Monday Motivation With Uttam Lamba – Powering Through Significant Hurdles En Route to a Third-Place Finish in Spartan Poker`s The Millionaire

Monday Motivation With Uttam Lamba
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  • Namita Ghosh September 13, 2022

We’re back with yet another edition of our #MondayMotivation feature! And today’s edition is truly an inspiring story! Joining our team’s Saumya Paithankar this week was Uttam Lamba, a relatively unknown player on the domestic online circuit who burst into the spotlight and how!

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On September 4, Lamba made his way to the final table of Spartan Poker’s ₹1 Crore GTD MS #21 – The Millionaire, eventually shaking hands on a three-way deal that saw him finish third. Lamba pocketed a personal-best ₹10.70 Lakhs, even as Rishab Malik grabbed the bragging rights to become a two-time Millionaire, and Vaibhav Sharma finished runner-up.

Uttam Lamba
Uttam Lamba

 

On the surface, it seems like a standout situation. Heads-up and three-way deals are pretty commonplace when it comes to big-guaranteed tourneys. Malik and Sharma are quite well-known in the domestic circuit and have FT-ed numerous marquees. So, what’s the big deal, you ask? The story in focus today is of Uttam Lamba and how the young lad overcame many hurdles to bank his career-biggest payout!

“It was unbelievable,” Lamba said, recounting the run that began with him qualifying through Day 1D of The Millionaire through a ₹550 satellite. Lamba was traveling, and when he qualified from Day 1D into Day 2, he was transiting through Delhi and had a train to catch! Talk about being dedicated!

Post his deep finish, Lamba even made an FB post on the same, talking about the challenges he had to face while playing the event. “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to play the entire Day 1D flight since I had to catch a flight to Delhi and a train from there the next day. But I thought it’d be good to make it to Day 2. I qualified through Day 1D with a good stack for Day 2 and was playing at the railway station on Day 2.”

After a few hours, he realized the battery of his mobile was about to run out, and Lamba had to borrow a phone charger from a shopkeeper. He was running well and decided to miss his train to concentrate on the event. “I decided to skip the train since I knew that if I board, I will lose connectivity and my chance to run deep in the event.”

Winning was far from Lamba’s mind. He just didn’t want to give up on the circumstantial limitations.

So how was his run, and how did he focus through the mayhem? “I haven’t played a tournament before where I folded so many hands. I took risks here and there but mostly focused on playing the game very judiciously. I decided to play only the hands I felt were strong.”

We have often covered stories of players who have overcome disagreeable families and downswings to emerge victorious. Lamba may not have won The Millionaire title, but he is a Millionaire nonetheless, thanks to his perseverance.

Uttam Lamba
Uttam Lamba

 

Poker is growing in India, giving us poker die-hards a huge adrenaline rush when we come across players from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities playing and talking poker technicalities with love and passion. Lamba’s story is hugely inspiring for recreational players hunting for value and learning along the way.

Based out of Bahadurgarh, Lamba has been playing poker for the past five years. He started with home games and then ventured into online poker on foreign sites before moving to the Indian poker platforms. “I was primarily freerolling my way to slowly build my bankroll.”

Uttam Lamba - MTT Profit Graph
Uttam Lamba – MTT Profit Graph

 

The seven-figure score has motivated Lamba to dive deeper into the game. While he hasn`t played a lot of live poker, Lamba feels he has to keep up the game by studying the technical aspects. “I haven’t played much live poker, but I attended a tournament in Bangalore three years back and ended up final tabling that as well.”

Lamba also wants to work towards reaching a point where he can play without worrying about the variance in the game. “I want to play well, taking the variance in my stride.”

He does have a few poker buddies who discuss hands and feels the overall environment of the poker community is very supportive. Anant Purohit is one of the players he follows and reaches out to clear his doubts.

Anant Purohit
Anant Purohit

 

For Lamba, the biggest lesson poker has taught him is patience. “In poker or in life, even if you’re losing, you will at one point see an improvement, changes for the better, so don’t give up,” he says.

Today his tracked online winnings stand at a modest ₹14.68 Lakhs. But the fact that he converted a ₹550 satellite buy-in into a seven-figure score is not just thrilling. The story speaks of a player’s patience, focus, and dedication to the game.

Kudos to Lamba for his feat; we wish him all the best in his future poker endeavors!

 

Note: The interview was conducted in Hindi and translated into English for the editorial feature.

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