New Delhi, Mar 29 (IANS): As the National Poker Series (NPS) kicks off with its third edition on the host app PokerBaazi, the tournament series is all set to witness lots of new entrants along with some stiff competition from the last year's medalists who would be aiming to increase their medal wins.
One such campaign will be from one of the medalists from the 2022 edition of the series - Saransh Garg from Jabalpur - who is looking to stamp his authority while 35-year-old Karan Malhotra from Agra, a mathematics teacher by profession, believes his extensive knowledge of numbers will give him an edge over the others.
With thousands of players participating from all regions of the country and a revamped prize pool of INR 25 crore, the 28-year-old from Jabalpur has played in over a thousand tournaments, honing his skills to establish his presence on the poker tables in the country. With nearly 20 wins and over 260 prize finishes, Garg is keen to improve his winning streak. However, Agra's Malhotra will be looking to act as a deterrent to Garg's ambitions as he intends to leverage his international experience of putting India on the global map.
A civil engineer by profession, Saransh Garg has managed to balance his time to pursue his passion for Poker with his eyes set on glory each time he competes. As a student of the game, Garg is determined to accumulate more medals for his trophy cabinet at NPS India 2023, as he explained, "Excellence in academics and with a competitive spirit, I intend to bring in my learnings to the game of Poker as well. Following the theory of mastering a habit, even a sport, through practicing for more than 10,000 hours is something I have closely followed to improve my game. The NPS tournament is particularly meaningful to me because it was the first time, I earned a medal for winning a tournament, and it serves as a reminder of how this platform has shaped many upcoming poker players in the country."
The mathematics teacher exuded confidence before stepping into Poker, as he said, "I am quite confident about my chances of winning as my knowledge of arithmetic will provide me with an extra edge over other opponents. This time, I return to NPS as an experienced player even amidst stiff competition, but I have my vision set on gunning for glory."
While these two intend to battle it out, India is also witnessing more participation from women with players like Gunisha Sinha from Gurgaon who want to make a mark on this year's NPS.
With a total of 324 medals to be won at this year's National Poker Series India 2023, some of these prominent players and many more skilled players will focus on proving their mettle at one of the most reputed national Poker tournaments in the country.