Two of our favorite bloggers/columnists/novelists not to mention poker players, have each written a poker/gambling-related post in their respective blogs.
The first is by Amit Varma (of My Friend Sancho fame) where he speaks on his blog 'India Uncut' about the practicality of legalizing gambling in India among other things. Click HERE to read that post and more.
The second is a post by Girish Shahane (former editor of Art India) on his blog 'Shoot First, Mumble Later' where he talks about his experiences of playing in the IPC and also details some key hands he was involved in.
Besides their blogs and columns, Amit and Girish also write at Yahoo India on 'Viewfinder' and 'Anything That Moves' respectively.
That's the shameless plug for the week and month even... unless we come across more! :D
11.6.10
7.6.10
Day 3 - IPC 20k Freezeout
Once again, the Berry decided to thrown a few tantrums but I was able to sending out a decent number of updates before my phone decided to just up and quit. Unfortunately we were just about getting into the final table when this happened so I wasn't able to send out any updates during the most exciting part of the tournament. But that's what these blog posts are for - to allow you, the avid Indian poker fan, to devour as many details that I can provide about the India Poker Championship.
After the success of Day 1 and Day 2, we were quite upbeat about the turnout of Day 3 figuring that we should crack the 50 mark fairly comfortably. We did but there were some jitters getting there. Around 9 pm we were still at around the 40 player mark when we were informed that a minor accident had taken place outside the jetty which had resulted in some traffic buildup. This of course meant that some players weren't able to make it to the casino as soon as they would have liked. But we waited for an additional 30 minutes for these players and then it was off to the races!
Anyone who entered the poker room could see there was a big tournament on. There was a lot of intensity on the players' faces and not surprisingly the poker room was a lot quieter on this evening as compared to the previous two nights. By the time the first hour had passed and the Alternates round was closed, there were 54 players in total who were in the fray to win the IPC 20k Freezeout. Our champions from the previous events Neel (IPC 5k winner) and Sameer (IPC 10k winner) were also back to try and add another IPC Winner's Medallion to their kitty. Neel's run in the 20k ended when the field was about half the size it began with. Sameer displayed some solid shortstack play to survive as long as he did. But it eventually wasn't enough and our 10k champ from the previous night was knocked out just before the final table.
And this is what the final table for the IPC 20k Freezeout looked like. Players' names are mentioned along with their respective chip counts:-
Susmit and Kunal being the shortstacks tried to last but the overwhelming lead everyone else had meant that they would have to get really really lucky to survive. Unfortunately that didn't happen and they were out and were soon followed by the bubble boy Masood. Girish, Amit, and Achin were the next 3 to get eliminated and then there were 3.
From the 400000 chips in play, about 200000 were with Rajesh while Avi had about 150000 and Mukul was the shortstack with a little over 550000. Mukul was eliminated in 3rd place when he made a move with 8 5 off on the button in an attempt to steal the blinds before the next level. Unfortunately for him, Rajesh woke up in the Small Blind with AsKs and there was no bad beats which meant Mukul was out in 3rd place. Headsup batte between Avi and Rajesh did not last for more than a few hands when Avi's J 10 ran into Rajesh's A J and we had our winner for the IPC 20k Freezeout - Rajesh G from Hyderabad.
Along the IPC Winner's Medallion, Rajesh takes home the biggest prize from all IPC events held till date! Avi played an aggressive game till the very end and it was this aggressive style which was largely responsible for him coming to the final table and then claiming the Runnersup position eventually.
Given the amount of Red Bull we've had over the last three nights, we should approach them for sponsorship! :D As usual its been an exhausting 3 days but there is a warm feeling of having done a good job. Given that we had a few glitches on the first day with the massive field along with having to run the tournament on our own, I think we did a fairly decent job. The players in fact had only good things to say but we hold ourselves to a higher standard so while the praise was great to hear, we are already breaking down each event day and examining areas where we can improve for our subsequent events.
