IPC March 2010 - Day 3

After an entertaining and exciting final table last night, we finally woke up to Day 3 of the India Poker Championship on Saturday. This would be the final tournament of the inaugural IPC event. The buy-in for tonight's tourney would be 20k.

We followed the same routine of the past few days and headed to the casino at about 6pm. We expected a dip in the numbers for the game tonight for two reasons - A) the buy-in had gone up and that would deter a lot of people from playing and B) it was a dry day for 3 days starting today. We hoped however that people would take a shot in the satellites prior and try to get their seats into the main event. The satellites have been quite the hit with our players and we are sure that going ahead this will be an integral part of our events. When we got to the jetty, there were about 10-12 people waiting for the feeder boat to take them to the main ship. Seeing the lesser number of players at the jetty confirmed our suspicions about the reduced number of participants for the final event. Day 1 and Day 2 of the IPC had garnered 60 and 58 players respectively and we were hoping that at least 35-40 players would show up for the 20k game under the circumstances.

The IPC Winner's Medallion

Eventually 16 players started playing the satellite and it was then that our Tournament Director Craig Wildeman approached the IPC directors with an idea to generate some more excitement and buzz as well as up the number of entries. Craig wanted to run a Single Hand Satellite for an entry into the main event. So players are dealt just the 1 hand and the best hand takes it all. In case of a tie, another hand would be dealt to the tied players to determine a winner. There were a total of 3 seats that were given away through this satellite and it was exciting for everyone, players and spectators both gathering around and shouting out what cards they wanted the dealer to deal. It was a nice little 5 minute buzz for everyone.

Finally we got down to business. There were a total of 27 entrants in the IPC 20k Freezeout. However as the game started Craig mentioned that a few players had called in to say they were getting delayed due to the Hindu carnival, Shigmotsav which was causing some traffic issues, thereby delaying them from coming to the venue on time. Eventually there would be a total of 37 players who would do battle to be the IPC 20k champion. The action was tight to begin with although once again we lost a player within the first 2 hands of the tourney. As the action went on, we had a quick chat with Craig about the blind levels. Over the past couple of days, we received feedback that the blinds levels took at harsh jump after 500-1000 and while it is obvious that this point will be reached at some point in any tournament, we decided to tweak things a bit. We believed increasing the time levels would compensate for the jump in levels and as suggested by Craig, the clock would be increased to 25 minute from the existing 20 minutes once action went into the 1000-2000 level and beyond. After Craig's announcement regarding the change in structure we saw many players nod approvingly at the incorporated change. 


The action then began to increase rapidly and players started to drop out like flies. At the end of the 4th hour of play, we were down to the final table. Phil S, our 10k Tourney winner from the previous night narrowly missed out on making the final table. However it was a back-to-back final table appearance for Keshav S who had played some solid poker to get to the final table. This tournament had 5 payout positions as a result of the reduced number of participants from the previous night. We finally got down to the money when we lost our bubble boy, Rohit. The rejoicing was short-lived as the focus now was to secure the big bucks and the IPC Winner's Medallion. 


Half the table namely Bharat, Kehsav and SV were the the big stacks with only a few blinds separating them and similarly the remaining 3 short-stacked players were Ricky, Tarun and Rohit. Soon enough the inevitable happened and the big stacks got heavier and then it was 3 way action between Bharat, Keshav and SV with Keshav who was on the short stack. Hands got traded back and forth before Keshav's AK gets brutalized by SV's call with a Q9 and he hits two pairs Q and 9 to get knocked out in 3rd place. Keshav's performance like Nikhil Jain (our 5k champ) is quite noteworthy as both gentlemen made back-to-back final tables and had a healthy pay-day for their efforts. 


Heads-up battle lasted for no more than 15 hands. Halfway through those hands SV got crippled by a bad beat when his top pair on the flop got beat by Bharat's one card flush which hit on the river! SV tried valiantly to make a comeback by winning a few pots but luck wasn't on his side when his QQ was called by Bharat's A4 and the board threw up a an A on the flop and eventually opened out a straight for Bharat. And with that hands, loud cheers went up as Bharat.S became the winner of the inaugural IPC 20k Freezeout tournament. Along with a very healthy share of the pool, Bharat was also given an IPC Winner's Medallion, a bottle of French champagne, a DVD of Rounders and an IPC coffee mug. Many congratulations to our IPC 20k winner Bharat S along with runners-up positions for SV and Keshav Sethia.

Close-up of the IPC Winner's Medallion

The team headed to the hotel room to have a few drinks and reflect on what has been quite a successful event for us. While we had hoped for slightly higher numbers, we can't complain about how well things turned out. If there was one thing which disappointed us, it was the attitude of registered players who were no-shows and did not communicate the same to us. Perhaps a lot of them are still unconvinced about the authenticity of the championship and the genuine intent of the IPC organisers to make it the poker tournament event for India and indeed the Indian sub-continent. 


