IPC August 2011 event roundup

Mere baap, iss baar please write the tournament report before the damn month runs out!

Now when someone resorts to making paternal references in order for a tournament recap to be posted, I think its only fair that one indulges such an individual. My work this time around becomes a touch easier as the leading poker website in the world has opened shop in good ole Bharat. So first off welcome to PokerNews India and we hope for loads of good things to happen with your presence in the niche but growing poker fraternity of this country.

Day 1 saw previous attendance records being shattered when 135 players turned out for the 6k Double Bubble tournament. This tournament deducts a small share (INR 1000) of the original buy-in and moves it into a seat prizepool so for every 20 players that participate in the Double Bubble, one seat is awarded into Saturday night's 20k Big Game. Therefore players are battling to survive the money bubble and subsequently the seat bubble, hence the tournament's name. The final hand of the tournament saw Meerut's Paawan Bansal take down the title of the IPC 6k Double Bubble.

Day 2 was the weekend kickoff i.e. the 10k Friday Night tournament . A total of 106 players participated in this tournament. It finally came down to three regulars in Varad Patil, Paras Kumar and Lawrence Sanjay. After Patil's knockout by Sanjay, there was virtually no difference in stacks between the two players in headsup. And in a hand-over-hand situation, Lawrence Sanjay's (9h 9s) dominated and held up against Paras Kumar's (4c 4d) giving Lawrence his first title at the India Poker Championship.

Day 3 was the big one! And appropriately, the featured tournament of the IPC weekend was the 20k BIG Game which drew 81 participants eventually. June's 20k winner Mubina Rattonsey who had been missing all weekend finally turned up to defend her title but wasn't able to go the distance busting out in 37th place. However her husband, Sameer Rattonsey (also a winner of two IPC titles) was very much in the hunt and was busted out in 3rd place by the eventual champion. And that champion was another regular finalist at the IPC tournaments, Shreyabha Pandey, an investment banker from Mumbai. The final hand which took place between Pandey and his opponent, master mariner Captain Kenneth Sequeira went like this:-

From the button, Pandey raised to 60k only to see the Captain moves the rest of his stack into the middle with Ac Tc. Pandey who held with Ad Qh quickly made the call. Both players hit their Ace on the river but of course Pandey's Queen kicker ensured that he would be crowned the winner!

Day 4 being the final tournament of the weekend has a lower turnout of 68 players who participated in the 12k Headhunters tournament on Sunday evening. The Headhunter is a bounty tournament where INR 2000 from each buy-in would go towards the knockout. Re-entries were also allowed in this tournament till the end of Level 4 in case a player lost all his chips. Rakesh 'Raka' Agarwal was the 3rd place finisher and this was his first cash in the IPC. Having done well at all the other tournaments held in Goa, a good finish at the IPC was the only feather missing from his hat. Headsup went on for a while between Jodpur's Aakash Khokher and Bangalore's Rishi BN who had much of the crowd behind him. Aakash though did not let that affect him and went on to take down the title of Headhunter!

As usual our players keep surprising us with the turnout. 135 was a monstrous number for the 6k Double Bubble and what it indicates is that people are getting out of their comfort zone. Players who've been playing home games or online for an extended period of time are now looking for that something extra. They want to challenge themselves and raise the bar higher. And the IPC is where they come to test the 'live' waters so to speak. We delighted and grateful that new players choose to bust their live-tournament-in-Goa cherry at the India Poker Championship :)
Next event is from 6th-9th October 2011 and you can visit our website or this link to register.

Till then, stay frosty!


Tournament report sourced from PokerNews India

IPC June 2011 event roundup

One of the best times to visit Goa outside the typical year-end celebrations of Christmas and New Year, is the monsoon season. The beaches, and the shacks on them, might be deserted but the rain adds a fresh, inviting look to all the natural greenery in this state which makes it wonderfully serene. But the rain-enhanced scenery is last thing on the poker player’s mind when he or she visits Goa. It's all about poker and there’s no bigger brand out there to test one’s skills than at the India Poker Championship. The seventh edition of the Championship took place from 2^nd – 5^th June 2011 in the card room onboard Casino Royale, the biggest off-shore casino located in the Goan state capital of Panaji (or Panjim). The four day event would see several different buy-ins with the biggest one being saved for Saturday night. 

Day 1 was the 6k Double Bubble (DB) which was the opening tournament for the event. The DB features two prizepools – one, the main cash prizepool and the other is a seat prizepool. A small portion of every buy-in would go towards seats into Saturday night’s 20k tournament and in this case 1 seat would be awarded per 20 players. Players would have to battle their way to first bust the money bubble and subsequently add to their earnings with an additional prize in the form of a 20k Big Game seat. By the time late registrations got done, there were exactly 100 players battling for the title and the top 5 finishers would also receive that seat into the Saturday night tournament. The eventual winner of the IPC 6k Double Bubble was Goa local, Husain Lakda who took home about INR 135,000 for his efforts. Prabhat Saini, who was runner-up in a previous IPC event made it two for two with his 2^nd place finish. Chetas Shah (whose day job is that of a DJ… wait a minute!) made sure he got the means to buy a lot more vinyl with the green he won as a result of his 3^rd place finish. 