The next edition of the India Poker Championship will take place in September 2010. Till then we will remain in touch with our players through our website - www.indiapokerchampionship.com. There's also the group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). If you are a tweetoholic, we are also present on Twitter under the handle IndiaPokerChamp
A quick note of thanks to our hosts - the poker room at Casino Royale and the management, staff and dealers there. Most of all we'd like to thank our players who came in from across (and even outside) the country to play at the India Poker Championship. It is because of them that a brand like ours enjoys the popularity and goodwill that it does. We are certain there will be more players for the next event. Once again I was unable to participate in the event but there is always next. As usual its been fantastic to write these blog reports and keeping our followers updated on the event.
Till the September edition...
After the success of Day 1 and Day 2, we were quite upbeat about the turnout of Day 3 figuring that we should crack the 50 mark fairly comfortably. We did but there were some jitters getting there. Around 9 pm we were still at around the 40 player mark when we were informed that a minor accident had taken place outside the jetty which had resulted in some traffic buildup. This of course meant that some players weren't able to make it to the casino as soon as they would have liked. But we waited for an additional 30 minutes for these players and then it was off to the races!
Anyone who entered the poker room could see there was a big tournament on. There was a lot of intensity on the players' faces and not surprisingly the poker room was a lot quieter on this evening as compared to the previous two nights. By the time the first hour had passed and the Alternates round was closed, there were 54 players in total who were in the fray to win the IPC 20k Freezeout. Our champions from the previous events Neel (IPC 5k winner) and Sameer (IPC 10k winner) were also back to try and add another IPC Winner's Medallion to their kitty. Neel's run in the 20k ended when the field was about half the size it began with. Sameer displayed some solid shortstack play to survive as long as he did. But it eventually wasn't enough and our 10k champ from the previous night was knocked out just before the final table.
And this is what the final table for the IPC 20k Freezeout looked like. Players' names are mentioned along with their respective chip counts:-
- Seat 1 - Rajesh G (Hyderabad) - 83000
- Seat 2 - Susmit P (Mumbai) - 5000
- Seat 3 - Achin S (Mumbai) - 57000
- Seat 4 - Girish G (Bangalore) - 58000
- Seat 5 - Avi A (Chicago/Mumbai) - 63000
- Seat 6 - Mukul C (Mumbai) - 35000
- Seat 7 - Kunal S (Mumbai) - 17000
- Seat 8 - Amit V (Mumbai) - 44000
- Seat 9 - Masood S (Mumbai) - 44000
Susmit and Kunal being the shortstacks tried to last but the overwhelming lead everyone else had meant that they would have to get really really lucky to survive. Unfortunately that didn't happen and they were out and were soon followed by the bubble boy Masood. Girish, Amit, and Achin were the next 3 to get eliminated and then there were 3.
Mukul (3rd place), Rajesh (IPC 20k Winner) and Avi (2nd place)
From the 400000 chips in play, about 200000 were with Rajesh while Avi had about 150000 and Mukul was the shortstack with a little over 550000. Mukul was eliminated in 3rd place when he made a move with 8 5 off on the button in an attempt to steal the blinds before the next level. Unfortunately for him, Rajesh woke up in the Small Blind with AsKs and there was no bad beats which meant Mukul was out in 3rd place. Headsup batte between Avi and Rajesh did not last for more than a few hands when Avi's J 10 ran into Rajesh's A J and we had our winner for the IPC 20k Freezeout - Rajesh G from Hyderabad.
Along the IPC Winner's Medallion, Rajesh takes home the biggest prize from all IPC events held till date! Avi played an aggressive game till the very end and it was this aggressive style which was largely responsible for him coming to the final table and then claiming the Runnersup position eventually.
Given the amount of Red Bull we've had over the last three nights, we should approach them for sponsorship! :D As usual its been an exhausting 3 days but there is a warm feeling of having done a good job. Given that we had a few glitches on the first day with the massive field along with having to run the tournament on our own, I think we did a fairly decent job. The players in fact had only good things to say but we hold ourselves to a higher standard so while the praise was great to hear, we are already breaking down each event day and examining areas where we can improve for our subsequent events.
