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“PSL Has Contributed To Poker’s Fame in India” – Kunal Patni, Winning Captain, PSL 6

Kunal Patni is on a high. The Indian poker player and Captain of Deccan Aces, the winning team of Poker Sports League Season 6,  is not only winning big at international poker tournaments; he is also part of a poker revolution happening in India.

Kunal Patni PSL Season 6 interview

He recently got back from Taipei, where he did what we all dream to do – play poker at an international tournament. Patni was among the top eight at the APT Taipei PC 2024 Micro Main Event. After getting back, he immediately headed to Goa to play DPT Grand 2024. In between his poker travels, we had a short talk with him about PSL and the future of poker in the country. 

The team composition of PSL6 was unique. What are your thoughts about it?

The team composition of PSL6 is actually the most dynamic feature of the Poker Sports League. This is where we have people with a diverse knowledge of poker. So, you have the captain and the pros who have a lot of experience. The wildcards could be a foreign player or a regular with a lot of experience. Then, you have the online qualifiers. I believe that PSL is made for the qualifiers. This is where they can play online qualifiers for free, get a chance to be in the top thirty-five or forty and then be selected for a team where they spend time with some of the most well-known names in the country, rubbing shoulders with them and studying together, strategising with them. It is the biggest learning experience for them. 

This is the sixth season, and we have been doing this since Season 1. We always had this dynamic mix of players. I believe it is the qualifiers who had a lot to gain from the experience of playing in PSL6. They got to learn so much in such a short period of time. The whole period is not too long. From the time the auctions are over and the team is formed to the time the part of the league starts, the live league, the total period is about three to four weeks. In these weeks, some of the insights that they get are invaluable. 

Who do you think made the biggest contribution to the team?

It won’t be fair to single out someone from the entire team. Each and every member of the team, including all the six qualifiers, the three pros that we have, the wild card, the captain, myself, and the owner, contributed towards the team. On the last day, when we weren’t even sure whether we would be qualifying for the finale, it was the owner, Vijay, who stepped up at that time and got us some incredibly valuable points, which allowed us to get into the finale. During the live and the online sessions, you see that every player contributed. It is actually one of the most perfect examples of teamwork and team effort.

On the final day, the whole credit goes to Mithun Mahesh and Advait Rajguru for starting the final table, five out of six seats, playing like complete champs, and ensuring that we won. I only had to come to the last few hands and hit the winning runs. These two did all the hard work for the finale. But, if it weren’t for the contribution of the whole team during the series, we wouldn’t have even reached the finale. So, everyone really contributed to the team’s success. If you ask me who the best player in the series was, I have to say, Mithun, without any doubt. He was the best player for us and the most consistent player throughout the series. He also got the Player of the Series award at the end, rightfully so. 

Do you think JioCinema streaming is a precursor for a national broadcaster to broadcast poker games?

We went live with Jio three years back. Poker is a very individual game. If you are playing in a tournament, you are playing with your own money, and you are playing only for yourself. When I first learned about the concept of PSL, it sounded very interesting. When you are playing in a tournament, and you get busted out of the tournament, you have your friends with you, and you are rooting for them because they are friends. But it is not like a team effort.

When the PSL came along, suddenly, to have a team running and rooting for you, shouting out at your winning hand, keeping track of all the other team members, which team has how many players left, how many are getting into the money, how do we change strategies based on how many players are left in your team. If you have six or seven players left, your strategy would be different, and if you only have a couple, your strategy would be different.

 

 

 

 

 

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Somebody from your team is going to other tables and telling you some aspects. It is an experience about which we can talk as much as we can, but you have to be there to understand what the whole feeling is; it is a real experience. Some of the biggest names in the poker world, who have been part of PSL in Seasons 1 and 2, who came in as wild cards, like Michael Soyza and Martin Jacobson, the 2014 WSOP Main Event Champion, have all been part of PSL in the earlier seasons.

To convert an individual sport into a team sport and make sure that a person who has travelled from the US to Malaysia remembers the series even after half a decade and asks us about when they are being called back, that in itself says how much it means to everyone and how enjoyable the series was. 

Do you see poker becoming mainstream as a sport in India?

We are hoping that it will happen. The only problem in our country is that the moment people think about it as a card game, they think that it’s gambling or ‘satta’. Poker is clearly as far from gambling as anything can be. It is a game of skill. We have started recognising this slowly and steadily. Compare how many people were playing poker professionally a couple of years ago to now, and many of them are playing recreationally.

 

 

 

 

 

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There are thousands of players coming in and playing it. It will reach that stage, and I don’t know when and how. I am just back from Taipei, and when I switched on the TV, there was live poker streaming. So, if it can happen in Taipei, I don’t see a reason why it can’t happen here.

What do you think is PSL’s contribution to poker’s popularity?

PSL has made a huge contribution to poker, which is beginning to go mainstream. See the concept of PSL. You are telling players to play online without paying any money, do well, reach the top thirty-five or forty, and be picked up by teams who will pay them to be a part of the team. They will pay you to be a part of the team. These players are being flown down at their expense to Goa, being put up in a hotel; they are interacting with their heroes, the wildcards, the pros whom they have looked up to. They play with them, and they share a room with them, ideas and strategies. More and more players are now doing this for free. They don’t need to contribute anything to do it. Once you go live on a big platform by JioCinema, you are reaching out to the masses.

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ALSO READ: Who Are Kunal Patni’s Top 3 Indian MTT Players?

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The masses will start watching it; they will realize that they are watching a game that can be interesting. There is good commentary going on, explaining what’s happening. There are segments in between that talk about the rules of poker for people who don’t understand why a player is doing something. It’s just becoming more entertaining for the viewer. I think PSL has made a significant contribution to our reaching the masses. We have grown by leaps and bounds, and the only way is the way forward.

The conversation then veered to Kunal Patni’s personal journey as a poker player and what he would wish to achieve further in his professional career. 

Patni said, “I am no longer playing for money. I do it for recreation. What would I love to achieve? For sure, like any other poker player, I would love to win a (WSOP) bracelet. That would be the best thing to happen to any poker player, so I am hoping to win a World Series of Poker bracelet someday, “ he signed off.

Kunal Patni is one of the most famous poker players today, and it was a great experience talking to him. We hope you have enjoyed the discussion as much as we did. Want to hear more interviews like this? Stay tuned to Gutshot Magazine. For more updates from the poker world, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram

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