been busier than ever since the lockdown began. “I am putting in good volume in MTTS as I used to do even before the lockdown. Quality volume is definitely required if you want to be an MTT crusher,” he said.

The lockdown may have brought a halt to all his live cash game sessions during the day. Still, he’s been devoting that time to study. “My daily routine used to revolve around live cash during the day and MTTs in the night. So the major change is I can’t play live cash, but to bring the positive out of the negative, I can definitely put in the volume in studying for the time I have and am doing so. Poker takes a lot of my time, so recreationally I watch content.”

And if the lockdown gets prolonged, Singh plans to spend more time with his family. His advice to fellow pros is to give more time to their loved ones and focus on quality grind, study, and playing. “I would dedicate some time to my family, which I think I haven’t been doing ’cause of the busy schedule and me putting high volume into playing since October. And another change I would like to get is to get fitter and consciously follow a better diet, which is definitely possible staying at home.”

Sreekanth Narayan

It was last December when the upcoming poker player Sreekanth Narayan entered the elite Millionaire Club as he ran past a field of 3,262 entries to win The Millionaire Lite title on Spartan Poker.

And like most of his contemporaries, this lockdown period has him grinding for close to 10 hours each day. Not much has changed otherwise for this Chennai resident apart from the fact that the extra time at home has given him more time for studying.

Also, as he jokingly puts in, household chores like cooking are keeping him engaged! “The routine has pretty much been the same. Except that I have been able to do more reviews and off table work. I have to admit that cooking has been taking quite a bit of my time. I am hoping to improve my skills by the end of this lockdown!”

He is a staunch supporter of the ongoing lockdown in the country, as he says, “Pretty sad to see people roaming around despite tough measures. Poker wise, I feel this is the best time to put insane volumes as GTDs are getting crushed every day. So I don’t think an extension of lockdown will make any difference to our schedule.”

Echoing the same views as the other poker pros, his advice to others is “to stay healthy, which includes having food on time, sleeping well, and maybe doing some home exercise/yoga. And for people who were lucky enough to reach home before this lockdown, have a good time with your family.”

That’s all for our update from Chennai. But do stay connected for more updates from other cities!