The next edition of the India Poker Championship will take place in September 2010. Till then we will remain in touch with our players through our website - www.indiapokerchampionship.com. There's also the group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). If you are a tweetoholic, we are also present on Twitter under the handle IndiaPokerChamp
A quick note of thanks to our hosts - the poker room at Casino Royale and the management, staff and dealers there. Most of all we'd like to thank our players who came in from across (and even outside) the country to play at the India Poker Championship. It is because of them that a brand like ours enjoys the popularity and goodwill that it does. We are certain there will be more players for the next event. Once again I was unable to participate in the event but there is always next. As usual its been fantastic to write these blog reports and keeping our followers updated on the event.
Till the September edition...
5.6.10
Day 2 - IPC 10k Freezeout
Before I begin detailing Day 2, a quick apology for not having done the customary FB updates and tweets. The Blackberry was acting up and didn't allow me to send out any updates. Hopefully the situation should be sorted by tonight.
So after the madness of the huge field from Day 1, we were fairly certain Day 2 would give us a pretty decent turnout as well. The turnout would be lower than the 5k tourney but that was to expected given that the higher buy-in would keep some of the low stakes players away. Still a field of 80 was what we were expecting and eventually we managed to get 78 players for the IPC 10k Freezeout.
Since we had less than 80 players, we did not require the additional tables which were setup on the higher level. The action took place in the poker room only and at just past 9 pm we were off. The action was a lot more focused on Day 2 due to the higher stakes involved but we still lost 2 players within 15 minutes of the tournament starting off. There were a few more dropouts within the first one hour but then the action settled down with players battling it out for the big prizes.
We were down to half the field within 4 hours and then the extended blind levels kicked in to slow the dropout rate even more. This was a particularly important phase of the tournament as many of the short stacks were starting to feel the heat as far as the increasing blinds were concerned.
We ended up with our players for the final table by the 9th level of the blinds. The final table on Day 2 was slightly different as we had two players sharing the chip lead going in. This how the final table looked with each player's chipstack given as well:-
Play went on for another 90 minutes before we reached three way action with Nitesh (185,000) and Prabhat (150,000) with Sameer rounding off as the shortstack with just over 50,000 in chips. Players traded a few hands trying to get back in the groove after the break taken. As play went on, the hand played between Nitesh and Sameer proved to be a critical one. Blinds were 4000-8000 with Sameer on SB and Prabhat on BB. Nitesh moved all-in from the button and was called down by Sameer while Prabhat got out of the way. Nitesh showed Kc 5c which was dominated by Sameer's Ah 9s. The flop opened up two 9s for Sameer who won a very healthy pot. All 3 players now had fairly even stacks. Play goes on till Nitesh's all in is called by Prabhat who A Q hits hard with both hole cards pairing up and Nitesh finishes up in 3rd place.
Headsup play started halfway into the level where the blinds were 4000-8000. Prabhat had about 270000 chips and Sameer about 120000. A few hands were traded up and down with not much movement in chips. Sameer then went on a bit of a heater taking down about 4 pots in a row uncontested. At this point he moved into the chiplead but only by a slight margin of about 30,000 chips. The final hand of the tournament had Sam on the button limping in to complete the big blind with blinds at 5000-10000. Prabhat checked and the flop opened up to show 2s 3d 5s. Both players checked the flop and the turn was 6s. Sameer bet the pot and Prabhat thought about it long and hard before he moved all-in which was insta-called by Sameer. Cards opened up to reveal Prabhat's 10 6 o/s brutally crushed by Sameer's 4d 8d who made the nut straight on the turn. Prabhat had no outs and was drawing dead which meant the Sameer was the big winner of the night!
There were huge cheers from many players of the Bombay contingent when Sameer was announced as the winner of the IPC 10k Freezeout after just under 7 hours of action. A very commendable performance by first runner-up Prabhat who played a solid game to take 2nd place. Players gave positive feedback on the way the game was run and everyone including the players' friends and spectators alike had a good time.
It was a fantastic night with some great poker action and our final event, the IPC 20k Freezeout is to start in less than 4 hours time. Still hoping to get the Blackberry going in order to provide more updates when we're at the venue. Since the turnout tonight will be the lowest amongst the three tourneys, I hope to put up more frequent updates on Twitter and Facebook.