Prabhat Saini (2nd), Husain Lakda (1st) & Chetas Shah (3rd)

Day 2 was expected to have more players since it was the beginning of the weekend with the 10k Friday Night Tournament kicking things off. By the end of the 2^nd level, there were more than 100 players and the final count at the end of late entries, one level later, would be 104 players. The action was a bit slow in the early and middle stages but then the pressure of the blinds stated to kick in and there were a lot of moves made by the short and intermediate stacks. The final table of the 10k had several new faces. It was the first IPC final table for some of the regular players like Ketan Kurani and Amar Katharani. On the other hand past winners like Amit Jain and Farukh Shaikh once again showed why they are regarded for their consistency. It was great to also see a lady at the final table in the form of Padmasree Bhakta as well as IPC tournament newbies like Haroun Mirza, Vikram Singh and Sumit Asrani. In a massive pot, Amit Jain who was one of the bigger stacks on the table, picked up TT which managed to hold up against Singh’s AK. From thereon it was no turning back as Jain would make a clean sweep and pick up the IPC 10k Friday Night Tournament’s title in headsup battle with Farukh Shaikh. And rounding off the Top 3, a very commendable 3^rd place finish for Padmasree Bhakta. 

Padmasree Bhakta (3rd), Amit Jain (1st) & Farukh Shaikh (2nd)

Day 3 was the big one or in this case the 20k BIG Game! The big money to be won would be at this featured event of the weekend. The last edition of the IPC in June saw 94 runners participate in this tournament and this time too it would not be an easy task as the final count of players was 91. In about 6 hours, the field was whittled down to a third once again several familiar faces made their presence felt at the tables. Prabhat Saini was hoping to make another solid run to back up his 2^nd place finish in the 6k Double Bubble on Thursday Night. While Saini was unable to go the distance, his opponent and the eventual winner of the DB, Husain Lakda made it to another final table and was hoping for a dream weekend of winning more than one IPC title. The ladies were having none of it and once again we had another female player in Mubina Rattonsey make the last 9. It was going to be a cracker of a final table with the very first hand played being a Royal Flush for Stanley DaCosta who knocked out Varad Patil as a result. Stanley would knock out one more player, Navin James in the very next hand. It seemed like the big hands would not stop as Sumit Sapra hit quads with his JJ to knock out Husain Lakda and Arash Farsi in a double elimination! Stanley and Sumit finished in 6^th and 5^th while Mubina Rattonsey was hanging on gamely doubling up through Rajeev Raut and then knocking out Hemant Arora in 4th. She then finished off Rajeev Raut in 3^rd place to go heads up against Bangalore’s Roshan Mampilly. That battle did not last more than a few hands as Mubina’s AQ went on to clinch the IPC 20k Big Game title for her. A superb performance by the first ever female winner of an IPC tournament, Mubina Rattonsey! Incidentally the Rattonsey household will add a second 20k Winner’s Medallion on their mantle as Mubina’s husband, Sameer Rattonsey won the same title in the April edition of the Championship. 

Roshan Mampilly (2nd), Mubina Rattonsey (1st) & Rajeev Raut (3rd)

Day 4 featured the final event of the weekend which was the IPC 12k Headhunters on Sunday evening. This was the only event of the weekend which allowed players to make multiple buy-ins in the form of re-entries. The re-entry period was for the first hour of the tournament and the format tends to make players a bit more aggressive than usual in trying to build a big stack for the later stages. The Headhunters, as the name suggests, is a bounty tournament where every knockout fetches a player INR 2000! By the end of late entries, there were a total of 78 players who would do battle to take home the title. It was a 10-handed final table although only 8 places paid out. It was Delhi’s Tanuj Moorjani who knocked out 2 players in a single hand and ensured that he along with the remaining 7 players would go home with a share of the spoils. And while players from the rest of the country fell by the wayside, it was the three lads from down South who kept the Bangalore flag waving high! Abhishek Goindi, Krishna SM and Aneesh Dabral were the final 3 and that’s the order they finished in with Abhishek taking home the IPC 12k Headhunters title. A long overdue victory for Abhishek who has put in some terrifically consistent performances which will no doubt see him at the top of the India Player of the Year (IPOY) leaderboard.

Aneesh Dabral (3rd), Abhishek Goindi (1st) & Krishna SM (2nd)

A fantastic four days of poker came to an end and what a weekend it was for the India Poker Championship! Great fields, fantastic prizepools and a bunch a new winners including the first ever female winner of an IPC. As players made their way back to their hotels or to the airport to catch the early flights, travel plans were already being made for the next edition of the Championship which will take place from 4^th – 7^th August 2011. More information can be found on the website – www.indiapokerchampionship.com

See you in August!

IPC April 2011 event roundup

Tom had this problem of getting up late in the morning and was always late for work. His boss was mad at him and threatened to fire him if he didn't do something about it. So Tom went to his doctor who gave him a pill and told him to take it before he went to bed. Tom slept well and in fact beat the alarm in the morning by almost two hours. He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.
"Boss", he said, " The pill actually worked!"
"That's all fine" said the boss, " But where were the hell were you yesterday??"

And that, all ye poker faithful, is exactly how late I am writing this particular trip report for the April edition of the India Poker Championship. Due apologies to all the readers who take the time to visit this blog to get some information about the recently concluded event and found none for April. There are no excuses and I'll keep this post short and sweet just to make sure a record has been kept of what has been an exceptional event by our standards. And with that let's just dive straight into it...

