For the Love of the Game Ft. Rajeev ‘RR’ Raut

Welcome back to the second edition of our latest feature – ‘For the Love of the Game!’ Today we bring you the story of one of the game’s die-hard fanatics, Rajeev Raut (cover image)!

Affectionately known as ‘RR,’ he was bitten by the poker bug way back in 1993, and his passion for the game hasn’t withered at all in nearly three decades. From playing live poker in the US and Macau to dominating Goa’s cash games, to organizing his own games, Raut has done it all.

A self-proclaimed cash game shark, Rajeev is as good on the felts, as he is in organizing poker tournaments. He set up his own poker room, the iconic Rocket Poker Room in Bengaluru in 2014, and has also been a part of the management teams at the Casino Deltin Royale and the India Poker Association (IPA) poker rooms in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

With a ‘larger than life’ personality, RR has made some long-standing friendships and connections in the domestic circuit. The man from Pune, who now lives in Goa, has countless stories and anecdotes up his sleeves.

So, without further ado, let’s take a trip down memory lane with Raut.

Introduction to Poker

Raut came across poker for the first time in 1993, possibly even before many present veterans had heard about the game.

“In 1993, we used to go to Mahabaleshwar to gamble. They used to have this illegal video machine where there used to be 5-Card poker. We got to learn poker over there. In 5-Card poker, you get dealt five cards; you can replace two cards. You could get Jackpots and all. Royal Flush even. So that’s where I actually got to know what is poker. This was before Facebook started, before Gmail or even Microsoft came to India.”

Rajeev also explained why he believes it is easy for Indians to learn poker, “It’s the easiest to teach an Indian poker. I can’t teach poker, because I have been a live professional. Any top online guy also comes and sits with me on the table, he’ll have a hard time playing cash games with me on the table. So, it’s all about instincts. You know Indians have born instincts. Its imbibed in them because, in India, it’s very acceptable for children to sit with their parents and see Teen Patti and Rummy being played during Diwali. So, poker is the easiest game to teach an Indian because they either have some background of Rummy or Teen Patti in their minds.”

“The most important thing in poker is the read. That people who play Teen Patti can do easily. I am actually surprised how Teen Patti is surviving against poker. Although numbers have gone down a lot. Still, I am shocked that people have not caught up to such an intellectual game. So, there is a huge scope in India if the game reaches the roots. If any poker site says that they are keeping 50p or ₹1 game, it doesn’t matter. An individual needs to have a smartphone, a computer, or a tablet to get into that 50p/₹1 game. They would also need net connectivity,” he added.

Playing Live Poker in India & Abroad

Raut’s first-ever experience playing live poker was not in India but in the US. Sharing the experience, he said, “For a time, I was in the US. I was living there for two months for my export business. That time, I played more of blackjack in the casino, but I used to see people playing poker, which reminded me of the old days. So, I started playing 5-Card poker on the tables, specifically Caribbean Stud Poker. Then I started entering the $1/$2 games, which were easy to win. I could easily win $30 to $50 every day.”

His return to India put a halt on his live poker days as the game wasn’t all that popular back then. However, RR eventually found another group of poker aficionados, and his poker journey continued.

“When I came back to India in 2001, there was a total limbo. No poker at all. Then through my golf crowd, I met an American named Sam. He had been visiting India since 1974 through the Rajneesh Ashram. He was an Osho guy. He had a group of guys who were poker crazy. Every Sunday, they used to play a ₹2,000 buy-in game at his house. I started playing poker with them in 2003 or ’04. Just on Sundays and those were such fun games. With a ₹2,000 buy-in you can never be serious. There was a Romanian Doctor who was also a Chess Grandmaster. There was also a French guy who I think was an Astrophysicist. So, that’s how I started playing poker again.”