If you wish to follow us online, then find our group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). We are also on Twitter under the handle IndiaPokerChamp
Till tomorrow...
So after the madness of the huge field from Day 1, we were fairly certain Day 2 would give us a pretty decent turnout as well. The turnout would be lower than the 5k tourney but that was to expected given that the higher buy-in would keep some of the low stakes players away. Still a field of 80 was what we were expecting and eventually we managed to get 78 players for the IPC 10k Freezeout.
Since we had less than 80 players, we did not require the additional tables which were setup on the higher level. The action took place in the poker room only and at just past 9 pm we were off. The action was a lot more focused on Day 2 due to the higher stakes involved but we still lost 2 players within 15 minutes of the tournament starting off. There were a few more dropouts within the first one hour but then the action settled down with players battling it out for the big prizes.
We were down to half the field within 4 hours and then the extended blind levels kicked in to slow the dropout rate even more. This was a particularly important phase of the tournament as many of the short stacks were starting to feel the heat as far as the increasing blinds were concerned.
We ended up with our players for the final table by the 9th level of the blinds. The final table on Day 2 was slightly different as we had two players sharing the chip lead going in. This how the final table looked with each player's chipstack given as well:-
- Seat 1 - Masood S (Mumbai) - 23,000
- Seat 2 - Sameer R (Mumbai) - 78,000
- Seat 3 - Prabhat S (Panchkula) - 38,000
- Seat 4 - Kevin N - 13,000
- Seat 5 - Nitesh M (Bangalore) - 74,000
- Seat 6 - Mahesh K (Bangalore) - 78,000
- Seat 7 - Akshat D (Mumbai) - 39,000
- Seat 8 - Seshank S (Hyderabad) - 22,000
- Seat 9 - Susmit P (Mumbai) - 26,000
Play went on for another 90 minutes before we reached three way action with Nitesh (185,000) and Prabhat (150,000) with Sameer rounding off as the shortstack with just over 50,000 in chips. Players traded a few hands trying to get back in the groove after the break taken. As play went on, the hand played between Nitesh and Sameer proved to be a critical one. Blinds were 4000-8000 with Sameer on SB and Prabhat on BB. Nitesh moved all-in from the button and was called down by Sameer while Prabhat got out of the way. Nitesh showed Kc 5c which was dominated by Sameer's Ah 9s. The flop opened up two 9s for Sameer who won a very healthy pot. All 3 players now had fairly even stacks. Play goes on till Nitesh's all in is called by Prabhat who A Q hits hard with both hole cards pairing up and Nitesh finishes up in 3rd place.
Headsup play started halfway into the level where the blinds were 4000-8000. Prabhat had about 270000 chips and Sameer about 120000. A few hands were traded up and down with not much movement in chips. Sameer then went on a bit of a heater taking down about 4 pots in a row uncontested. At this point he moved into the chiplead but only by a slight margin of about 30,000 chips. The final hand of the tournament had Sam on the button limping in to complete the big blind with blinds at 5000-10000. Prabhat checked and the flop opened up to show 2s 3d 5s. Both players checked the flop and the turn was 6s. Sameer bet the pot and Prabhat thought about it long and hard before he moved all-in which was insta-called by Sameer. Cards opened up to reveal Prabhat's 10 6 o/s brutally crushed by Sameer's 4d 8d who made the nut straight on the turn. Prabhat had no outs and was drawing dead which meant the Sameer was the big winner of the night!
Prabhat, Sameer and Nitesh
There were huge cheers from many players of the Bombay contingent when Sameer was announced as the winner of the IPC 10k Freezeout after just under 7 hours of action. A very commendable performance by first runner-up Prabhat who played a solid game to take 2nd place. Players gave positive feedback on the way the game was run and everyone including the players' friends and spectators alike had a good time.
It was a fantastic night with some great poker action and our final event, the IPC 20k Freezeout is to start in less than 4 hours time. Still hoping to get the Blackberry going in order to provide more updates when we're at the venue. Since the turnout tonight will be the lowest amongst the three tourneys, I hope to put up more frequent updates on Twitter and Facebook.
