Categories: Poker Players
| On Updated : Jun 26, 2020 12:12 AM IST

Muskan Sethi: India’s First Female Poker Player

By Nimisha Popat

When you think of a poker player, more often you imagine a male player. But in today’s world, females believe in matching guys, a step for a step. The same is the case of poker. Now a lot of female players are joining as poker enthusiasts, and Muskan Sethi sets a beautiful example for all the women who are interested in the poker industry.

Born in the family of card game enthusiasts, Muskan had always been keen on strategic card games. Her grandmother was once called The Great Gambler before she was born. As her father interestingly followed poker games, at the young age of 11, Muskan developed a soft spot for poker.

How did her poker journey begin?

Muskan always valued her artistic side and was dead set against joining the corporate world. She was always puzzled whether she will be an artist or a tennis player or something else that could use her keen sense of observation and decision-making skills. That’s when her boyfriend introduced her to the digital doors of online poker.

Initially, she tried her hand playing free poker games like Zynga, but when her boyfriend encouraged her, she decided to give the real poker with actual cash rewards, ago.

Muskan Sethi -PokerStars Pro

Her International Journey

As she embarked on her online poker journey, a lot of people bullied her into quitting. A lot of people from the Indian community reached out to her parents, saying no one will consider her as an ideal mate if she promotes and continues gambling. A lot of players who shared the green table with her told her that being a girl, she isn’t a good fit at the table.

Despite all the resistance, she kept going. And soon enough all her efforts paid off.

She won at PokerStars, and she was chosen from 70000 other poker players entries to join the tournament in Barcelona. With eyes on her at the UK poker game telecast, she managed to beat one of the best poker players across the globe and set a new standard in the industry. Soon the word spread like wildfire that an Indian girl plays and excels at poker.

Muskan Sethi India’s presidential poker ambassador at WSOP 2018

Her Current Plans

When Muskan won the tournament beating the top poker players, she changed the entire game for her. After returning to India, she was offered a chance to start her own poker company and welcome a set of new professional poker players. It was thus taking a huge step forward in the poker profession.

Now she plays poker professionally and also visits Las Vegas for a timespan of two months every year. Today, Muskan has a mind coach, poker coach, and a stamina coach who helps her to up her game even further.

Winning a National Award

Muskan recalls the happy memory of the day she won a national award. Never in a million years, had she dreamt of winning one sitting beside Dipa Karmakar, Family of Kalpana Chawla, and many such beautiful people at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was a super proud moment for her, and she feels overwhelmed to reach this step in her profession.

All the First Ladies Recognized | PC @ pokernews

Her Word Of Advice For Beginners

She states that poker is not a luck sport but a mind game. You need a lot of patience, dedication, keen observation, and a clear strategy to win at poker. Muskan is happy to see so many females stepping forward and joining the poker world. She advises them to keep playing especially at freerolls to continue brushing up their poker skills.

She also exclaims that no matter how much criticism you get. Don’t lose your ground and always accept the advice of the mentors.

Nimisha Popat

Happy little birdie who is obsessed with content creation, online gaming and her warm cup of tea.