There have been some stop-gaps over the years in Raut’s burgeoning poker career. Recalling those days, he said, “There was again no poker till 2008 when a friend of mine started hosting a ₹2,000 buy-in game at his house. I was playing such high stakes back then that playing ₹2,000 buy-in was nothing. I used to just go there to eat the Marwari snacks in his house. I would play blind. Those people, Mr & Mrs. Vilas Parmar, still play today. They are my friends to date also, and they have been my golfer friends since 2000. Even in 2009, I have played in their house. They still come for tournaments to Goa. Because anybody who associates with live poker, no matter what you’re doing in your life, the moment you find some free time, you will come and spend one week in Goa. In fact, nowadays, live events have become like socializing events. You meet a lot of old-timers.”

Love For Poker Operations

While Rajeev has been a restaurateur in the past, his love for poker eventually led him to pursue it as a career option. Even though he plays the game professionally, his true passion lies in the operations-end of the business.

“Poker is my profession. The restaurant business I left in 2009 when I started playing poker full time. Like I used to run home games in Pune back then. In 2010, I think the restaurant business got over. In 2012-13, I came to Goa, when I was running Deltin Royale. From there I went to Bangalore, and then to Bombay where I had a club. Then I went to Ahmedabad for two years for a club and then in Delhi also we tried to start a club. In the Radisson Blu, we had the best-looking poker room, a replica of the Wynn Poker Room in Macau. But it never took off really well. So, all the time, my life was organizing only. I was more into the operations part of it. And obviously, when you are doing operations, you are playing all the time also. But yes, my forte was organizing games.”

Setting Up the Rockets Poker Room & Association With IPA Ahmedabad

Perhaps Raut’s most notable poker venture was when he opened the Rockets Poker Room in the Garden City, back in 2014. Talking about the poker room, Raut said, “Everybody remembers the name Rockets Poker Room. I will tell you why that is. When poker became legal in Bangalore, they got a writ petition and made it legal in October 2013, and I moved there on April 1, 2014. Already the planning of Rockets Poker Room had started in March. We had ordered tables and chips of super-luxury quality, all imported. Something that people had never seen. Poker is a lifestyle sport. Without ever seeing the other poker rooms operating in Bangalore. I told my guy that if I am going to open a poker room, my comparison should be with the Deltin Royale poker room. If a guy is going to choose to come for a poker holiday for a weekend. He has to choose whether he will come to Bangalore or Goa. Both the places that had legal poker rooms. When we used to have tournaments, big professional players like Amit Jain, Kavish Shah, Vikram ‘Lungi’ Kumar, Jasven Saigal, and Kunal Patni came. They have come for days and played with me in Bangalore. This is why people remember the name ‘Rockets’ because we actually made an impact. It was not a small shady card room. It was an iconic place in India.”

“After Rockets everybody who opened poker rooms wanted to make it in comparison with Rockets. That was the actual start of people spending on making a poker room. Otherwise, they used to put those cheap seats, folding tables with dirty classic chips. At Rockets Poker Room, I got my own cards printed. I had a designer living with me. I used to design my chips on the backdrop of the felt that I am going to have. So many things I have done,” he reminisced.

Explaining why he exited the venture, Raut revealed, “There were little differences between partners and all. So, I decided to leave, and I was going to start a new poker room called Stars Poker Room. It was meant to be even more luxurious than Rockets and any other poker room that existed. But then my partners over there could not get along with the other locals. They made it difficult for us to start, so we gave up the idea. I left Bangalore after that.”

Having closed the chapter in Bengaluru, Rajeev moved to Ahmedabad to renew his association with the India Poker Association (IPA).

“I just moved on from Bangalore, and then this amazing opportunity came up to work with Suresh (KN Suresh) again. He was my partner in Bangalore, also IPA, and then in Ahmedabad. We had a plan of setting up at least 100 poker rooms. We had a person who would back us by investing; I am not exaggerating, ₹100 Crores in live poker only for Gujarat. At that time, in Ahmedabad, poker was so over the top. Every poker room was set up only in five-star hotels. My poker room, the IPA poker room, was in the YMCA, a very old and reputed club. There was a huge space of more than 7,000 square feet with an inbuilt kitchen, bathroom, and reception. I used to have nine tables running every day. YMCA used to have rooms, and I used to live upstairs.”