We do hope that those who did make the effort and came all the way to Goa from across the country had an enjoyable and exciting poker experience. It is because of these players who will spread the word that tournaments like ours will grow exponentially and cause India to be the next place on the world poker map to boom. On a personal front, while I didn't get to play any cards, I have enjoyed myself thoroughly by writing these accounts for the readers of this blog as well as updating our followers on Facebook and Twitter.     


Till the next edition...

IPC March 2010 - Day 2

Another day another tournament!

Once again a late night and less sleep leaves us a wee bit bleary eyed the following day as we decided to hang back at the hotel and try to relax before the evening ahead. The original plan was to head to South Goa and get some lunch at one of our favourite restaurants in Goa - Martin's Corner. I guess we will have to do this tomorrow now.

We reached the jetty on time this evening but Murpy's Law came into play once again with the feeder boats getting delayed for the player pickups. Almost 30 players were waiting at the jetty anxious to get onboard and register themselves for the BPC 1250 Superturbo satellite for seats into the IPC 10k tournament later this evening. At the venue players quickly registered themselves for the Single Table SnG satellites. One seat per 8 players would be awarded. Finally 4 tables were filled up with 32 players and eventually 4 players won their seat at a fraction of the cost into the IPC 10k tourney.

It was then time for the tourney to begin. Many players were playing at the cash tables to kill time before the main game of the evening was to begin. Finally 55 players started the in the 10k tourney. With a few late entrants the tournament was closed with a final field of 58 players. The action till about halfway thru was SUPER tight!! No one was making any major moves and there was limited action with small pots being played across most tables. Slowly the eliminations began to go up and about 9 levels in we were down to half the field. There was a lot of intense poker action with players battling each other for chips and table domination. We were updating periodically on the action LIVE from the venue onto Twitter and Facebook. There was some quite crazy hands and multi-way all-ins too.

Finally we got down to the final table with varying stacks. The short stack on the table was Phil Sanders who at one point in the tournament was down to ONE chip. But he managed to build his stack a bit and held on to make it to the final table. The other name of interest on the final table was Nikhil Jain who was the winner of the 5k tournament the previous evening. Nikhil who was also down to barely 1000 chips at one point battled hi way back and was at 2nd chip position on the final table. The action on the final table lasted for about an hour with the price of poker getting more and more expensive. Once we were down to the final 7 who were to be paid we had faster eliminations and Nikhil Jain added to his winnings from last night by cashing out in 6th place. It then came down to headsup and it was Phil Sanders who literally came back with a chip and a chair and bested Keshav Sethia in a tournament that lasted 6 hours and 15 minutes. Beating out 57 players, Phil took home a very healthy share of the prizepool along with an IPC Winner's Medallion, a bottle of French champagne, a DVD of Rounders and an IPC coffee mug. Many congratulations to our IPC 10k winner Phil Sanders along with runners-up positions for Keshav Sethia and Arjjun Singh.

Back now at the hotel finishing up this blog post. The clock's just hit 6:30am and I hope to get in a good rest before we begin the action and coverage of the final day of the India Poker Championship. The response has been quite good from the participants and we look forward to having a similar field tomorrow (or tonight as it were) as well.
Catch you on the flip side!

IPC March 2010 – Day 1

The previous night left us a little worse for wear and we barely got enough sleep as the phone was ringing from morning itself with many players calling to enquire about the evening’s event. By the time we took care of that and some other last minute things, it was time for a late lunch at the local pizzeria. Appetites satiated we headed to our hotel to get ready and then head for the venue.

It seems like sometimes nothing seems to go right no matter how much you try and prepare for it. Our driver got lost and landed up at a completely different hotel so we were late getting to the venue. We finally got in about 20 minutes late but Craig and his team had quite efficiently sorted out the players who had come to play for the freeroll satellite for a free seat into the IPC 5k Freezeout tournament later in the evening. There were 27 players who would battle in a superturbo satellite to try and win a free seat into the 5k tourney later this evening.

Once the satellite got done, we mingled with the players and got to know some of them a little more. There was a good amount of excitement from them regarding the tournament and several players displayed a keenness and enthusiasm about the game which we found quite heartening. A short while later, a few words were spoken by one of the IPC directors and then we were off!
There were a total of 60 players who finally registered at the venue. About 1/3rd of these were locals who had heard of the game happening in the weeks before and decided to come and play in our tournament. A total of 7 positions would be paid out for this field of players. The game finally ended a little over 5 hours after it started and we were left with our winner Nikhil Jain from Gurgaon who bested the other 59 contestants and emerged victorious. Besides a healthy cash prize, the winner also received an IPC Winner's Medallion and a bottle of French champagne. Our 2nd place finisher was Jasper Noronha from Mumbai who played aggressively right till the end. Our 3rd place finisher was Deepak Raina from Delhi whose solid play impressed us as much as his stonecold poker face! Besides the prizepool, each of the top 3 finishers received a certificate and a bag of goodies containing an IPC mug and a DVD of Rounders.

