Welcome back to another edition of #MondayMotivation, and bringing us some much-needed motivation today is one of the friendliest faces of the domestic circuit, Abhishek Goindi!

The poker coach emerged as the biggest winner on Sunday after taking down Spartan Poker’s IOPC#2 Sunday Prime for ₹8.19 Lakhs! He posted another five ITM finishes to rake in ₹10.31 Lakhs in Sunday winnings!

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The co-founder of Poker Bootcamp India (PBCI) started his poker journey in 2007 during a two-month summer break while still in high school. By the time he joined Christ College in Bengaluru, Goindi was already a regular at playing micro-stakes cash games with friends.

He attributes some of his early success to French poker veteran Philippe Davis, who taught him some tricks and staked him. Goindi won ₹42K in a tournament at Davis’ place and was hooked. Ultimately, going pro was not a difficult decision for Goindi. The going was not all rosy, though, and for a short while, he worked at HSBC Bank, returning to poker as soon as he could.

Over the years, Goindi has had an on-again, off-again relationship with poker. During his break from poker in 2013, he even worked as a sports consultant for the World Sport Group. In 2016, he launched his online poker site – GoPoker.in. At one point, he also worked as a consultant with Adda52.

With ₹2.33 Crores in live tournament winnings, including titles at events like Aces Unlimited, India Poker Legend, APT Manila, PokerGuru Tour & Deltin Poker Tournament, Goindi is a force to be reckoned with on the live felts. The man has also been steadily working on his online game and has built up quite a repertoire of FT finishes. He presently boasts ₹2.29 Crores in recorded online earnings, ₹95.22 Lakhs in net profits.

Speaking of online poker, Goindi’s spectacular Sunday run also happens to be his second-biggest score on Spartan Poker and his first-ever IOPC title win. Sharing his excitement on winning his first IOPC title, Goindi said, “Winning a title always feels good. Just adding another feather to the cap, and hopefully, I can get some more.”

While Goindi is off to a splendid start in the 11th edition of the IOPC and is currently on top of the IOPC Leaderboard, he does not intend to chase the leaderboard. “I have always believed that the leaderboard should be a byproduct of the performance. It’s a 22-day grind. It’s going to be a long one, so I don’t think I am going to be playing all the tournaments. I am definitely going to be playing a few. If I win the leaderboard, then I win it. But I am not particularly going to be chasing it.”

Besides winning the IOPC Sunday Prime, Goindi lapped up five more ITM finishes. Talking about his Sunday grind, he said, “I have been making a lot of ITM finishes. More than making ITM finishes, what I really look at is the top-three finishes. I have been making a lot of heads-up finishes and top-three finishes. I have made a few deals along the way. I have never really got the title, but this is the first time this year that I probably got the title.”

Goindi is a man who dons many hats. From being a poker pro to poker coach and moonlighting as a poker commentator and even hosting his one YouTube show! How does he do it?

“I’ve no idea how I do! Everybody’s asking me how I do it, and I have absolutely no idea. It’s just something when you love doing what you do. It just happens. I like experiencing different and new things. I have always been a firm believer in trying many new things and seeing what you really like. I like playing to my strengths.”

Being one of the industry veterans, Goindi has been to Las Vegas and participated at the WSOP several times. With the annual series back after a 26-month hiatus, it is on his radar. But, like Abhinav Iyer, he, too, is looking to work his way around possible travel restrictions.

Well, now that Goindi already has the IOPC Gold Badge, here’s hoping that he makes it to the WSOP and gets his hands on the glittering gold bracelet next!