Handling Poker Operations at Deltin Royale

While RR is undoubtedly a passionate poker player, he has been just as involved in the operational side of the game’s growth and development in the country. Most might not know this, but he was a part of the operations team at the Casino Royale before it was re-christened to Casino Deltin Royale.

“In 2013, I was running the Casino Royale poker room. When the new ship came, I used to frequently visit the vessel while the finishing touches were being done. On August 16, after the flag hoisting, we shifted our game from Casino Royale to Deltin Royale. I was there during that transition stage. I revived the Casino Royale Cup along with Anil Gulati. Also, the Deltin Royale Cup which was innovative for having no entry fee. We implemented a scheme that, in two months, if a player played 160 hours of cash games, we would give them ₹80,000 worth of tournament tickets free. We used to have three tournaments that time for ₹50,000, ₹30,000, and ₹10,000.”

“We also used to pay TDS from our pockets from the cash game rake collection. That’s how we revived live poker tournaments in 2013-14. Then we started seeing great numbers. 150-200 people used to come for that. Most of them were already cash game players, so it didn’t become too taxing on their pockets (be)cause anyways, they used to come to play cash games. So, for every hour that they were playing on the cash tables, they were kind of getting like a rake back in free tournament tickets. We were bearing the 30% TDS also. Back then, it was impossible to convince anyone to come to Goa, stay for a week, and play tournaments. Then if they win, their TDS would be cut. In those days, TDS used to be cut on the gross amount. We were so primitive that even the buy-in was considered a part of your profit when you cashed out,” he explained.

Talking more about his experience at Deltin Royale and the pertinent issue plaguing poker in India, Raut said, “I have been through all these stages of taxation discussions. It was an alien thing from a taxation perspective. Even today, if we look at taxation, we come under lottery winnings. There is no such thing as poker winnings. There is no regulatory authority. You don’t need to ask anybody to open a poker site. There is no one to regulate a poker site or a gaming casino. So, all these things need to come into place. We need fair play, fair taxes. It should be under the correct structure.”

Using a present-day example, he said, “If you have been following all the discussions on TPG (The Players Group) in the last 3-4 months, you would see that they were all about the Adda52 rake issue and other rakes. How come four-five different sites are using different parameters for calculating TDS? If you all are running the same business, you all have to do the same tax, benefits to the players, rake cut, everything.”

The Live Poker Scene in Goa & Macau

With Goa being the poker capital of India and RR being the poker lover that he is, he was bound to have lots to say about the changing live poker scene in the coastal state.

“When I used to play poker in 2010, the first tournament that I played was Aces Unlimited organized by Rajeev Kanjani, a partner at Spartan Poker. I came to that tournament. So, it was my first experience in a tournament. The first day was a ₹5,000 buy-in event that I busted. But I told my friend that I am made for this game. The very second event from a field of 60-70 people I came down to the final two tables. But I was totally inexperienced. I was a cash game player and was loud and making fun of everything. So, I busted in 20th place. I told my friends that see what I will do tomorrow. The next day was the Main Event. Now, Kanjani just had three prizes consisting of cards and goodie bags and everything. I asked him – “what is this?”. He said you have to come in the top three to get these. I was so driven. You won’t believe it, but I made it to the final table and even finished in the top five. But then I got the worst bad beat of my life, and I busted in 5th place. I did come in the money in my very first tournament series.”

“Everybody talks about their results. In IPC, I have got the amazing results of being in the top three in the Main Event three times. When Mubina Rattonsey won it, I came third. When Kanishka Samant won it, I came third. And when Richard Haridasoham won it. I was runner-up to him. So, three IPC Main Event final tables in the top three. And I was never in loss whenever I came for a tournament series in Goa. I have always cashed. I used to do well in tournaments,” he shared.

