Heads-Up With India’s 1st WSOP Bracelet Winner & the Latest Millionaire Champion – Aditya Sushant

There is hardly anyone in the domestic poker circuit who doesn’t know Aditya Sushant, aka ‘Sushi’ (cover image)! A stalwart in the industry, Sushant’s calm persona and his intrinsic understanding of the mind sport is a lethal combination that eventually saw the Chennaiite become the very first Indian player to claim the coveted WSOP gold bracelet in 2017.

One of our earliest Young Guns, Sushant’s poker journey dates back to 2008. Following several failed attempts to make a name for himself in the industry, it had started to seem like a futile effort. A chance trip to Goa in 2010 turned the tide. He met India’s original ‘Poker Guru’ Aditya Agarwal, and the very next day, he went on to take down the IPC ₹25K Main Event for ₹6.26 Lakhs to become India’s first-ever India Poker Champion. He also holds the distinction of being the first-ever PokerGuru Team Pro and has also represented Adda52 in the past.

A decade in the game, Sushant is now a household name for poker lovers in the country. His poker resume is literally glittering with almost all the major domestic and international titles. Apart from being a WSOP bracelet winner, Sushant has won tournament titles at various local stops like WPT India, DPT, and BLT. He has title victories at the Rio Daily Deepstacks, PokerStars Festival Manila, The Star Casino Recurring Tournaments, and DeepStack Championship Poker Series as well. With nearly 100 live tournament cashes under his belt, he is presently ranked 7th in India’s All-Time Money List.

He is as good on the virtual felts if not better. Being the proficient pro that he is, it was only a matter of time before he claimed one of the most prestigious online poker titles in India. Sushant outmaneuvered a reg-laden field of 1,076 entries (491 unique, 273 re-entries, and 312 re-buys) in Spartan Poker’s SSS The Millionaire ₹1 Crore GTD last Sunday, banking an impressive ₹20.32 Lakhs in prize money.

Speaking to us after his Millionaire victory, Sushant shared his views on the present spike in online traffic, the sustainability of online poker in the country, among other things. Here is the complete interview.

Congratulations on the win Sushi, and thank you for speaking with us. With the lockdown 3.0 midway, it has been very crowded on the online felts off late. Almost all big-ticket events surpassed their guarantee. Do you think this increased interest in poker among people will be retained by operators post lockdown (once we get to the new normal life)?

I was reading an interesting thread by Pads on twitter yesterday. Some things could be extrapolated. No way this seems sustainable even with a little growth. The number of active users might have increased, but most of the working class is not going to have the same luxury of free time that they do right now.

Have been watching online poker very closely over the last 2 months with having a stable that’s invested 10s of millions in this time, a role at one of the biggest sites + I’ve basically played HS every day. I’m 95% sure a huge financial crash is coming which will decimate us.

— Patrick Leonard (@padspoker) May 11, 2020

Is this surge of GTD’s a limited time golden opportunity, or do you think this trend will sustain and instead grow?

Unless there is ample growth that exceeds the net money going out and compensates for the money being lost by the losing players, this trend can definitely not sustain or grow. In short, no. Hence, make hay while the sun shines.

What changes for you with live poker pretty much out of the question for the foreseeable future?

More online clearly. The two go hand in hand that way.

Share your Millionaire journey with us. All standard or something special that comes to your mind?

Was mostly straight forward. Don’t remember any specific hands. I was among the top 3 stacks from 60-70 down and managed to maintain it.

How has the Coronavirus pandemic affected your life both personally and professionally? Has this in any way affected your grind routine?

Some good, some bad. Life has lost a bit of color, but the rainbow has been quite sharp, and I’m starting to see the pot of gold now.

What’s your take on the Indian poker industry? Your opinion on what’s being done correctly and not by the Indian poker operators?

The industry still needs a lot more growth. However, I don’t want to see that growth under the current tax laws. It would only suck the money out as quickly. Things that are being done correctly by them; I don’t think I need to point out. What I would like to see in an ideal world would be a unified front by them to change the system and help grow the game organically. Leave the ‘fish eat fish’ mentality to the players.

The big question, how do we persuade or incentivize recreational players to play more of a game of skill? Also, will too many professional players in an ecosystem disrupt the growth?

Don’t think any further persuasion is needed for existing players. The game is the biggest enchanter there is. The beauty of the game will always be that everyone thinks they’re better than the other guy. I’m saying there’s always a chance. Too many professional players are never a good thing. The system balances itself over time, though, so it doesn’t really matter except in the short term.

Any immediate or long-term poker goals? What about personal goals?

Two poker goals. The first would be to play properly when I do. Take it seriously as one should his vocation. The other is to do some sort of study on a regular basis.

Personal goals are mostly to do with fitness and mindfulness. Also spending more gainful time with family. Lastly, learn some new skills.

Cover Image Courtesy: World Series of Poker (WSOP)