Women’s Day Special: Sheroes of Indian Poker

Its March 8, a day celebrated as International Women’s Day all across the world to recognize and celebrate the contribution of women to society!

Given the occasion, we renew our focus on the “Sheroes of Indian Poker” – the female stars of Indian poker, some of who have done the country proud by winning accolades on the international stage. More importantly, they continue to inspire numerous other female players to take up the game!

It’s no secret that the poker scene in India is blowing up! The game has made rapid strides, and with the increased competition, we can now see a healthy mix of female poker players competing on the domestic circuit. While the increasing number of recreational and amateur poker players is always a welcome sign for the growth of the game, the pro circuit, on the other hand, boasts of only a handful of female pros who play the game full-time. It is these pros (some semi-pros) who act as role models for other aspiring women poker players and deserve applause for their hard work and perseverance that has helped them thrive in such a competitive sport!

In our previous Sheroes feature, we had covered some upcoming talents like Radhika Shankar, Dipika Agarwal, and Priya Agarwal for their blistering run at the DPT Xpress series! Here we take a look at the pros.

Starting out, we have the Indian poker diva, Nikita Luther. The beautiful Delhi-girl can easily be mistaken for a professional model. Still, once she takes her seat at a poker table, Luther can give even her more accomplished male counterparts a run for their money! She was the first Indian female poker player to win the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and has also final tabled the prestigious WPT500 Aria Main Event in Las Vegas twice!

Next up is Muskan Sethi, a role model for women poker players all across the country! Sethi brought the mind sport unprecedented recognition after being felicitated by the Hon’ble President of India as the country’s first female poker pro. She continues to promote the game in her role as the brand ambassador for PokerStars India!

Niharika Bindra is another name that stands out. A long-time poker player who has been around the circuit for the better part of the decade, she had, in fact, won her first live title way back in 2012 but is widely considered a cash game specialist!

Maria Kirloskar is another female poker player who deserves mention. Someone very active on the live tournament circuit for years now, the multi-talented Kirloskar is the perfect role model for other players looking to take up the game professionally.

There are numerous other accomplished female poker players in the country today, and names like Pratibha Arya, Akanksha Singh, Mandira Singh, Kanchan Sharma, Deepanshi Tomar, and Shuchi Chamaria, all deserve special mention.

For this feature, we got in touch with some of these poker divas to get their perspective on the game, and their view on women playing poker competitively!

Nikita Luther

The Bracelet Champion

Nikita Luther started playing poker almost a decade ago. The stunning Luther has, over time, quietly risen up the ranks to become a poker powerhouse. In 2018, Luther did the unthinkable and achieved what most poker players can only dream of – winning a WSOP gold bracelet. “Yes, winning a WSOP bracelet is my biggest achievement so far,” Luther admits.

Today, Luther is one of the most accomplished female players on the Indian circuit, and it’s evident that’s she’s worked hard to get to this level. Last year she won the ₹15K Deep Dive title at the DPT February edition. She also ran splendidly well at the Zynga Poker WPT500 in Las Vegas to return with a runner-up finish – her second-time final tabling the reg-infested tournament. “I have studied the game extensively. I started with a coach and Run It Once videos. More recently, I did the Raise Your Edge course and got training from ‘Bencb’ himself,” she said, talking about her poker preparation.

She may be a role model for other upcoming women players, but according to her, she’s just living out her dream. “I want to continue improving and becoming a better player every day. One of my aspirations actually is to propagate the game within women!”

While she does play a lot online, what Luther enjoys more is playing live. “It’s much more fun and easier to pick up tells and profile players.” She even puts forth points on why women make for better poker players. “The game is gender-neutral. I feel women can actually be better at the game because we tend to have a better handle over aspects of the game like bankroll management or controlling tilt.”

Her message to other female players on Women’s Day? “If you do dive into the world of poker, do it right!! Segregate a certain number of hours a week to study, make a plan, and stick to it. Always discuss difficult spots with other more experienced players. Don’t be embarrassed about looking stupid. Everyone makes stupid mistakes no matter at what level they’re playing at or how good they are.”

Muskan Sethi

The Star

Yes, there are some dedicated women poker pros in the country, but Muskan Sethi stands out for her deep commitment to the game.

Undoubtedly one of the most recognized faces in the sport today, she is the proud recipient of the President’s ‘First Ladies’ Award that she won in 2018. She is also a Responsible Gaming Ambassador for AIGF, India’s gaming regulatory body. The down to earth Delhiite, however, brushing it all aside, asserts that the President’s award may be her career-highlight for now, but her most significant poker achievement is yet to come.

As the only Indian player to endorse the global poker giant, PokerStars, Sethi is in an enviable position, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting more, and she’s working hard for it. “I will be a student for life. Especially if you are a professional poker player who wants to keep up with the game. Working on all the aspects is important to me, so coaching from some of the well-experienced professionals helps me a lot and encourages me to work harder.”

Sethi, who has been the Team Mentor for the GPL India team Delhi Diehards has been keeping a keen eye on the increasing number of women playing poker. “It’s great to see female poker players giving their male counterparts a fierce competition, especially in India. Shoutout to the upcoming female players like Kanchan Sharma and Radhika Shankar for their remarkable efforts on the felts. I hope to see these numbers of female participation to grow in the future.”

Like Luther, she is appreciative of the fact that poker is not a gender-biased mind sport. “You get to be your own boss and bet on yourself. Participation in poker leagues is something women who are interested in poker must consider, as it is beneficial, especially for newcomers considering the training and perks,” she suggests.