He also talked about playing live in Macau. “In 2012, it was my first experience of going to Macau. Two-three months before that Abhishek Goindi had gone to Macau and the biggest event over there, the Red Dragon, he chopped it. It was the biggest news for India. And I could afford it, and I went. Now, many people go to Macau, but only ten Indians would go to Macau during those days.”

Elaborating on his dream run in Macau, Raut said, “Then in 2015, I had a super dream run when I went to Macau. I cashed for nearly ₹23 Lakhs in tournament prize money there. And in five-six events, I was in the top five or on the final table. At that time, I was ranked ninth in PokerStars Asia rankings.”

Macau & Goa: The Case of Exorbitant Rake

Discussing how Macau casinos function compared to those in Goa, Raut said, “When we went to Macau first, I played cash games there. They actually have a smaller chip to take the rake because the rake is so small. Those chips are not even in play. We were playing 25/50 blinds, but there was still a $5 chip because if the small blind and big blind match, the pot is $100, and 5% rake is $5. They used to give you the $20 back. In four, $5 chips which are not even in play. Only if you are all-in, they take all the chips. You can’t bet 70 over there – you have to bet in multiples of 25. So, because of the low rake, the game there has survived.”

“When I was running the game at Casino Deltin Royale, the problem started when a player came to Goa to play. They want a taxi for pick up and drop from the airport and free food over here and free entry. When you go to Macau, you get ice tea if you play cash games, and that too, it’s not a peach ice tea like made in India, the luxury stuff. It is black tea with ice in it, no fill and water. If you were in a hotel, and we were always in the five-star hotel, you get the hotel water bottled to drink. Even in (Las) Vegas, the water was actually bought, and we had to tip the waiter $1 to actually bring the water down to us. Imagine the same guys pay for water over there and enjoy all the freebies given by casinos here. Now, whenever people fight over the high rake in the live games, they have to understand that once they stop asking for their freebies in the live games, rake will come down because now they can run 20-30 tables during tournaments,” he explained.

Understanding the Poker Diversity in India

After dabbling with live poker operations, Rajeev also dipped his fingers in the online business and worked with the now-defunct poker site, Poker Masti.

“For a brief period, I was consulting with Poker Masti, after they became an official site for the backend and marketing. All Indian sites have catchy names, like Adda52 and PokerBaazi. The reason behind that is that in rural India, they associate themselves with the name. Give a name like Calling Station, they don’t care what the meaning of that is. Although a poker player knows what it means, the masses don’t know. At Poker Masti, we used to have dedicated guys who would answer queries in Hindi. We had clients from Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Bihar, who couldn’t speak English. They used to know the game. They were all outstanding in studies.”

Raut’s love for poker has also led him to encourage numerous young players to learn the game.

“There was a Prof. Deepak (Deepak Dhayanithy) in IIM Kozhikode. In Bangalore, he had come to my club Rockets, where he told me that he had introduced poker as a subject at IIM. Now, they are all talking about him, but he came to my club in 2014. If you see, some of the smartest Indian poker players are from the Manipal University because they started playing a long time ago. Right from the time they come into the dorm, they’re playing. So, the IIM guys have actually started much later. You can say that they start learning about poker in the Post Graduate stage. If you have in India, Team Manipal v. any other Team, Manipal will win. This is a fraternity game. It inspires camaraderie. The stakes don’t matter. These guys have the drive to win in the game.”

He also shared a story about one of our Young Guns, Siddharth Karia.