Day 1 was the IPC 6k Double Bubble (DB) tournament, a new introduction which replaced the customary 5k Freezeout tournament which would usually take place on Thursday evening. the concept of the DB is simple - a small portion of the buy-in is set asides towards a seat prizepool so for every 20 players, one player would get a seat into Saturday night's 20k Big Game! The IPC directors were looking to provide players, especially the smaller stakes players, a chance to compete in the bigger tournaments. The name Double Bubble arises from the fact that participating players need to bust the first bubble to make the money and the subsequent bubble to score a seat into the 20k Big Game. It seemed that the new tournament went down well with players in the run-up to the event from feedback received through our online mediums. And finally on Thurday evening, a massive 123 players took part in the inaugural IPC 6k Double Bubble! Action was fast and furious and eventually it was Yogendra Saboo from Mumbai who took down the title with Nipun Kumar from Hyderabad and Shreyabha Pandey also from Mumbai taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Shreyabha Pandey (3rd), Yogendra Saboo (1st) & Nipun Kumar (2nd)

 Day 2's turnout was expected to be pretty good given the large number of players that had attended the opening event of the weekend. Also the second tournament i.e. the IPC 10k Friday Night Tournament is the classic Freezeout which really starts off the weekend so many players were expected to fly in after work that evening. And so it was... with a total of 109 players taking part in this weekend kickoff tournament. Bollywood was in the house once again with Harman Baweja and Minissha Lamba participating in this tournament. The tournament had just crossed the 6 hour mark when the final table gathered around to play down for the title. It was a long, protracted headsup battle between Philip Raju and Ramu Mahto. However Philip was on the hottest streak of his life and so it came as no surprise when he eventually triumphed against a very determined Mahto and took home the IPC 10k Friday Night tournament title. Good performances by Ramu Mahto and a commendable 3rd place finish for tournament regular Vikram Verma.

Vikram Verma (3rd), Philip Raju (1st) & Ramu Mahto (2nd)

 Day 3 was the featured tournament of the weekend - the IPC 20k BIG Game! Everyone was vying to win the biggest prizepool of this Saturday night tournament and in fact there were a number of players who had flown in to participate in just this one tournament! This evening too saw a record-breaking field of 94 players, the first time ever that there's been over 90 players in a buy-in of this magnitude. That magical 3-figure mark is not too far away from the look of things. Repeat final tables for Nipun Kumar and Vikram Verma whilst we had a past IPC title winner in Sameer Rattonsey also looking to add another Winner's Medallion to his existing 10k one (from IPC June 2010). And it seemed like the dream might come true when he made it into 3-way action with Anish Dedhia (Mumbai) and Boston native Ian Moskowitz. Anish gets eliminated by Sameer when his A 4 is bested by Sameer's A 10. Headsup between Ian and Sameer lasts for exactly one hand when Ian who hits bottom pair moves all-in which is snapcalled by Sameer who hit his Ace. No more help for Ian on the board and Sameer wins the IPC 20k Big Game! A superb finish for him coming on the back of making the previous evening's 10k final table as well.

Ian Moskowitz (2nd), Sameer Rattonsey (1st) & Anish Dedhia (3rd)

Day 4 is always a bit of a downer for the Crew. It's the last tournament of the weekend and the long wait till the next edition tends to give us the blues. But excitement levels were palpable because Sunday night would see the introduction of the 2nd new format of the IPC weekend. This was the 12k Headhunters tournament which was a Bounty + Re-entry format. So a player would receive INR 2000 per knockout and for the first one hour re-entries were allowed but only if the player lost his/her entire chipstack. So they would re-enter as a 'new' player altogether. This, the IPC Directors felt, would reduce the shovefest that rebuy tournaments invariably tend to become. The final count of players in the Headhunters was 93 including re-entries. Belgian pro Mihail Stoykov who'd been making waves recently on the Indian poker circuit showed exactly why his game is regarded so highly by taking down the IPC 12k Headhunters title. Anosh Patel from Dubai put up a good fight for his first runner-up finish and Harman Baweja finished a commendable 3rd.

Anosh Patel (2nd), Mihail Stoykov (1st) & Harman Baweja (3rd)

And that was it for the April edition of the India Poker Championship. The next is set to take place from 2nd - 5th June 2011. Our thanks and appreciation to all the players who turned up for the event. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and look forward to seeing you at our next. As I say 'Adios amigos' and take your leave, here's a final look at the big winners of this particular IPC. 

IPC Feb - 11/2/2011 - 10k Freezeout

The second day of the India Poker Championship dawned bright and sunny... we think. For the first time in 3 events we actually left the casino with the sun still not having risen. An accomplishment of sorts and an indicator of just how smoothly and quickly the 5k tournament had been run. After logging in the bare minimum hours of sleep, it was time to head back to the casino again for Day 2's 10k Freezeout. Given the long hours people tend to spend at the table during our events, it really makes me wonder just how the pros do it night after night. I suppose jab rozi-roti ka sawaal hai, then you'd have to.
 The evening of the 10k began with lots of satellites, Superturbos and One-handed, being held prior to the featured tournament. By the time the tournament was underway, we had 100 runners battling it out for the chance to take down the 10k title. There were a lot of ladies in the house for this tournament. Seeing this the IPC Directors decided to sweeten the deal a little more by offering a free seat into the Sunday 5k tournament to the last lady standing. And the ladies returned the favour with many of them outlasting the men when we were down the latter stages of the 10k game. The final count of players at the end of the Alternates round was 105. A superb number to hit for a Friday night! Four hours into it, we were down to the last 3 tables. Eventually there were 2 girls left in the fray when it was down to the final 20 players and it was Mubina Rattonsey who claimed the free 5k seat when Anjali Pandey got knocked out in 20th place. Mubina's great run would however end just short of the final table where she got busted out in 14th place. But it wasn't the end of the road for Anjali however as she would soon make her mark on this particular IPC weekend...
Tonight too there would be a 10-handed final table with all these players making it to the money and this is what the final table looked like with their chipstacks:-

