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Feature Fridays With Millionaire Main Event Winner Ashutosh Balodhi

When Spartan Poker announced the Millionaire Series, poker players all over the country were ecstatic about the prospect of becoming millionaires in just a matter of a week. But among the hundreds of players, there was only one destined to win the Millionaire Main Event crown – Ashutosh Balodhi aka ‘SpewMonkey.’

Introduced and interested in poker since his college days, the 24-year-old is now a professional player. When asked how he developed a liking for the game, Balodhi replied, “It was something that didn’t need a lot of investment when I started playing. It was also enjoyable due to the elements involved in the game.”

Thanks to his dad being in the army, Balodhi has travelled all over the country. But since lockdown, he has been living in Goa. Perhaps staying in the casino capital of India, had its effect on the young player, who we were delighted to talk to about his recent big win.

What were your first thoughts about the entire initiative of the Millionaire Series?

Spartan Poker in general has always come up with the best series in the Indian circuit. It was thrilling to see Spartan Poker bring back Millionaire every week with a 2 crore event. Big events like this with equally big value are what keeps the buzz in poker alive and keeps recreational players invested in the game. So, kudos to Spartan Poker for that.

With so many seasoned players aiming for the top spot, who were your toughest competitors and how did you approach that?

Two of the players I feared most on the tables were Ashish Munot and Sriharsha Doddapaneni, both busted close to the final table. These two were the biggest obstacle but luckily, I didn’t get to face them on the final table this time. The only player that I was little cautious about was ‘buttonclicking’ as he had a bigger stack and seemed to know what he was doing. I kept my approach simple, don’t get involved light with a bigger stack and pick the right spots against the mid stacks. Thanks to my coach, I have never felt more prepared and confident entering a final table. I knew everything I needed to play and was comfortable. I did not even bother looking at pay jumps and just played it like any other tournament.

Winning the Millionaire Main Event is no small feat, so how did it feel?

I felt this euphoric energy inside, telling me that it’s finally over and that I just won Spartan Poker‘s 2 crore Main Event. I live with about 6 dogs here in Goa, so the moment the tournament was over, I was just sitting silently on my chair with this feeling of happiness. I don’t know how my dogs knew or if they felt something, they all gathered inside my room and starting howling for me. It was a magical moment to feel what I was feeling and then see my dogs react to it. I’m never going to forget the feeling of winning a Main Event ever.

Last, and the most important question of all, what will you do with all that money?

I don’t know. I have not thought about that yet, but I am definitely going donate some. Probably invest in crypto or save it somewhere else. For the rest, I don’t think I have any major plans for money as of now.

Besides winning Spartan Poker‘s the Millioniare Main Event, Balodhi has also won various other tournaments across poker platforms, giving him a lifetime total of around INR 2.2 crore. With an impressive 57 titles to his name and an all-time highest rank of 22, the young professional expressed that his poker journey has only begun.

For more fun and interesting Feature Fridays with poker players, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com.

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