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Climbing The Poker Summit: In Conversation With Anmol Mehta

Introduced to poker by a roommate, this young poker pro has been reaching great heights with his calm and composed demeanour. His love for the game and his willingness to run deep into the poker world led him to win a major high-value tournament – The Summit on PokerBaazi and that too back-to-back. 

We connected with the young and fierce Anmol Mehta, who goes by the moniker ‘anzzzzz,’ to know more about him, his victories, his strategies and more. Here’s what he had to share:

You have been selected as the Player of the Month on PokerBaazi. How do you feel about that?

Winning back-to-back Summit titles was something really special, the Summit is one of my favourite tournaments because of its 7-max format. I’m really grateful for being the PokerBaazi’s Player Of The Month. 

You’ve been a regular player on PokerBaazi, what’s it that you like the most about the platform?

PokerBaazi keeps updating and adding new features, the latest emotes being my favourite ones so far. It always adds a fun element to an otherwise serious grind! Also, the NPS was a great initiative by the platform to promote the game in the right light, giving opportunity and encouragement to a lot of new players via reasonable buy-ins and medals for the winners!

You’ve played a total of 19 tournaments during the last month on PokerBaazi alone. You are also quite active on other platforms as well. Tell us a little about your grinding schedule.

I try to grind at least five days a week on all the major platforms out there, usually taking Mondays and Saturdays off. I start by 8 PM whenever the daily feature tournaments start and then go on till late night/early morning depending upon how deep I run! I finish it off with a little self-studying, by running sims myself or asking my peers about spots while they’re still fresh in my mind after the grind.

What was it like to ship The Summit tourney? What was your strategy? 

Like I said earlier, Summit is one of my favourite tourneys, so always special taking it down especially when it’s the one that is always replete with tough regs. I really love the challenge and one gets to learn a lot at the same time! The strategy of course differs depending upon various factors (player distribution, stack size, stage of the tournament, etc.) It is tough to pinpoint one single aspect, but yes you get to be more aggressive pre and post-flop owing to the short-handed format, which is why tougher spots keep coming up and one has to keep applying oneself on a continuous basis. 

You beat WSOP Bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer to nail The Summit. What was running through your mind while playing against Abhinav?

Well, heads-up is a different game altogether, and you need to run as well, which I did. I also came into the heads-up with a big chip lead, if I remember correctly. But yes, Iyer is a friend and a tough reg at that, so you can’t look for any ‘exploits’ as such and have to play purely from a theoretical standpoint, and then let the cards decide by themselves as they fall.

What is the one poker mantra that you religiously follow or believe in?

Might be quite a standard answer by now, but bankroll management has always been at the top of that list. And of course, trusting the process and being cause-oriented is super important. For example, putting in enough hours of studying along with your usual volume. In the end, it’s just a number’s game and you have to rest assured that the results will be taken care of by themselves in the long run, just have to keep being patient and keep persevering during the tough phases!

Can you share one of your most memorable FT memories?

Well, it’s been a while since that tourney played out, however, the most memorable memory for any FT is when one accumulates all the chips and comes out on top; that feeling is indescribable and that’s one of the reasons why I chose to pursue this format of poker specifically. 

One player, you would like to beat on the FT?

Haha, there’s no such specific player or scenario that I think about, it’s all about playing out the FT in the most optimal way with the best knowledge you have at the time! But it’s always fun having your friends at the FT as well just for the banter :p 

How were you introduced to poker?

So I’ve been playing poker for the past 6 years now, and I was introduced to the game in my law school years by my roommate! Just fell in love with it immediately and took a keen interest in it. I took it up seriously over the course of the last 2-3 years.

Describe what poker is to you in 3 words.

A mental war! (Not just against your opponents but against yourself as well, especially when things aren’t going smoothly!) Need to have the right mindset at all times and be patient with yourself! Practising Nichiren Buddhism has helped me a lot over the years to have the right kind of mindset especially when challenges arise, and that’s how we evolve as individuals by persevering no matter what, with a smile on our face. 

Where do you see yourself in the next few years?

Want to keep growing not just as a poker player but as an individual, hopefully grinding the World Series and other big ones in the near future, and try to be a good ambassador to this wonderful game which has given us so much, hopefully encouraging and inspiring others along the way. 

Players like Mehta are indeed an inspiration to all the players starting in the world of online poker. Mehta’s dedication, passion and hard work are evident by the titles he has been regularly winning. We look forward to bringing players who perform consistently well during a particular month through our Player of The Month segment. For more such inspirational stories of players, stay tuned to GutshotMagazine.com.

For more news and updates, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram.

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