If you wish to follow us online, then find our group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). We are also on Twitter under the handle IndiaPokerChamp
Till tomorrow...
4.6.10
Day 1 - IPC 5k Freezeout
The evening of 3rd June was quite balmy and as we headed to the casino, we hoped this was a good sign of things to come for later. It was...
We got to the casino and overlooked the final prep as far as putting up the banners in the room and on the jetty was concerned. Once done we sat in the poker room chilling and waiting for the players to come. By 6:30pm there were barely 12 players in the room and most of them got together to play some cash games to kill time before the start of the tourney. While we were a little apprehensive at the initial low turnout, things changed dramatically over the next two hours. By 8:30pm the room was buzzing with activity and we had over 80 players in the poker room registering and receiving their seat allocations. At 7:30 pm we had also started the One Hand Satellites (OHS) which caused a lot of excitement amongst players and spectators alike. 4 players eventually won a seat through the OHS at a fraction of the buy-in!
There was a slight delay in the start of the tournaments as more players kept coming in and they had to be moved to the upstairs level where additional tables had been setup. At just a few tickets after 9 pm, the IPC 5k Freezeout Tournament began. The final number of participants that took part in the event was 103! This is the biggest field of players that has ever been seen in a poker tournament in any Goan casino ever!
While we were ecstatic at the tremendous response the IPC event got, it was time to get to work. Our regular tournament director Craig Wildman was unable to make it for the event having some visa issues which held him back in England. So we rolled up sleeves and dove right into it. It was a bit of a task coordinating 2 floors which we running multiple tables but it seemed like a lot of the players were in a tremendous hurry! Within 3 levels the upstairs tables had to be merged into the main tables within the poker room. The player eliminations were like a contagious disease which was rapidly spreading through the room and at just under 3 hours we were down to 27 players! We had a fleeting thought that perhaps the tournament might not last even 5 hours let alone the average of 6 hours. But as usual our players would end up proving us wrong...
The dropouts continued but at a slower rate than the previous hours with players battling it out to add to their chipstack. The field was split into almost even halves with small stacks and the big stacks. At around 1:30 pm we finally got down to the final table! It was a range of stacks from the smallest at 5500 chips to the biggest at a monstrous 91500 chips. Below are the players who reached the final table at the IPC 5k Freezeout:-
Rosh started the final table with a stack of more than 65k chips and was played a very solid game adding to his chips and maintaining a solid state of play to ensure that he would enter headsup with a stack that would give the chipleader a few jitters. Kenneth eventually got knocked out in 3rd place. This was a very commendable for a player who picked up the game less than a year ago and has been intermittently playing poker for less than half that time. A strong performance by the Goan native and we hope to see more of Kenneth in future IPC events.
It was then time to start headsup play. Hands were traded back and forth and Neel found his chip lead being reduced by some strong plays by Rosh. At the start of headsup with over 360,000 tournament chips in play, Neel held approximately 200,000 chips with Rosh claiming the rest. Headsup lasted for just about an hour and a couple of big pots at crucial moments ensured that Neel had over 90% of the chips when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Rosh pushed his remaining stack into the middle with 10 7 off and was immediately called down by Neel who showed A J. No help on the board for Rosh and finally after more than 7.5 hours of play, Neel V from Mumbai was the winner of the IPC 5k Freezeout.
The customary congratulations were passed around to the Top 3 by players and spectators alike. There was a buzz in the room and Neel was hugged and congratulated by his supporters for having pulled a win in the biggest tournament field any Goa casino has ever seen. Neel, Rosh and Kenneth outlasted exactly 100 other players to claim the top prizes in the first tournament of the June edition of the India Poker Championship. After the prizes and gifts were given out, the winners took pictures with one of the IPC directors and then some more were taken of the winners themselves.
It was a fantastic start to a what promises to be an exciting poker weekend and tomorrow being the start of the weekend we expect a pretty good field for the IPC 10k Freezeout as well. We should a lot of faces from Day 1 on Day 2 as well and if the 5k tournament was any indication, then there is going to be a lot more fun poker action to be expected over the next two days. It's time to get a bite to eat and grab a few winks before we head to the casino later this evening. It's going to be awesome!
