Raghav Bansal

More about Raghav Bansal

Raghav Bansal is known to be one of the sharpest poker players in the country. A veteran in every sense, he was the first Indian to make it to the final table at a World Series Of Poker (WSOP) bracelet event in 2015. He managed a ninth place finish at the WSOP $2,500 No Limit Hold’em (Event #47) and earned $39,508 for his performance.

Bansal is a football enthusiast who follows AC Milan. It would not be wrong to describe him by his Twitter bio, which states, “I travel the world playing poker for a living.” The poker dynamite also describes himself as a wildlife enthusiast on his Instagram handle.

In domestic poker series, the pro’s first major prize money came from the ₹100,000 No Limit Hold’em – Main Event in Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) in January 2016. Bansal claimed the top spot to pocket ₹30,60,000 ($45,214) and was the first-ever DPT Main Event champion.

Bansal has shipped top titles in both live and online poker, this Adda52 Big Billions November 2022 winner’s career best live cash came in PokerStars Championship Macau 2017. He played the HK$103,000 No Limit Hold’em – PokerStars Championship High Roller Event #42. A second-place finish in the event earned him HK$2,610,000 ($335,910 / ₹2,29,50,043)

Bansal is known by the name ‘thatssosick’ in the online poker community. His username surely suits his personality perfectly, with the poker pro always keen to pull off some ‘sick’ moves on the table. Based out of New Delhi, Bansal completed his education at the Calcutta International School before learning Business Economics at Delhi University.

Bansal took time to pursue poker as a profession after he initially played the card game in college back in 2014. Bansal has represented India well on the big stage. He has recorded 39 cashes in WSOP, with his total earnings from the coveted series sitting at $350,000+.

He later won ₹10,37,900 ($14,575) for a fourth-place finish at the ₹100,000 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller at Baazi Poker Tour 2020, with another significant win coming in ₹200,000 No Limit Hold’em – DPT Super High Roller (Event #3) at the DPT Colossus Super High Roller Series where a fifth-place finish got him ₹8,00,000 (~$11,959).

As of October 2023, Bansal has $1,133,668 (₹9,42,79,005) in total live earnings (Hendon Mob). He is ranked amongst the top 10 players in India and finds himself slotted in the top 2,600 players across the globe. With a lot of potential left to be exploited, it remains to be seen how Bansal spins the game in his favour to win more poker titles.