1. Kenneth Sequeira - 125,000
2. Rajiv 'Rocky' Motwani - 118,000
3. Jasven Saigal - 116,000
4. Rishabh Jhunjhunwala - 89,000
5. Kavin Shah - 74,000
6. Ratan Chawla - 64,000
7. Sangeeth Mohan - 62,000
8. Piyush Singh - 54,000
9. Shreyabha Pandey - 43,000
10. Dhaval Mudgal - 34,000

Our chipleader Captain Sequeira was making an appearance at the IPC after the June 2010 event where he had come 3rd and it seemed like he wanted to go one (or two) better than that finish. The shortstack on the other hand, Dhaval Mudgal of Cardplayer India has started his consistent run of making final tables ever since making the Main Event final table in the December 2010 event as well last night's IPC 5k. However he would be unable to improve on his 9th place finish from last night by busting out first on the final table. Piyush, Shreyabha and Ratan are the next three to go taking 9th, 8th and 7th place respectively. Tournament regular and Goa pro, Rocky takes 6th place while Sangeeth who claimed this was his first MTT poker event scored 5th place. The blinds caught up with Kenneth who shoved with his Q 9 and got called and then busted by Jasven's bullets! It was then down to Jasven, Kavin and Rishabh who would do battle for the IPC Winner's Medallion. Once again it was Jasven who busted out another player and Rishabh finishes as second runner-up.

There would be no consecutive 10k titles going to Delhi as Jasven and Kavin, both from Mumbai would go headsup. Headsup went on for a while primarily because both players play regularly against each other back home and are clued in on the other's game. Jasven had a chance to close it down when he hit trip 8s but Kavin did not take the bait. It had to come down to two big hands going up against each other for this headsup to come to an end and so it came to be:-

Jasven - 8 8
v
Kavin - A Q

Board - 8 2 10 10 10

And with his flopped trips turning into a fullhouse, Jasven Saigal wins it! He is the new IPC 10k title holder and a commendable 2nd place finish to Kavin Shah who is starting to make Top 3 finishes at the IPC a habit.
For Jasven, it has been a long wait to his first IPC title having come close in our inaugural event in March 2010. He final tabled the 20k event then but could manage only a 7th place finish. No surprise as to why he had such a big grin on his face at 7am in the morning! The Big Game takes place tomorrow and it is going to be fun!
See y'all on the other side. 

Day 1 - IPC 5k Freezeout

The now extended weekend of the India Poker Championship would feature 4 days of tournament poker and as usual things were kicked off with the IPC 5k Freezeout. While we had expected a decent turnout for the game, it took some time for the field to cross 100 as a few flights had gotten delayed coming in from Mumbai and Delhi. Eventually by the end of the late entry and Alternates time period, we had 110 runners who were gonna try and score a big payday at the end of it. The tournament structure was tweaked a little by adding more chips (5000 this time as compared to 3500 in September) so the participants could get more play. In four editions of this event, this has probably been the most ideal structure we've managed to come up with as far the 5k game is concerned. It is likely that we will continue to stick with this structure for future 5k freezeouts as well.

The action began fast and furious and by the time the time for late entries was over we had already lost 10 players. The tournament started slightly differently with all tables featuring 10 seats instead of the usual 9. This was to try and accommodate most of the participants in the poker room itself rather than the upper level. Fortunately those tables did not come into play because of the large number of early eliminations. Lots of newbies came to get their first taste of tournament poker action and it was many of these newbies who were the initial casualties not realizing the patience factor is extremely crucial when it comes to surviving big fields in a poker tournament like the IPC. Some big names from previous tournaments were in the field like our 1st runner-up from the September event, Amit Varma who was on a healthy stack of about 35k when there were about 3 tables left. Another name still in the fray was our 10k winner from June, Sameer Rattonsey who was looking to make another final table at this December event.