Will be back to post on Day 2 tomorrow at this time again. Till then if you wish to follow us online, then find our group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). We are also on Twitter under the handle IndiaPokerChamp
Till tomorrow...
We got to the casino and overlooked the final prep as far as putting up the banners in the room and on the jetty was concerned. Once done we sat in the poker room chilling and waiting for the players to come. By 6:30pm there were barely 12 players in the room and most of them got together to play some cash games to kill time before the start of the tourney. While we were a little apprehensive at the initial low turnout, things changed dramatically over the next two hours. By 8:30pm the room was buzzing with activity and we had over 80 players in the poker room registering and receiving their seat allocations. At 7:30 pm we had also started the One Hand Satellites (OHS) which caused a lot of excitement amongst players and spectators alike. 4 players eventually won a seat through the OHS at a fraction of the buy-in!
There was a slight delay in the start of the tournaments as more players kept coming in and they had to be moved to the upstairs level where additional tables had been setup. At just a few tickets after 9 pm, the IPC 5k Freezeout Tournament began. The final number of participants that took part in the event was 103! This is the biggest field of players that has ever been seen in a poker tournament in any Goan casino ever!
While we were ecstatic at the tremendous response the IPC event got, it was time to get to work. Our regular tournament director Craig Wildman was unable to make it for the event having some visa issues which held him back in England. So we rolled up sleeves and dove right into it. It was a bit of a task coordinating 2 floors which we running multiple tables but it seemed like a lot of the players were in a tremendous hurry! Within 3 levels the upstairs tables had to be merged into the main tables within the poker room. The player eliminations were like a contagious disease which was rapidly spreading through the room and at just under 3 hours we were down to 27 players! We had a fleeting thought that perhaps the tournament might not last even 5 hours let alone the average of 6 hours. But as usual our players would end up proving us wrong...
The final table
The dropouts continued but at a slower rate than the previous hours with players battling it out to add to their chipstack. The field was split into almost even halves with small stacks and the big stacks. At around 1:30 pm we finally got down to the final table! It was a range of stacks from the smallest at 5500 chips to the biggest at a monstrous 91500 chips. Below are the players who reached the final table at the IPC 5k Freezeout:-
- Seat 1 - Neel V (Mumbai)
- Seat 2 - Kenneth S (Mumbai)
- Seat 3 - Kiran K (Bangalore)
- Seat 4 - Sailesh S (Hyderabad)
- Seat 5 - Akshat D (Mumbai)
- Seat 6 - Anil Desai
- Seat 7 - Rajeev K (Mumbai)
- Seat 8 - Hrishikesh M (Mumbai)
- Seat 9 - Seshank S (Hyderabad)
Getting close to headsup
Rosh started the final table with a stack of more than 65k chips and was played a very solid game adding to his chips and maintaining a solid state of play to ensure that he would enter headsup with a stack that would give the chipleader a few jitters. Kenneth eventually got knocked out in 3rd place. This was a very commendable for a player who picked up the game less than a year ago and has been intermittently playing poker for less than half that time. A strong performance by the Goan native and we hope to see more of Kenneth in future IPC events.
It was then time to start headsup play. Hands were traded back and forth and Neel found his chip lead being reduced by some strong plays by Rosh. At the start of headsup with over 360,000 tournament chips in play, Neel held approximately 200,000 chips with Rosh claiming the rest. Headsup lasted for just about an hour and a couple of big pots at crucial moments ensured that Neel had over 90% of the chips when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Rosh pushed his remaining stack into the middle with 10 7 off and was immediately called down by Neel who showed A J. No help on the board for Rosh and finally after more than 7.5 hours of play, Neel V from Mumbai was the winner of the IPC 5k Freezeout.
