“The players who can play all 4 styles are the best players in the world, mastering all four styles is the key to become a successful poker player.”
Today, we have Sumit Navlani in our Rising Poker Stars segment where we will talk about his poker journey, a little about his business and also about Monster Poker Club. MPC is a fast-growing community of poker enthusiasts who are determined to help each other, learn from each other and also improve their game.
Let’s begin-
First of all, I want to ask a little about you and your educational background.
I am a student of science, but I haven’t completed college. I left in the first year of engineering and went abroad in search of a job then after working for two years; I started my own general trading company. After that, I converted it into an import and export company. So, now my business is set, staff and managers handle most of the work due to which I get free hours to play poker and other games.
Which are the other games you like to play?
I am a hardcore gamer. Apex Legends is one of my favourite games. Playing games helps you in concentration, helps you in focus, developing fast instincts. And it also helps in poker to handle pressure and make a quick decision when you have just 10s to act.
I play poker for the same feeling that we get when we have chicken dinner in Pubg. To see my name on top of the field.
Tell us a little about your Poker journey.
I started playing poker in 2014. I was introduced to the game by one of my Brazilian friends. I love playing chess, and so I found poker very interesting as we think in chess before making a move and in poker also we have to think about the hand and how we will play in on FTR.
I started playing poker with Chinese and Korean businessmen and then made a lot of money. I used to play high stakes like 100/200/400 online Omaha and 1000-2000/4000 live Omaha.
But eventually, when I travelled to other countries like Macau, Vietnam and Australia, I started losing. So, I started learning about the game and wanted to master it.
Poker is a game which you can’t master. The strategies are never-ending. You can learn a strategy today and tomorrow there will be another one. So, you just have to keep learning and learning every day. This makes this game so exciting.
What do you prefer playing – live poker or online poker?
I love playing live poker more than online. I play live poker with higher stakes while online with lower stakes.
What’s the thing that makes live poker more interesting for you?
In a live game, the first thing is you can see your opponent. You can read him and his actions, and you can exploit them. But, on top of this the feeling of shuffling chips, chattering sounds, feeling the cards in your fingers, looking at your cards …it’s some next-level feeling.
On the poker table, you get to know new players their life, their motive behind playing or learning the game.
I always talk to the players around the table, they say there are no friends in poker, but I found most of my best buddies around the poker table only.
Tell us about the Monster Poker Club. What type of community it is and how many members are there? An insight.
As I told you, I was playing poker in China with whales, but when I started playing in other nations with pros, I started losing in poker. So, I started looking for poker coaching, reached out to many coaches for personal and group coaching. Everyone said the same thing that we can teach you how to play, but you should be your coach, you have to play – revive & study, and for that, you need a group of players who are better or same as you.
So, I thought why not build your community than joining some paid groups which cost $100 per month to $1000 per month for poker coaching and raising your game. And, that’s where MPC came into the picture. MPC started with 14 members, and then we started adding players who wanted to learn from each other and then we reached 100+ members. But, when we got so many members, things started getting difficult as it was hard to keep track of the topics and hands reviews. So, we decided to move to discord. Now, we have 600+ members, and we are growing at a speed of 3-5 players every day.
We also coach 5 players every 15 days for free without charging them a penny.
That’s nice! Which is your most prominent memory of poker? Like any significant title win or a particular moment in the game?
I haven’t won any titles yet but the hand I played with Kunal Patni on Deltin Poker Tournament 2018 where I got runner up. Straight flush against him was the best and memorable moment for me recorded on the live stream.
If you had to rate the Indian poker platforms who will you give the top spot?
I would rate PokerStars India on the top due to its gameplay experience and customer support. Spartan Poker is also good and has huge guarantees and nice player base.
Who is your favourite poker player?
There is a list of players. I can’t take one name and make others angry.
I feel the players who can play all 4 styles is the best players in the world, mastering all four styles is the key to become a successful poker player.
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