For someone very active both live and online, Sethi prefers the virtual felts, “Online because I can put more volume, although I do enjoy the overall vibes at a live poker tournament. Hard to compare!”

Sethi’s advice to others starting out, “Identify your mistakes early and learn from them. Put in the work and believe in yourself. If you can dream it, you can achieve it!”

Maria Kirloskar

The Steady Runner

Maria Kirloskar’s love for poker can only be labeled as a passion. Even though she has been playing poker professionally for the last two-and-half years, she’s been around the circuit for nearly 12 years now.

The multi-talented Kirloskar is a successful entrepreneur and an author, but poker has, for the longest time now, enjoyed a presence in her life. Last year, Kirloskar final-tabled the 2019 BPT ₹50K Main Event for a ₹8.66 Lakhs paycheque. “I prefer to play live rather than online because I love interacting with other poker players in real life!”

Kirloskar has also been vying to get better at the game. “I was part of the Indian Poker Pros (IPP) coaching group, where I learned a tremendous amount. I now learn at my own pace through a couple of subscriptions to poker coaching sites. I still consider myself a novice at the game. My only aspiration for this year is to build a good routine which includes meditation, fitness, study, and volume that will support consistent positive results.”

Kirloskar, who was the brand ambassador of PokerBaazi for three years, feels that poker offers limitless opportunities for Indian women. “The current crop of women poker players are doing very well – although we’re a small number, we play regularly, put in a lot of effort, make many sacrifices and get great results,” she said, adding, “If Poker is your passion, do the work and results will follow.”

Niharika Bindra

The Cash Game Specialist

If there’s a growing breed of women now taking to the game, it can be attributed to the inspiring tales of players like Niharika Bindra! Bindra has been around the domestic circuit as a recreational player for almost a decade. While she has an impressive set of tournament scores to her name, it’s the cash games that are more her forte.

Like Kirloskar, she too prefers playing live. “I definitely prefer playing live over online any day! You can read people better. There’s so much more social interaction with them, and it’s way more fun than sitting alone on a computer,” she said, adding, “I have so many amazing players around me, I do pick their brain from time to time about different hands and strategies!”

Her live tournament record dates way back to 2011, when she had final tabled the India Poker Open ₹5K NLHE Rebuy, posting a sixth-place score. It was the very next year when she won her career-first live title in the India Poker Legend NLHE Turbo Rebuy. Bindra took up the game seriously about six years ago and has been playing poker full time since 2018. This turned out to be a breakout year for her both online and live. Online she won PokerBaazi’s The Endeavour and even posted a deep run in the ₹25K Big Bounty at WPT India.

Her advice for women playing poker is, “Honestly don’t hesitate to learn how to play or to show up on the felts just because it is a male-dominated sport! Be proud to be the only woman on a poker table, own it and catch all the bluffs guys throw your way!! Because trust me they are going to do their best to try and get you to fold.” Even though there’s still taboo associated with playing poker professionally, the gender shouldn’t matter. “Their game and their ability to convince the world that there is way more skill involved is what is important!”

Here future plans, “to take out more time to put in volume for the huge number of high-value online tournaments that are happening these days and hopefully winning a few soon!”

Kanchan Sharma

The Rising Star

For anyone following the poker scene closely, Kanchan Sharma’s talents couldn’t have gone unnoticed. Sharma came into the spotlight at the Baazi Poker Tour (BPT) last October when she ran deep in the ₹20K Big Bounty. Sharma missed out on a final table berth, finishing 11th for ₹33,300. Not bad considering that she had been playing the game for less than a year.

Talking about the current poker scene, she said, “I am glad to see new female poker players entering the circuit. A lot of poker groups promote women in the industry. A lot of visibility is being given to female players; this will eventually help in attracting more females in the industry. This is a very dynamic industry to be in, and though one will have to put in a lot of effort in regular studying and grinding, the rewards are worth all of it.”

Clearly, poker has all her focus these days. Last April, she quit her job, and she has been playing poker professionally since. That wasn’t a very easy move for Sharma but as she informs her, she has derived support and courage from her mother, Madhu Sharma, who despite being physically challenged, has been a successful entrepreneur and has raised Sharma single-handedly. “Initially she wasn’t very sure about me quitting my job to take up, but once she understood that this is what I want to do, she supported me whole-heartedly. If your parents are supportive, it takes your game to another level. She has sacrificed so much for us (children)…she has made me the way I’ am…she inspires me every day to be a better person and to give your 100% in whatever you do,” an emotional Sharma told us.

Sharma has been taking coaching from IPP to get better at poker. “They help me improve my game and provide me regular review sessions. I have also completed a couple of online poker courses like the MasterClass by Bencb. I love to watch videos on different pages on YouTube, like finding equilibrium, bluff the spot, etc.”

The hard work is translating into results as only last week she final tabled the Sunday SuperStack on Spartan Poker, finishing fifth for ₹2.05 Lakhs. “I enjoy playing live more, but I understand to build a certain level of an edge in the future I need to put more volume and therefore need to grind more online tournaments. Also, when you are playing online, you end up cutting down variance by playing more tables.”

Talking about her future aspirations, she said, “I will say my biggest achievement in poker is not monetary. In fact, I think I have made progress in the mental aspect of the game. I now meditate regularly, and this helps me feel calmer on the tables. Bad beats don’t bother me now, I don’t feel tilted after a bad beat. I also feel more positive in life; it feels like I am in a different zone while I am playing. I want to be the best in the world and make India and women proud.”

The ambitious poker pro has her sights set on winning the WSOP Main Event someday!