Deltin JAQK’s Poker Room Gets a New Lease of Life as Prashant Agarwal and Team Take Over Poker Room Managment

Goa has been in the news and for all the wrong reasons; however, the poker scene in the state is set to be rejuvenated with the relaunch of the Deltin JAQK poker room.

PokerGuru has learnt that Hyderabad based designer entrepreneur, Prashant Agarwal (cover image) along with his partners, Porus Agarwal, a high stakes cash game regular and Anup Chandak, Omaha high roller from Hyderabad have taken over the realms of the vacant poker room at the Deltin JAQK. We bring you all the details, as well as an exclusive interview with Prashant.

Readers will remember, we had written about the defunct poker room at the Deltin JAQK, which operated aboard MV Arabian Sea. The casino, earlier known as Casino Royale was once among the most prominent offshore poker hubs in Goa.

The place has had a chequered history of relaunches, first in its avatar as the Casino Royale, which was transferred to the new MV Horseshoe in 2013, after its flagship company received licenses for the same. Consequently, the earlier MV Arabian Sea was revamped as Casino Deltin JAQK. The poker room then saw Bharat Shetty, Vikram Verma and others join as promoters, however they soon exited the poker room. At that point of time, the poker room was redundant due to lack of adequate management and the status quo had remained until recently.

With Prashant and his team breathing fresh life into the place, poker-playing fans can look forward to better times in Goa.

The new venture is set for a grand inaugural bonanza starting August 1, covering 3 days of fast-paced poker action. The launch party will feature high roller cash games as well as Omaha and Texas Hold’em tournaments. Invites for the launch have already been dispatched late Tuesday.

PokerGuru caught up with one of the key promoters of the poker room, Prashant Agarwal. We bring you Prashant’s words about the launch of the new poker room and his future plans:

Hi Prashant. Congratulations on the new venture. Please share a bit about your life, work, and poker connection for our readers…

Firstly let me congratulate you for being the best online poker portal in India by far as on date. I am a Fashion Designer for men, having completed my NIFT in Mumbai. Now I am in Hyderabad, busy with bespoke Tuxedos, Indowesterns, designer formals and whatever a man wants to customize to suit his style. I have a team of qualified designers and a showroom in the heart of the market at Banjara hills and an elite clientele to boast of, besides I do small investments in real estate. Always being fond of throwing lavish parties for every small occasion, since my college days, I had a very good PR and network with everyone around me. My birthday and diwali parties in Hyderabad usually had a casino theme, with a gathering of at least 300, wherein I was in the company of people who either love ‘Gaming’ (prefer not to call ‘Gambling’) and speculation or run their business in these sectors. In addition, Texas Hold’em was one of my favorites. I used to call professional dealers from Goa and Mumbai for my parties since 2007.

Tell us a little about how you came about getting the Deltin JAQK Poker room?

As I said, I was in the company of people in gaming business. I happened to do a project about 3 years back with one such person in East Africa, but unfortunately could not continue because of personal reasons. Thankfully the company is very successful now and the same group has taken stakes in Deltin JAQK. The group is very dynamic and professional and that is why successful. Though the poker scene is not so good as of now and a lot of people have burnt their hands trying to drive this game (in Goa). Many young punks mushroom every other day trying their luck to grab the free flowing rake, without any risk of speculation and many such PROS have approached the Deltin JAQK management. However, the present management as I said is hell bent to raise the professional standards, with a certain vision of setting a benchmark for casinos in India. As they were aware of my networking and capabilities, they insisted me to join the group and work on the poker room.

What are your motivations for taking up this project? Any changes you are looking to make, any new game formats?

Having played poker across the poker rooms all over the world including Vegas, my taking up this project is not just for some easy money, but also to raise the standard of the game to international levels. I have a vision to restructure the poker community with an Indian Poker league or a board where all players (cash and tourney) are registered and ranked based on their performances in live games at casinos and local authorized poker rooms in all cities in India. By this we can streamline the talent, give them best of encouragement and offers. I am working on loyalty cards for all players registered on this board to give the players best of the comps and benefits besides awards and prizes. As of now, the rake structure cannot be compromised or made better because of the tax structure and other exorbitant fees, we have in India.

You have a new team on board for the venture; please share a bit about this.

As I said, I have my business in Hyderabad and family obligations, also a restricted PR network in the South. I wanted my cousin Porus Agarwal, a high stake regular in Pune and Goa with a sound network in Pune, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, to join me to take up the task. It took me a while to get him to call for the flop. Now we both are equal partners and are ready for the turn and the river, hoping Deltin Jaqk Poker Room will get no more bad beats. I have also roped in a very good friend of mine, Anup Chandak, an Omaha high roller from Hyderabad as managing partner for his expertise and network of Omaha players. I believe I have the best of the team and the best backup support from the Deltin JAQK management to see this through the rough waters of Goa.

With many poker rooms mushrooming all across the country, Poker in Goa has definitely seen a declining trend. What is your general outlook on the Poker Industry in Goa?

Poker Industry in Goa has never seen a decline. It is just that players find different venues or are not treated with best of the comps and loyalty benefits to lure them. Sometimes it is not just the comps and benefits; it is the packaging and presentation of what you can offer. Poker rooms though official and authorized in some cities, the status will always be in dark and will have to face friction with the government, the oppositions, and the police departments for the reasons best known to all. In addition, the credit control is very obscure in the private rooms, which makes them a little less trustworthy with lots of news or may be rumors about payment defaults. So these factors are very well controlled in the casino and hence less risk for the players and for the house. Added to this, Goa is a holiday destination and attracts lot of house game players, touring fishes, Omaha players; on the whole it is an Ocean. Here players can play in peace without any distractions of phone calls from business or family. That sums it up!

Any parting words?

In times to come, as I said we are the best team with a specific vision to raise the level of live poker gaming to match international standards, with best of the facilities we can offer. Of course it is not possible without the support of online poker portals like pokerguru.in. Not only we need your support, but only together can we explore the poker horizon. It is just not only covering the events but for developing the ranking systems for both cash and tourney players and very soon ISOP Poker Bracelets.

Raising a toast to the Deltin JAQK Poker Room with a launch party planned for 1st to 3rd of August … Prashant Agarwal signs off!

Thanks Prashant for taking the time to talk to us and we wish you all the best for the new venture!

So there it is folks, the grand opening of the freshly vamped Deltin JAQK Poker room and perhaps the dawn of a more professionally managed and glittering era of poker in Goa.

We will bring you all the news as it occurs.