Poker tournaments in India today are more extensive than ever before, thanks to the game’s growing popularity. Naturally, the number of poker tournament players in India has also significantly increased over time.
We connected with Raghav Bansal, a well-known name in the Indian poker circuit, who has been actively playing poker for a long time now, to know from him about the top poker MTT players in the country.
Raghav Bansal
Raghav Bansal is one of the veterans in the Indian poker circuit. He has been playing and cashing at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) since 2015. He won the Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) Main Event in January 2016. He also has several online titles to his name.
ALSO READ: When Raghav Bansal Won The DPT ME
Since 2015, Bansal has had 40 cashes at the WSOP, which has accumulated to $364,756 (over ₹2.97 Crore) in prize money. Interestingly, he was the first-ever Indian player to reach the final table of a WSOP bracelet event in 2015. Who better than Bansal to share his valuable insights on the top MTT players in India, right? So let’s see who he picks!
Bansal was thoughtful enough to tell us who he thinks are currently the three best MTT players in the country. Coming from someone like Bansal, who has been active in the circuit for so long, and knows the scene inside-out, we can be assured that he will pick nothing but the best. So here are Bansal’s top three picks in no specific order.
Vishal Bajaj
Bansal believes that no other player in India has done more solver work than Vishal Bajaj. “He knows the theory of poker better than most and is one of the most humble and likable guys I have met in my long poker career. These qualities set this little wizard up perfectly to continue crushing at a very high return on investment (ROI) every year,” says Bansal.
Ashish Munot
Talking about Ashish Munot, Bansal says, “I think he’s currently the guy most primed for success in India, especially in live MTTs. He’s been crushing the Asian circuit over the last year, and I’m sure he’ll get the Indian flag on many more titles on the world stage in the coming years.” Bansal further shares that Munot’s live cash game background gives him a significant edge in live tournaments.” Additionally, the fact that he was coaching players who themselves have become beasts now shows how well he understands and thinks about the game,” Bansal adds.
Gaurav Sood
“Gaurav is a sportsman at heart,” says Bansal. He further believes that if Gaurav Sood hadn’t gotten injured during his tennis days, he wouldn’t be surprised if Sood had made a good career in tennis. “I feel like he has transferred all that energy into poker and his results are clear to see. One of the biggest, if not the biggest, winners online, Gaurav continues to work hard at the game and has one of the best mindsets in poker in India,” says Bansal.
Besides his game, Bansal believes that Sood has an edge in his personal life too. “He has an amazing wife (who is on her way to becoming a super crusher as well) and is generally more settled in life, which a lot of people aren’t in the poker industry, and that’s a big edge he has as well. He’s a good friend of mine, and I have zero doubts that when the dust settles, he will be known as one of the GOATs of Indian poker,” he concludes.
Well, those were Bansal’s picks; you can share your picks, too in the comments section below. In this series of top tournament players in India, we bring to the top MTT players picked by some of the top pros. We will bring the selections of other pros, but until then, keep grinding and reading Gutshot Magazine.
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Amarylisa Gonsalves is a Content Writer at Gutshot Magazine. Advancing from a marketing background, she found her calling in writing. She takes delight in exploring genres and is a curious learner. Patient and ambivert, she believes in letting her work speak for itself. Apart from content writing, she finds solace in writing poetry by expressing herself through words. Additionally, she adores indulging in anything that satisfies her creative self, like drawing and DIY crafts.
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