By the time the 3 hour was complete we had lost just about 60% of the field and a couple of hours later it was time for the final table to begin. Prior to the final table, the player who was running red hot was Rajeev Raut who was a monster stack compared to not just his table but indeed the rest of field. However in the run-up to the final table, he lost all his chips and was our bubble boy busting out in 11th. place. This is what the lineup looked like with their chipstacks:-

1. Anil 'The Machine' Gulati - 99500
2. Grenville Dias - 87000
3. Sameer Rattonsey - 76500
4. Ridesh Sejpal - 72000
5. Amit Varma - 67500
6. Ricky Chopra - 52000
7. Santosh Govindaraj - 41500
8. Kavish Kukreja - 25500
9. Girish Shahane - 19000
10. Amey Gad - 6000

The chiplead was held by one of the regulars on the Goa poker circuit Anil Gulati who was (rightly so) dubbed by our TD Craig as 'The Machine' for his consistency in tournaments. Besides Anil, there was Sameer and Amit who have done very well for themselves in past IPC tournaments and were looking to make another big score. Right off the bat, Amit and Ricky got involved in a couple of pots where Ricky doubled up in the first hand leaving Amit in very bad shape and then Amit returns the favor and manages to get chips from Ricky to stay alive at the final table. The short stack at table, Amey was looking for any half hand to get his chips into the middle and when he looked down at A 9, he could not shove fast enough. Unfortunately for him, Ricky Chopra wakes up with Big Slick and with no help from the board, Amey Gad is our 10th place finisher. Girish is the next to bust out finding a similar hand (A 8) to Amey's and he gets eliminated by Kavish's T T. Kavish seems to be unstoppable as his AA destroys Amit's pockets Jacks knocking him out in 8th place. But the dream run is not meant to be as 2 hands cripple and then eliminate Kavish from this final table and in both cases, it is Sameer who causes the damage. The first hand has Sameer's T T dominating Kavish's 9 9. Not long after, Kavish faces an all-in call when Sameer shoves on a Q 5 6 board. Having Q J in his hand, Kavish nonetheless tanks for a fair while before (almost reluctantly) making the call. It seems his premonition was right as Sameer shows Q 6 for two pair and takes down the pot and Kavish is out in 7th.

Grenville is the next one to go when his J T gets called by Ricky Chopra who once again has Big Slick. A King on the turn means that Grenville will be our 6th place finisher. In the meanwhile, Ridhesh has been sitting quietly, trying to survive on his meager stack but the blinds are not being kind. He survives after repeated shoves and finally looks down to see a pair of 8s. Once again it is Ricky Chopra who calls with 10 7 and hits his T on the flop and makes it trips on the river thereby knocking out Ridhesh in 5th place. The former chipleader Anil Gulati has also been fighting for his tournament life and his cause is helped by Ricky when his A K doubles up through Ricky's K J. Shortly thereafter Sameer's Q 8 goes up against Ricky's J T and with a ton of draws for Sameer by the turn, Ricky can only pray for a miracle. And the miracle comes in the form of a 2 outer Jack which reduces Sameer to barely 3x BB. He soon shoves in the next hand with 6 8 and is called by Anil's A T which prevails and Sameer is our 4th place finisher.

Ricky is on a roll as he cripples Santosh when his K Q spikes a K on the turn against Santosh's A T. This is followed up by Santosh going all-in with his remaining stack on 6 7 and Ricky makes the call with Q 4. No help for Santosh who goes out in 3rd place. It's now down to heads and it's Ricky Chopra who has a marginal chip lead but it really is anyone's game as one right (or wrong) hand could seal the deal. Headsup battles goes on for a while as both players try to get into a stronger position. It's Ricky who makes the stronger plays in the beginning and builds his lead to better than 2:1 over Anil. But he isn't called The Machine for nothing as Anil fights back and over the course of a few hands the chip lead once again rests with him. After many swings on both sides sides, this crucial hand comes up - Preflop raise by Anil which is called by Ricky and we go to the flop of 2 7 T. Anil fires out again and once again he is flat called Ricky. The turn is an A and Anil puts Ricky all-in which Ricky immediately calls showing a flopped set of deuces where Anil shows Q T for top pair on the flop. The river is of no help and Ricky and his pals start to celebrate thinking he's won it. But Craig steps in and after a quick count, it is determined that Anil still has just under 3x BB which means headsup will continue. Anil shoves on the very next hand with A 2 and Ricky called with Q J and hits his Q on the flop to take down the win of the IPC 5k Freezeout!
Just an absolutely fantastic start to the tournament weekend and a final table that had its share of 'TV hands' which kept the players and the railbirds very interested in the action. Given the turnout of Day 1, we expect good numbers on Day 2 as well.
Till then...

B-I-G news from the India Poker Championship

Here, at the India Poker Championship, we have always believed in pushing the boundaries and being the pioneers in introducing new elements and experiences. We've built ourselves up from humble beginnings at the start of this year. Our constant focus on improving our numbers pushes us to do better with every event. We also introduced online freerolls to provide another avenue where Indian players could not only try and win seats into our live events, but also get a chance to interact with their peers from across the country. Now as we move closer to our 4th edition, the crowning of the first ever India Champion is in the offing.

So what is the big news for this particular post?? The player who takes home the title of India Champ will get a One Year Sponsorship of INR 1,00,000/- which can be used to play in whichever IPC tournament he/she wishes to! That's right, our champion will be the first ever sponsored poker player in the country. With every other sport having an ambassador, we figure it's time that poker in India also gets it own. The inaugural India Poker Champion, we hope, will be the first in a long line of players who will be sponsored by us. So now not only does the winner get a handsome share out of a Minimum Guaranteed Prizepool of INR 10,00,000 at the Main Event but their buy-ins into future IPC tournaments will be sponsored by us as well. And it doesn't stop there! The IPC Player of the Year rankings which will be introduced from December 2010. The POY seeks to reward the most consistent performer across the 24 tournaments in the 2010-11 poker season. The winner (who will be declared on 1st November 2011) will also have the same One Year sponsorship deal of INR 1,00,000 for the following poker season.