Neel V our winner of the IPC 5k flanked by the runnersup Rosh (left) and Kenneth (right)
The customary congratulations were passed around to the Top 3 by players and spectators alike. There was a buzz in the room and Neel was hugged and congratulated by his supporters for having pulled a win in the biggest tournament field any Goa casino has ever seen. Neel, Rosh and Kenneth outlasted exactly 100 other players to claim the top prizes in the first tournament of the June edition of the India Poker Championship. After the prizes and gifts were given out, the winners took pictures with one of the IPC directors and then some more were taken of the winners themselves.
It was a fantastic start to a what promises to be an exciting poker weekend and tomorrow being the start of the weekend we expect a pretty good field for the IPC 10k Freezeout as well. We should a lot of faces from Day 1 on Day 2 as well and if the 5k tournament was any indication, then there is going to be a lot more fun poker action to be expected over the next two days. It's time to get a bite to eat and grab a few winks before we head to the casino later this evening. It's going to be awesome!
Will be back to post on Day 2 tomorrow at this time again. Till then if you wish to follow us online, then find our group on Facebook (India Poker Championship). We are also on Twitter under the handle IndiaPokerChamp
Till tomorrow...
1.6.10
24
No... this isn't some kind of Jack Bauer fan post. Although given my overactive imagination, I can well imagine Jack Bauer breaking into the White House Presidential poker game and going, "Mr.President... you HAVE to attend the India Poker Championship! It's less than 24 hours away and the future of the country depends on it... Damnit Chloe!" :D
OK OK 'nuff with the retarded jokes so early on this fine Wednesday morning and the reason for my super cheery mood (besides the caffeine) is that we leave for Goa in a few hours. The excitement is palpable and the IPC Crew can barely sit still thinking about the start of Day 1 tomorrow evening. Three months since our last event and you'd think we'd be a little dignified about it. But no! We're still as (in fact more) excited as we were before our inaugural event. That's kinda the nice thing about working on an event like the IPC. You put in the hard work promoting it and the results are there to see in a matter of weeks.
Speaking of results, we have a good feeling about the turnout in the June edition. In some ways its almost expected because at the time our March edition had drawn in the biggest number of participants for a tournament event in Goa. The scene has also been gradually growing and here at the IPC we like to think we have done our bit towards that growth. We firmly believe the day is not far off where we will be able to host $1000-2000 events which is par for the course as far as many Asian tournaments are concerned. That will also mean an influx of players coming in to play from the Austral-Asia region which is good news for us personally and overall for Indian tourism.
While I have put up more detailed posts in the past, this time I will try to write more posts (albeit shorter ones) and leave the detailed reports for each event's end-of-day coverage. You can follow us through Facebook and Twitter as well since I will be tweeting live from the venue through each event.
And now I must love you and leave you to go pack me bags. And I end this post the way I started... with a Jack Bauerjoke fact:
Just about 24 hours remain till IPC June 2010
OK OK 'nuff with the retarded jokes so early on this fine Wednesday morning and the reason for my super cheery mood (besides the caffeine) is that we leave for Goa in a few hours. The excitement is palpable and the IPC Crew can barely sit still thinking about the start of Day 1 tomorrow evening. Three months since our last event and you'd think we'd be a little dignified about it. But no! We're still as (in fact more) excited as we were before our inaugural event. That's kinda the nice thing about working on an event like the IPC. You put in the hard work promoting it and the results are there to see in a matter of weeks.
Speaking of results, we have a good feeling about the turnout in the June edition. In some ways its almost expected because at the time our March edition had drawn in the biggest number of participants for a tournament event in Goa. The scene has also been gradually growing and here at the IPC we like to think we have done our bit towards that growth. We firmly believe the day is not far off where we will be able to host $1000-2000 events which is par for the course as far as many Asian tournaments are concerned. That will also mean an influx of players coming in to play from the Austral-Asia region which is good news for us personally and overall for Indian tourism.
While I have put up more detailed posts in the past, this time I will try to write more posts (albeit shorter ones) and leave the detailed reports for each event's end-of-day coverage. You can follow us through Facebook and Twitter as well since I will be tweeting live from the venue through each event.
And now I must love you and leave you to go pack me bags. And I end this post the way I started... with a Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer got Helen Keller to talk.
For more information on the Championship, visit our website at www.indiapokerchampionship.com
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