Once the game got done a bunch of us sat around and had a long and interesting chat about the game itself and some of the key hands that went down in the tournament. It was a very chilled out time and as organizers we had a good time interacting with our players and understanding their background. Many of the players were really appreciative of the way the tournament was run and a large part of that lies squarely with Craig and his wonderfully efficient team.

I am now back in the hotel room after another long night and the clock has just struck 5 am. Two nights in a row where we’ve stayed up till really late. We are extremely tired but there is a sense of happiness and even pride at the way things got done and it is this feeling this will help us sleep like babies tonight.

Tomorrow being the start of the weekend, we expect our numbers to go up and hopefully we will run another solid event which will be enjoyed and appreciated by our players.
Till tomorrow…

The Night Before

We had a lovely time last night in Goa. The start to the evening however was marred by some problems we faced with our hotel. Despite repeated reminders and calls about our A/C not working, the staff at the Sun n Sand seemed quite clueless on how to help us out. They had no helpful suggestions on sorting out the A/C situation and it came to a point where we as guests were being looked to for suggestions on how to handle the situation. The whole incident left a bad taste in our mouth and we are unlikely to stay at this hotel again in the future.

We then left for the casino to check on the arrangements at the venue. The staff at Casino Pride had done a great job in making sure everything was setup quite beautifully. Craig Wildeman is the card room manager at the Pride and he is a consummate professional. He will also be acting as Tournament Director for the IPC event. He runs a tight ship and crew who are probably some of the most well-trained dealers you will find in Goa or indeed in any card room setup in the country. A lot of the credit for this goes to Craig who has ensured that his dealers work the table exactly like the dealers would in Las Vegas or Macau. A very pleasant and down-to-earth individual, Craig is what I’d like to call a player’s TD. Having spent many years playing the game and being a regular visitor to the World Series and other events on the European and Asian tours, he understands the nuances of the game from the player’s perspective and is able to use this to his advantage when he is acting as TD.

Craig and his boss Phil Sander were kind enough to invite us for dinner. The venue was Wan Ho, the Chinese restaurant in the Marriot where we had an excellent meal and over drinks were able to discuss what our ideas and plans for the IPC were as well as the direction of poker in India. Phil has been in the casino business for a long time and has worked across the world. His experience and knowledge allowed us to gain some insight into how games are run internationally and how we can incorporate some of these things into our own tournaments.

At the end of the night we bid goodbye to Phil and headed with Craig to one of his (and now ours too) favourite haunts – a karaoke bar called Down the Road. We had a fair few drinks and sang some songs and had a great time. We met the owner of DTR, a gentleman named Lyndon who is originally from Bombay but has now settled in Goa for the past 15 years to run his businesses here. We finally hit our room by 4:30 am and were only just able to get our shoes off and crawl into bed.

Tomorrow’s the BIG day and despite our weary states there is more than a little bit of anticipation at the start of the India Poker Championship. Months of planning and effort will hopefully pay off tomorrow.

Can’t wait!

And we're in GOAAAAA!

Hello everyone and welcome to the coverage of the India Poker Championship March 2010 on this blog.

The team landed in Goa a few hours back. We're staying pretty close to the venue in a pretty nice hotel and the view from our room is quite lovely. The river Mandovi floats by lazily and if that isn't a sign to kick back in this laidback state of India, then I dont know what is...

 

The view from our room at the Sun n Sand Hotel

Gotta say that summer has kicked in completely here in Goa and it was hot as blazes when we got out of the airport in Dabolim. A few minutes wait for our vehicle and we're off to our hotel, Sun n Sand. The entrance of the hotel took us a little by surprise as you don't expect the front of a 4-star hotel to be as ordinary as this. But once we headed up it looked a lot better. The view is quite lovely and you can see lot of boats and other crafts moving up and down the river. One vessel is particular has caught our eye (and heart). It's a sleek white craft which looks like it could go really fast! Wouldn't mind buying one of these if I win the big money :D

A quick bite to eat and crash for a bit before we head out to check out the final arrangements at the casino. We will be meeting our host Craig Wildeman who is the card room manager for Casino Pride's poker room. Craig will also be acting as Tournament Director for the India Poker Championship.
This will be our only 'free' night in Goa so to speak and we intend to get with the Goa susegaad philosophy by eating and drinking well and singing songs at a nearby karaoke joint. Should be a fun night ahead.

Will try and post again once I'm back. Till then...