There are a couple more announcements we will make in the coming days but this was the juiciest one of the lot and we were so kicked about it, that we couldn't wait to share it with y'all. Just one more to the growing list of 'firsts' that the IPC is pulling out of the bag for its players. If you still haven't registered for our tournaments in Goa, here's the link where you can register - http://bit.ly/IPC_Dec2010

Are you ready to take home the big one? Are you ready to become an India Poker Champion??!

**Terms & Conditions:-

1. The sponsorship period for the India Champion will be from 6th December 2010 to 31st December 2011. The sponsorship period for the IPC POY will be from 1st December 2011 to 31st December 2011.
   
2. The sponsorship prize of INR 1,00,000 is inclusive of a seat worth INR 25,000 which is the entry into the December 2011 event.
3. The sponsored players must wear an IPC patch during all events (IPC & non-IPC) played during the sponsorship period. 
4. In case we get sponsors, the players must wear their logos as well. 
5. Sponsor patches and/or apparel will be provided by the IPC.
6. The balance amount aside from the 2011/2012 Main Event seat (i.e. INR 75,000) will be used only towards buy-ins into IPC tournaments of the player's choice.  No cash will be paid out.
7. Any balance amount left over will lapse after the sponsorship period is over. No cash will be paid out.
8. Sponsored players must click photographs of him/herself at all tournaments (IPC & non-IPC) he/she participates in.
9. The IPC reserves the right to all pictures, interviews and other media featuring the sponsored players taken during IPC tournaments.
10. Final decision with regard to any sponsorship related matter rests with the IPC. 

Diwali and IPC's Poker Festival

The Festival of Lights is coming up and a different sort of fest will also take place in less than a month's time in Goa. We are very excited about the India Poker Championship's December event because it is the start of the new poker season/calender for us and with the introduction of additional events in the coming year, there is just so much to play for. 

Here at the IPC we're big fans of the kill-2-birds-with-1-stone style of working philosophy, here's a rundown on things ranging from introduction of new stuff to changes being made to the existing stuff and of course why we're sick of Lady Gaga. (OK so the last one's a total rant but our therapist tells us its unhealthy to keep strong emotions inside. Bad for the skin!)
The reason for this post is we've had quite a few players sending in emails asking us to explain in detail about the new things happening at the IPC and while we are very serious about communicating with our players, writing out the same reply over and over again can a bit tiresome :)
So here's what's what:-

• The first ever India Champion - This one is big. Say it again - B-I-G big! No one has attempted to do this before and if they have, we haven't heard of it. We believe it is high time there was an India Champion especially in a sport which is growing day by day in this country. Like the way it is done in the WSOP for instance we will do a Main Event every December and the winner will be crowned the India Champion. The Main Event will have a buy-in of INR 25000. The India Champion will hold the title for the entire season.
• More events - OK this is pretty simple. Indian poker players are desperate for more poker! Right from our first event back in March this year, players have asked about including Sunday night into the tournament weekend. From the December event, our usual tournament weekend will now begin on Thursday night and end on Sunday night. This also means there are a total of 24 featured tournaments which a player can participate in to try and rack up points towards the IPC POY.
• IPC POY - The Player of the Year (POY) is a way of tracking (and rewarding) the most consistent players who play our events. Points are awarded on the basis of three factors - buy-in amount, finishing position and number of players. Being the IPC POY isn't just about the bragging rights because there is a big cash prize which is also awarded to the POY. At the end of the year this pool will be awarded to the most consistent one of them all. We will reveal the nature of this cash prize soon!

A quick recap of the event schedule
Venue: Royale Card Room onboard Casino Royale, Panjim Goa

Day 1
2nd December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 5k Tournament (INR 5000)

Day 2
3rd December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 10k Tournament (INR 10000)

Day 3
4th December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 25k MAIN EVENT (INR 25000) The winner of this Main Event will be the first ever India Champion

Day 4
5th December 2010
08:30 pm - IPC 5k Tournament (INR 5000)

- There will be Superturbo and One Hand Satellites held on each day prior to the featured tournament.
- Superturbos Sats will begin at 7pm and the One Hand Sats will begin at 8pm.
- All tournaments will award points towards the IPC Player of the Year (POY) leaderboard.
- All tournaments are Freezeouts i.e. No rebuys allowed.

Still need answers?! Send us an email at info@indiapokerchampionship.com

Hopefully this will clear a lot of the queries players might have with regards to the new things at the IPC. And no... we haven't forgotten about the Lady Gaga rant. Just gonna save it for next time :)

The Diwali weekend is coming up and the team here at the IPC would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous Diwali. Have fun, eat loads of mithai and be safe when lighting up those fierce Laxmi bombs!:) :)
Peace out.

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:-

• 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

Once again Bombay players made up about half the table and importantly we had two 'repeat offenders' from last night. Akshat and Seshank make an impressive back-to-back final table appearance. Just goes to show what good solid poker will do for you. Of course to make through a field this big you also need that slice of luck which Akshat managed to score to get to the final table. This evening there would be only 8 payouts made so somebody on the final table would be the bubble boy. That someone turned out to be Seshank. Despite not making the money an impressive showing for the man from Hyderabad.

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... 

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

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 joke fact:

Jack Bauer got Helen Keller to talk.