“I was a part sponsor for an event in Symbiosis School of Economics in Pune, in maybe 2010. They had a ₹250 buy-in tournament, which more than 1,000 to 1,600 people participated in. So, I sponsored the cards and the chips for them. Even though poker was at an infant stage, I was still shocked that 1,000 of these guys had registered. Siddharth Karia was a part of this entire drive. He was one of the organizers. He knew that I played poker, so back then in 2010 or 11, he had approached me for the sponsorship. See, guys like these would not come to Goa for poker, but I was surprised to see that so many players were even interested in the sport.”

Social Networking & Getting to Know Phil Ivey

Being so intrinsically involved in poker operations, Raut identifies social networking as a key to help the sport to grow.

“I have played the highest stakes in Bangalore, and I opt to play the game that I am dominating. I go to every casino and play. So, I create a social networking environment. I am friendly on the table, make friends, and make network because I still do private events. I make deals with people and do poker tournaments in other cities or poker rooms. So, there are people 15 to 25 people who come with me, and we go and do poker events.”

His networking also got him close to working with 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey at one point.

“Phil Ivey wanted to get a manager or a representative in India because he wanted to come for events, so he approached me through a friend I had in Pune. He doesn’t talk on the phone, so we decided to do a WhatsApp call. I made my wife record the WhatsApp. When he came online, I cried, I was in tears. First, I thought that I was being made a fool of. But then I had a chat with him. He was in Hong Kong, and he told me to come and meet him for this discussion of me being his manager. What events he should come for and how I could promote something. I spoke to a lot of site organizers. When he told me to come to Hong Kong to meet him, I agreed. I asked him – ‘for your convenience, where should I take a hotel and stay.’ He said that – ‘the Sheraton is right next door to my place, so why will you stay in a hotel just come and crash with me.’ The day when my flight was scheduled, it was the most torrential rain in Bombay. Twenty flights were canceled, and I couldn’t go to Hong Kong. I missed that meeting with Ivey.”

The Importance of Family Support

Expounding on how important a family’s support is for a poker player to thrive, RR said, “My family is very supportive. Thanks to my wife, mom, dad, and everybody. My father and I used to play national Bridge tournaments. So, see cards were in the house. So, there is nothing new for them to accept that I am playing poker and all.”

Reiterating the need for families to accept their child’s preferred profession, Raut said, “If a guy takes up poker as a profession, he needs to have all the comfort. First of all, in India, although we have our own sites, we follow US timings. All the Main Events and other flagships start at 9-o-clock or 12-o-clock. Tournaments are getting over at 3,4 or 5-o-clock in the morning. So, we obviously need family support as the guy is sleeping all day, waking up in the evening. Then he is sitting in his room playing poker on a computer. Any parent would start doubting if it was normal for a child to do so. Unless acceptance is there, we can’t play. We can’t hide and play.”

“I also have a son. Like my father had been brutally honest with me, I would want to be with him. I also played many sports, like cricket, tennis, everything. I played snooker at a good level, but I told my son that I would ask you very honestly that are you good enough for this game or not? And you also take my opinion because I don’t want to see you waste your time on it. It is the same thing with poker. You should give some time of your life and part of your bankroll to the game. Give it your best shot and all that you have for that time or bankroll. Don’t just say that I will work and play. That doesn’t work. If you want to be a poker professional, give it a few years. If you have the money to stretch it over two years, give yourself that much time, see where you stand. There is no hurry; like all these guys who are poker professionals, they decide at the age of what – 21 or 23. If you waste three years of your life, what’s gonna (going to) happen, nothing. For someone like me, I cannot waste a single year of my life at this age. Because I have already made my choice. I have even told my wife that if I retire, even as an old man, if I go to Goa and play ₹10,000 cash games, I will still screw everybody and make a living, no problem,” he added.

Surviving in the Industry

Rajeev made a pretty good point regarding the longevity of a poker player’s career and how to survive in this competitive industry.

“How many people who used to play poker in 2010 are still playing today, in 2020.? In 10 years, who have survived? I have been an organizer. Vikram Verma, Rajeev Kanjani, and even Jasven Saigal for a while have been organizers. These are the few people I can think of off the top of my head who have survived 10 years of poker. This is because they always had something to do with organizing poker. I don’t know many people who have survived in the game and say that they’re net winners.”

