“It’s a beautiful game! Love it, and it’ll love you right back! Keep studying and follow the process.”
The next guest in our Rising Poker Stars segment is Shardul Parthasarathi who is PokerBaazi’s GameChanger runner up finisher. In the chat session with PokerSpot, Shardul opened up about his poker journey, failures and support system.
Here are the excerpts –
First of all, big congratulations to you Shardul on winning multiple online titles and tourneys over PokerStars, PokerBaazi, Spartan Poker and Adda52 in the last couple of months. For those who do not follow poker regularly in India, can you tell a little about yourself and your educational background?
Thank you… I’m an electronics and instrumentation engineer by qualification, graduated from VIT, Vellore in 2014. I started off by doing something of my own right after graduating, post which I had a few other stints, including a corporate role in an MNC. I also worked as a tournament director with an online poker site, Poker Dangal right before I made the switch to play full time.
Tell us about your poker journey? How it all started?
I learnt the game back in college and started off by playing small-stakes which graduated to visiting Bangalore to play the bigger games as they had multiple clubs operational at about that time. I remember my friends Sanchit, Rishabh, Jajodia to name a few with whom I’d travel to Bangalore from Vellore as it was only about 4 hours away and the only city right outside our college life ( Vellore was not nearly as developed as it is now )
What type of player are you at the poker table?
I guess a bit aggressive, but again I think you’d get a better answer if you ask someone who’s played against me.
Tell us about your lifestyle or daily routine.
Most of the featured tournaments start by 8 pm and go upto 3-4 am, so I generally start my day by noonish which I try to follow in by a workout/run ( 3-4 times a week ). There are some studies that I put in before my grind to get in the zone. Early dinner is something that I’ve started off late, which has been helping. I take a couple of sessions a week with Pokerbootcamp too as I really love their idea of building this community, and so I try to do my bit.
Is there any specific routine you follow before playing a tourney?
Not really, as I said earlier, I try to follow a set routine.
We often talk about the highs or the success, but it is the failure that makes or breaks us? So, is there any failure which changed your approach?
There have been tonnes of them in the past and choosing one out of them would not really do justice to the others, haha but on a serious note I feel all the failures, hardships and obstacles that one faces, is what makes them stronger.
Tell us about one prominent moment of poker where you felt like yes now I have achieved something.
I take every small win as a win, and I guess that’s what has helped me going. There have been a few tourneys that I have shipped which made me feel really good, but the biggest of them all surely has to be the runner up finish in Gamechanger!
Tell us about your support system that helps you keep going on an odd day in poker.
I’m really grateful to have the set of friends I have! Sahil Mahboobani, one of the top guys in India, has been of utmost help to me, especially when things aren’t going right. It’s always good to have a circle of like-minded people to learn from. Variance in the game is a part of my life which I have accepted!
Poker is still considered gambling by a majority of Indians. How do you perceive this or the laws related to poker in India?
Times are changing, this game is time and again proving to everyone that it’s definitely not a game of chance! People’s mindset and attitude towards the game is also changing, and it’s happening for the best, especially since the lockdown. I sincerely hope that the tax laws are little less stringent, that’s one thing I wish for.
Would you like to share any tips to the aspiring poker players in India?
It’s a beautiful game! Love it, and it’ll love you right back! Keep studying and follow the process.
Stay tuned to check out the next Rising Poker Star!