World Series, India Poker Championship update

Well its that time of the year again folks. The cards are in the air and everyone who is a poker fanatic is glued to the television to get a taste of the action. I am of course talking about the this year's Main Event at the World Series of Poker which is taking place right now... literally. 

 The ballroom at the Rio where the WSOP takes place

Now us poor deprived poker fans in India have no way of catching all the action on television seeing as ESPN here is more than content to keep showing classic cricket matches from decades ago which, let's be honest, gets tiresome after a while. Don't get me wrong... I like my cricket (but am definitely not one of those hardcore painted-face types who scream their guts out) and wouldn't mind watching the classics occasionally but it seems quite silly to me that ESPN in India would rather show the Home Run Derby over some poker coverage which Indian audiences would lap up as compared to baseball. I caught the Derby a couple of nights back at a really late hour and if you wanted to fill up some slots why not put in some poker. Hey if not the current year's, even old episodes from past WSOP events would do... throw us a bone here guys.
Fortunately Internet zindabad! And due thanks to our equally nutty fellow poker enthusiasts across the world who are able to see the WSOP on tv and then are kind enough to upload it to torrent sites. Not to mention a site like PokerTube which is just awesome for the kind of varied content they put up. There are some videos of tournaments which you've never even heard before. Oh by the way to any of our readers who might be in the US or visiting there soon, here is the TV schedule.

2009 was the year for the pros finishing really deep. Many fans were delighted with this as was I because it seemed off late that just any dude with 10k and a monster hot streak could swing by and take home the biggest prize in poker (cases in point Jamie Gold & Jerry Yang). Of course a lot of that delight was a result of Phil Ivey's incredible run to the final table. Our good friend Girish Shahane who is a huge Phil Ivey fan wrote about him on his blog last year and it was a heart-breaker for him and us to see Ivey bust out in 7th place. 2010 thus far looks like an even mix of pros and amateurs although that could change really quickly. I had started writing this post about yesterday and what a difference 24 hours makes. A decent sized paragraph was to be dedicated to the two former champions still left in the fray but unfortunately my inbox was screaming with news reports of both Scotty Nguyen and Johnny Chan having been eliminated from the Main Event. So the dream is over for a repeat or 3-peat as the case may be...
On a side note, here's an interesting read about the best performers in the game after the poker boom back in '03. 

Closer to home the India Poker Championship has opened up its registrations for its 3rd edition in September and if you still haven't registered, here is the LINK. Players are excited about the event and so they should be as things have only gotten bigger and better. The IPC might be only 2 events old but with every event we strive to provide Indian poker players with the best experience they can get. The best thing about this is that we can actually see the poker scene in India picking up momentum. It's high time that the game here in India gets its due and is legalised. It must enjoy the status that a game like bridge does because I personally believe this is a sport which involves a huge amount of skill and it's something which can be seen as plain-as-day by anyone who has played poker for even a short while. Fortunately there are people like Girish and Amit Varma who are big fans of the game and whose opinions and columns are read by many thousands and perhaps even lakhs of people. Hopefully information about the game from people like them and other forms of media will filter through to the general public and the resulting greater awareness will lead to some changes being made to the laws regarding poker in this country.
After all, haven't we always been a nation of gamblers?! From Sunday mornings long past I quote Duryodhan, "Mamashree... 6!"

And since it is dealer's (or blogger's) choice here on the IPC Blog, I choose poker over faaaaarrrkin teen patti.
Peace Out


Update: Shortly after this post was put up, the final nine participants or the November Nine as they are more popularly known, have come through. The most well-known pro amongst the lot is Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi who stands a good chance of doing a massive double, having earlier taken home the Winner's bracelet and over $1.5 million in the Tournament of Champions event.