For more information on the Championship, visit our website at www.indiapokerchampionship.com

What to expect at the Tournament this time round?

The exciting thing about the IPC for its second edition from 3^rd - 5^th June 2010 is the introduction of Minimum Guaranteed Prize-pools (MGP). If there’s one thing that excites a tournament player, it is the thought of outlasting a big field and therefore scoring a big payday. In the past, people have kept enquiring what kind of a field size they can expect at the India Poker Championship events. This of course can only be accurately answered on the day of the tournament itself. We figured there ought to be a way to provide a clearer number than say a broad range.

And thus the idea of the Guaranteed Prize-pools was born. Now each tournament definitely has a number associated with it and remember, this number is the minimum amount that is being played for. For the IPC 5k Freezeout on 3^rd June, the MGP is INR 330,000. The IPC 10k Freezeout on 4^th June will feature a minimum pool of INR 675,000 and finally the big game, the IPC 20k Freezeout on 5^th June will feature a INR 900,000 prizepool. Of course all prize-pools mentioned are expected to increase given the tremendous player response we’ve received thus far.

The second edition of the IPC is taking place in one of the most popular casinos of Goa – Casino Royale. With the casino running 24x7, players can now get a game whenever they want. The IPC satellites are also running everyday for those interested in winning a seat into the bigger games at a fraction of the cost! A luxurious setting like the Royale, fantastic catering from China Garden, premium beverages and of course world-class tournament poker events make the India Poker Championship the place to be for any poker enthusiast!

For more information, do visit our website at www.indiapokerchampionship.com

What makes IPC different?

As promoters and marketers of this event, our primary goal is to ensure that players enjoy themselves at our events. From the get go, our focus has been on ensuring player satisfaction by doing all the small things right!

So what does make us different from the other operators out there? Let me explain through an example… I have mentioned in earlier posts about our Tournament Director Craig Wildman who does a fantastic job running our tournaments. I believe the reason Craig is a great TD is because he is first a poker player and then a TD which helps him understand both perspectives – the management of the game itself and the people playing the game. The same holds good for us as well. We have been playing the game for almost 8 years now and have been organizing games for about half that time. As players we knew the kind of experience that we personally were looking for. We would often be disillusioned with the games run in our city as there was always some thing or the other that we found lacking. This led to us skipping a lot of games. Not to sound like an excessive nitpicker, but elements like rake and blind structures are vital components for us in game selection.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to player experience. We want to make sure that anyone who takes part in the India Poker Championship walks away with one thought – “I had such a good time that I will return to take part in the next edition of the IPC”. We have received some very encouraging and positive feedback from our players which makes us believe we are on the right track. If we can do this consistently, I believe we will be the best tournament poker event in the country.

For more information on the Championship, do visit our website at www.indiapokerchampionship.com

Guaranteed Prizepools at the India Poker Championship!

June is going to be an exciting month for poker players across the country. With our March edition going off as successfully as it did, there has been a marked increase in the interest levels of the people who are keen on playing in the India Poker Championship.

We received lots feedback about the last event and we'd like to thank all those enthusiastic players who contributed. You know who you are! :) There was plenty of positive feedback and it was awesome to hear that players really enjoyed some quality poker action. We also incorporated some suggestions with regard to the blind structure and we feel the new structure in June will improve the overall player experience.
But while all of this was good, we wanted to take this one step further. So the question in our minds was - What will motivate a player to come to the India Poker Championship? And the short answer was - Money! And plenty of it!

So we are delighted to introduce Guarantee tournaments at the June edition of the India Poker Championship. That's right! Come June, each tournament will have a Minimum Guaranteed Prize-pool (MGP) which players will do battle for. One of the most common questions we are asked is what the player turnout and prizepool will be. This is relatively unclear till the day of the tourney but atleast now, a player will know the minimum he will definitely be playing for. Here's how the breakup looks like:-

The June edition of the India Poker Championship is going to be H.U.G.E! We are now hosting the Championship at one of most popular casinos in Goa - Casino Royale. This Class 7 luxury passenger vessel draws players from across the country. Besides an awesome venue, there is now the added attraction of Minimum Guaranteed Prize-pools which is music to any poker player's ears. So what are you waiting for?!!

To register for the India Poker Championship, click H-E-R-E

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!

Our favourite pros

Having been exposed to the world of poker almost 8 years ago; playing it, understanding it, strategy,  analysis, personal highs and lows and of course the stories that come out of it all make for an almost feverish obsession with the game.

Cricket is a big sport in India in fact it would not be a far stretch to to call it the sport that anyone really cares about in this country. Until of course an Abhinav Bindra scoops Olympic glory or the quite tireless Leander Paes (also an Olympic medallist) bringing home yet another trophy helping keep India's name on the global sporting map. Till about 8 years ago I was singularly obsessed with cricket (as a viewer not player... I am physically quite unco-ordinated that way) to the point that I would take days off work to watch Test matches. Of course over time my interest in cricket has waned to the point of casual interest rather than the previous fanaticism about it.
The top spot of course has been taken over by poker. From that first video of the World Poker Tour that I'd seen to devouring books and reading articles on various websites, the thirst for knowledge continues. Speaking of the internet, the information that is available on the millions of sites out in cyberspace is a godsend to genuinely interested players and enthusiasts who are looking to improve on their game and read up on their poker heroes.

