We often talk about the need for more women to play poker to make it a more gender-inclusive game. Keeping that in mind, today we bring you the journey of an emerging poker player – Dishani Vijay.

The 24-year-old is relatively new to the game. In fact, the first time she made waves at the virtual felts was back in November 2020 when she placed third in PokerBaazi’s Sunday headliner event, BSS SuperStack. About two weeks later, she went on to ship her career-first online title in the BSS MegaStack. To date, Dishani has claimed four titles and is sitting atop ₹31.61 Lakhs in tracked online winnings, with ₹8.07 Lakhs in profit.

Recapping her poker journey, the Udaipur-based player says, “I was introduced to poker by my friend. I was quite fascinated with card games from the start, which eventually helped develop my interest in poker. A friend of mine had told me about online poker sites like PokerBaazi. That is when I started playing micro stake tournaments and gradually built my bankroll. With time I moved to high stakes tournaments.”

Having graduated with a B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering from Rajasthan Technical University in 2018, Dishani began working as Software Developer at Tata Consultancy Services in 2019. Due to her professional commitments, she has not taken up poker as a full-time pursuit. “I mostly play on the weekends and consider myself a recreational poker player. As a software developer, I have to balance my work commitments with poker. Which means I can only play on weekends.”

Now that Dishani has been a part of India’s online poker circuit for over a year,, she does have some cherished moments to look back at. “The NPS series was memorable for me since I was able to make it to many FTs. I even placed fifth in the NPS Kick-Off.” Given that the final table of the NPS Kick-Off has featured the likes of eventual NPS Main Event champion Mohammad Azhar and seasoned pro Goonjan Mall, it was quite an achievement, indeed!

On the professional front, Dishani has been working from home since the pandemic hit. “As a poker player, the pandemic has been quite good for me. It was during the pandemic that I started playing poker. It has given me more time to study and improve my gameplay. I watch videos and read books, so all in all, the pandemic has been helpful for me, poker-wise.”

Talking about the support she has received from the domestic poker community, she shares, “Poker players are so supportive, especially Kanchan Sharma. She added me to a group where we all take the initiative to encourage each other to play better.”

Dishani believes that hosting more women-specific tournaments would be a great way to pull in more women to the mind sport. “This will help see a spike in participation numbers and boost confidence as well!” she says.

A state-level Kathak dancer who has also participated in the nationals, Dishani has set ambitious goals for herself to turn pro in the near future. “I want to be a professional poker player someday but I still have a long way to go in terms of honing my skills.” she adds.

We wish Dishani all the best and hope to see more of her on the virtual and eventually live felts!