Poker Tales

Being the vibrant personality that he is, RR is just full to the brim with exciting and funny stories about his poker journey. He shared some of his anecdotes with us.

“I used to meet Asha Bhosle so regularly in Casino Royale. She used to play Teen Patti against the dealer, or she used to play 5-card poker. She didn’t want special treatment; she wanted to sit amongst the crowd. At the end of the day, they all are educated people, they are not gonna (going to) hound her, like in Mumbai on the road. She used to really enjoy talking to people.”

“Mrs. Pammi Gavaskar was a regular at Deltin Royale, and she told me that whenever Sunil Gavaskar went abroad, she chose to go only where there is a casino so that she could play poker. Because they have nothing else to do. Her husband was playing cricket, so what would she do at those long trips. They would travel for 1-2 months, sometimes on tour. So, I remember Sunil Gavaskar went to Bangladesh. She didn’t go there. She came to Goa for 15 days. She was the only person who used to love setting up an afternoon game because that was her time pass. You won’t believe what all celebrities love poker, they just love it. Rohan Gavaskar taught almost the entire Indian cricket team the game, they used to play all amongst themselves. Dhaval Kulkarni plays poker. Robin Uthappa plays poker, so many of them, so many of them have come and been my friends,” Rajeev revealed.

Life During COVID-19

For someone who lives and breathes live poker, the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard to handle. Raut’s shared his anguish saying, “My whole life revolves around poker. I am living only for my family and poker. I want this game to get accepted. I want this game to grow. I am telling you I am actually hurt. I actually sometimes feel very sad. Because my daily routine was to get my evening sleep between 4 and 6 PM, get dressed, call a casino cab by 7 PM and be in the casino by 7.30 to 8 PM. I used to be at the casino every day when the game used to start, till whatever time it would end. All the friends used to meet up, people from out of town coming in to meet up there. Every day with all friends, it was an amazing experience. You will realize what you have missed when it’s gone. For four months, we are sitting at home. But the silver lining is that we are in Goa. Things are very safe here. So, right now, I am spending time with my family. I just started playing a little bit of online poker now, only cash games.”

He also talked about a project that he is presently working on.

“My current project is that I am training ten guys in poker. They are young guys aged between 21 to 26 years. We have a session where we get them on a table, not live because of lockdown, and we just play hands. Now there are so many hands, and because of PPPoker, we are playing for fun. I can share the hand back with them and ask them why they did this, why they did that. I really appreciate the other people doing this kind of poker coaching, like staking stables and Goindi (Abhishek Goindi). Nobody can have a future in this game without putting in the streets. And the biggest classic example is the PokerGuru Team. They were nothing before they came under the coaching of Aditya (Aditya Agarwal). ‘Intervention’ started living in Goa and started teaching these guys. The results shot over the roof. It is not that they were not playing poker before 2018-19. But they never had this sort of spectacular results.”

Future of Poker in India

As an industry veteran, Raut understands what needs to be done to grow the game in India.

“Poker can only grow when it becomes a game of the masses. Obviously, you need some people to organize poker, you need the sites. But there has to be player-friendly sites. What is happening now is that there may be an excellent site for poker, the interface is great, offers are amazing. But people have aspirations. They will play only on the big sites, they will die against the seasoned professionals, the mid-ranking pros, they will die against them in cash games and in tournaments.”

“India is a very aspirational country, they’re not the grinding types. They want quick success. But the reality is that there can be no quick success in poker. There is no quick success in life. Life is a grind, just like poker. You try to take a shortcut means you have done something wrong. And you’re gonna (going) to fail somewhere because you take a wrong turn in trying to take a shortcut. You have to grind it out.”

Wise words said by a real veteran of the game!

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