And when you talk of cricketing heroes, Sachin Tendulkar is probably the most popular player for most cricket fans. Many admire M.S Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and the younger, more dashing lot like Yuvraj Singh. While I like most of these players, I don't idolise them anymore. In my mind the sporting heroes have shifted from cricket players to poker players. I will talk about three pros who we admire tremendously here at the IPC. It is our sincere hope that someday one (or all... might as well go the whole hog right?!) of them will play in the India Poker Championship.

Phil Hellmuth - With 11 WSOP bracelets and of course a win in the Main Event pretty much seals the deal as far as Hellmuth being probably the greatest no limit holdem player in the history of the game. And case you forget that, Phil is more than happy to remind you. His reads are what are incredibly impressive to me. I love the way he breaks down a hand and literally calls out what his opponent has almost to the T. In the recent years Phil's image of being the Poker Brat gets more coverage than his game itself but make no mistake... This is not a man you want to mess with on the felt.

Phil Ivey - The 'other' Phil right now is the best poker player in the world. Even our other favorites mentioned in this post have admitted that Ivey is the man post his final table appearance a few months ago. Probably one of, if not, the best poker faces in the business, Ivey is absolutely fantastic when it comes to betting the right amount. He knows exactly how much to put into the pot to get an answer about what his oppoent is holding. His precise understanding of how much to bet is also what makes a lot of players pay him off when he does have the goods.

Daniel Negreanu - Probably the diametric opposite of Helmuth's behaviour on a poker table, Daniel Negreanu is a poker player who is also a nice guy. He's friendly, affable, love to joke around and has a super sharp poker mind beneath that cap he wears. Like Helmuth, Daniel too has this superb ability of being able to read what his opponent is holding and has used to his advantage time and again. Being the smart guy that he is, Negraneu has realised that he has now become a brand and almost goes out of his way to promote himself albeit in a classy manner. Negreanu is only second to Ivey when it comes to all time career earnings.

IPC Promo #1

Here's a look at the first promo we have created for the India Poker Championship creatively titled IPC Promo 1 :)

The IPC is only a month away!

The India Poker Championship begins on 4th March 2010 and will take place over three days on board the Casino Pride in Goa. While a lot of time has been spent in planning the event, I realise that this is a special time as this first event will happen only once and I have decided to document some of the memories here in the pages of cyberspace. I will try and blog as frequently as possible in the run-up to the event and we will be posting live updates on the Facebook group page of the IPC and the BPC as well as this blog.  

It's almost difficult to believe that the inaugural IPC is barely a month away. I say difficult only because after having thought and planned for so many months, we're literally within sniffing distance. The excitement is palpable and everyone who is associated with the IPC especially the lads over at the BPC are looking forward to relaxing in sunny Goa and getting some tough poker action going at the same time.

Speaking of Goa, it is incredibly heartening to have atleast one state in India which facilitates an event such as ours. The IPC is essentially aiming to grow the sport of poker in India and having Goa with its multiple casinos is helpful in nurturing the numbers. We wish to be an event which is associated with getting together the many hundreds and indeed thousands of poker lovers which exist in this country. While the Bombay underground scene (as with the other cities in the country) will continue to operate under the radar, it's good that poker players across India have a place where they can come and expect to get some quality poker action.

A little bit about Goa for those who aren't familiar with the place - Goa lies in the Western part of India, just below the state of Maharashtra. This former Portugese colony attracts in excess of 2 million tourists every year. The many many miles of virgin beaches across the state are a big draw with beach lovers from all over the world. Panaji or Panjim is the state capital and is quite the tourist attraction in its own right with many beautiful churches and buildings constructed in Portugese style architecture. It's safe to say that Goa is probably the hub of tourism in India. The inflow of foreigners goes back a long way from the 40s and 50s. Those who came and never left because they fell in love with the beauty and lifestyle of this place. While the Indian tourist numbers have gone up significantly in the past decade or two, before this it wasn't entirely uncommon to feel just a wee bit out of place in this state which seemingly had more white people than brown.

An image taken at Uttorda beach

People rarely come to Goa for work related reasons (although technically this event is work for us hah). Goa is all about the relaxing... the 'chilling'. People come here to take advantage of almost 70 kms of unbroken coastline and beaches. Another big draw is the local cuisine. They say you haven't eaten anything if you haven't had Goan fish-curry and rice. Of course the beverages will free flow through the orgy of food. Hardly surprising as the lowered tax laws in the state mean that anything from a basic bottle of beer to really good scotch cost much lesser than they would anywhere else in the country. So a typical plan for the Goa vacationer would be to bum on the beaches all day... sip on icecold brews... catch some rays... spalsh about in the ocean... eat at the shacks... snooze away in the afternoon. Partake in Susegaad (a Portugese derived typical Goan phrase which means "to relax and enjoy life) as the locals do and then hit the nightlife in the evening at one of the many watering holes, clubs, night markets and restaurants.

Of course if you are a poker player your evenings will be spent on board Casino Pride grinding away at the tables whilst playing in the India Poker Championship. So many weeks and months have passed by in a blur and its going to be the case for the remaining weeks as well. It is going to be fantastic to interact with so many poker enthusiasts from all parts of the country. There's nothing like having a cold beer and good poker conversation with a fellow enthusiast.
I can't wait!

~ Peace Out ~