Danish Shaikh Poker
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Danish Shaikh Guangcheng Nan Leng Wee Poh Raiden Yew Fatt Kan Dan Haoyu Ying Chien Krishna Raaj Chandra Mohan Chee Hoong Duc Bien Nguyen Hong Guan Qu Shinobu Tanaka Darian Kok Fye Scott Davies 280.00 $1,222,200.00 1.00 $276,500.00 2.00 $200,000.00 3.00 $119,100.00 4.00 $94,700.00 5.00 $71,500.00 6.00 $58,100.00 7.00 $45,800.00 8.00 $36,700.00 9. After Independence Day celebration last week, it was time for some high voltage poker action and the Indian MTT grinders had a blast at the online felt. Week 34 of 2015 (Aug 17-23) saw some of the finest performances by Indian poker players. Danish Shaikh became the “OPN Star of the Week. Held at the Playboy Club, Delhi, the first ever auction of poker players in India, saw 12 franchises battle it out for India's finest poker players. Abhishek Rathod and Danish Shaikh for. Presenting the Teaser of our Upcoming Music Video TANHA HUA (Pain of Love) a story that evokes the emotion of heartbreak & love at once. A film by Danish Shaikh.
Anmol Srivats is just a regular nerd-on-the-block studying mathematics at the University of St Andrews in the UK. That is, until you dig a little deeper behind this nondescript, bright chap. Anmol just happens to be ranked in Top 5 of PocketFives India Top 10 (according to Online Poker News) with a net profit of over Rs. 60 lakh sitting in his bank account—poker matches that he’s won on sites, and live poker games.
AskMen caught up with Anmol over a quick e-mail interview, to find out more about the guy-next-door who partly self-funds his education with the world’s biggest gambling game—poker.
1. How old are you? At what age did you start playing poker?
I’m 21, I started playing online poker for money around the age of 15.
2. When did you realise that you can actually fund your education with poker money?
I have partially funded my education with poker money. I always had dreams of winning millions of dollars while watching episodes of WSOP on TV... while it's much harder to win that kind of money, I still worked hard--always trying to improve my game--trying to maximise my earnings.
I got lucky coming 1st in a tournament that had 20,000 participants with $11 entry fee. I won $20,000. And then I made some more money playing some high stake games. I had spare money sitting and I decided to pay my fees with it rather than spend it on something stupid.
3. Until now, how much money have you made from poker?
My net profit is around $90,000 (that's over 61 lakh!), some of which has gone to investors. This includes all online poker sites, and live ‘real poker’ games.
4. How many hours of poker do you play in a week?
When I play casually, it’s about 15-20 hours; on vacations, it can go up to 100! There are weeks when I'm either playing poker or sleeping, or playing poker even in my sleep!
5. Poker=gambling. What's your take?
Danish Shaikh Poker Rules
Poker has a high luck factor in the short run, but poker players focus on long run outcomes. In the long run, skill is much more important than luck.
There are actually examples of poker players who haven't had a losing month over a period of 7-8 years. Such consistency is nearly impossible if poker was just about luck. Honestly, if people are more aware of how the luck factor disappears in the long run, and the complicated maths behind some of the decisions that professional poker players make, you won’t think of it as a gambler's game. It is a disciplined maths nerd's game that attracts gamblers.
6. Ever thought of playing poker full-time?
I have considered playing poker full-time, but at the moment I want to do it only for a few years. It's an extremely fun and fulfilling job, and gives you a lot of independence.
However, at some point in my life, I want to create something of value rather than just being a pure competitor. I haven't yet decided which career path to choose, but academia and business both seem great options.
7. Online vs offline game--which one do you prefer?
I prefer online because it's much faster, and it’s easier to focus on the mathematical aspects when you’re behind a computer screen. Playing live often makes you very result-orientated and wins/losses become more personal. Live games have the charm!
8. What have been your key milestones so far?
I won a tournament with 5,000 participants with free entry on Pokerstars. That's what got me started. My most notable win has been winning the big $11 on Pokerstars, with 19,700 players for $20,700--it lasted for 13.5 hours!
I started the tournament with 3,000 chips and ended it with over 59 million! Recently I've been playing a lot, and have won over 61 tournaments on international sites.
9. What have been some of your toughest challenges?
I often take too many risks with my bankroll. So my friends often joke about how I'm either very poor or very rich at any given time. The toughest period for me, however, was when I started out with no bankroll whatsoever.
I played the free online tournaments, which often had thousands of entries, and the top 50 would get $1-$10 depending on where you finished. It took me many, many hours to accumulate the money needed to play real money poker.
10. What do your friends have to say about you being the poker guru?
Not much since the poker world is kind of alien to those outside it. But by now, they know that they can never meet me on Sundays because Sundays are poker days, and are used to my massive swings in wealth.
Danish Shaikh Poker Games
Anmol's Poker Idols
Danish Shaikh Poker Net Worth
Fedor Holz and Phil Galfond internationally; Danish Shaikh and Adi Agarwal in India.