Actress Minissha Lamba among other participants at the World Poker Tour in Goa

Poker fever seems to be flying high and strong in Goa where scores of players from across the country set up base for an entire week to participate in the World Poker Tour WPT tournament which is being held for the first time in India The tournament which ends on Monday saw the countrys pros and amateurs battle it out to achieve legitimate Poker Pro status and win lakhs of rupees in prize moneyThe World Poker Tour WPT tournament is being held aboard the Deltin Royale an offshore casino in PanajiFrom the US to IndiaAboard the Deltin Royale an offshore casino in Panaji the mood seems to change by 9 pm mdash players at WPT tables begin to pull out their earphones wear their sunglasses and put up their jacket hoods to prevent their opponents from getting a read on them Others looked dazed but mechanically kept shuffling their chips in their palms anticipating the next draw of cards Someone in this room is going to have a serious impact on the future of Indian Poker The next Phil Laak or Doyle Brunson might be right here said Adam Pliska CEO of WPT Enterprises who started the tournament 16 years ago in the USA WPT had never been to South Asia and hence there was a gaping hole For this tour we decided to partner with regional poker houses in the subcontinent so as to tap into its culture and demographic We wanted to crack the cultural symptom otherwise wed only have the pros attending various tournaments across the globe and not garner fresh participation from new facesLooking across at the neon blue floor aboard the ship that houses over 30 playing tables Pliska said he never anticipated the turnout to be so huge We are pleasantly shocked to see that 32 per cent more than the estimated number have turned up added Manish Adani business head of Delta Corp which runs Adda52 mdash Indias largest online poker portal with over a million registered players mdash and is the key partner of this tournamentMinissha Lamba actress and Texas hold em playerBig money high numbersWith buyins ranging from Rs 20000 to Rs 1 lakh the weeklong fiesta not only tested the mental endurance and patience of card players but also their ability to compete under pressure Poker is becoming a culture today one where working professionals businessmen and a major chunk of youngsters are taking to studying the strategy and skill behind the game said AdaniBeing a tournament format the number of busts seen every day is phenomenal Siddharth Gupta 27 a poker player from Delhi was smoking a cigarette in the small smoking room at WPT literally breathing a sigh of relief I just tripled up said Gupta with a smile who before nailing the last hand on a pair of pocket Jacks was bleeding chips Seven hours later Gupta went bust for the night when his pair of pocket Nines were beaten by anothers pocket Kings Tomorrows a new day he saidAdam Pliska CEO of WPT Enterprisesmidday also spotted Minissha Lamba at the tables who as the night progressed also went bust Theoretically knowing what youre getting into before every hand is important But at the end of the day experience that comes from playing at different tables with different players is also factored in said Lamba who has been an active Texas hold em player mdash a variation of poker mdash for the last five years Just knowing the math behind the game isnt enough You need to make the bestinformed decisions But it is nearly impossible to predict how another person will decide to react to a hand This is a game that requires a specific skill set she added