Vinay Suchede is the proud winner of the PGT February Edition INR 25K Main Event. Surprisingly this was Vinay`s first appearance in a Main Event and he earned himself a well deserved title along with some valuable points towards the INR 12 Lacs PGT POY Leadeboard. We spoke to Vinay to find out his poker story and to discuss his experiences at the opening event of PGT Season 2.
Hi Vinay, Congratulations on winning the PGT February Edition Main Event! How was your experience at PGT?
Thanks Guys!The experience was fantastic. I had already alluded to the fact in one of my blogs that this is the best "value for money" series this year with it being "Rake-free". There is also "Prize Pool Guarantee" and the ridiculous too good to be true "12 Lac POY pool". You guys are sick. But this is what a poker player (especially a tournament grinder) travelling to Goa needs. Travelling to Goa and staying there is an expensive proposition. For a 4 night stay, one can expect to shell out around 10K INR in a decent hotel in Panjim. Add to it 2K airport to-n-fro and around 8K flight tickets. One is looking at around 20K per Goa visit. Plonking 20K to play in a series worth 30K-50K (if you are not playing the high rollers) is huge overhead to overcome. Giving the above 3 benefits makes a huge difference to a players overall ROI.
Before even travelling there, I knew this was one series I didn't want to miss. Winning the main event made it an unforgettable experience. This was the first time I ever played a main event of any series. I had only played smaller buy-in tourneys till now (under 10K). I really enjoyed the structure.
We have not seen you playing many tournaments in Goa. After the win are you planning on playing more tournaments?
I never used to come to Goa to just play in tournaments till the ‘November 2011 APT’ happened. Goa is my favourite vacation spot. I used to come atleast once or twice a year even before the poker boom happened. After the poker circuit started, I began to plan my trips around these tourneys so that I could play in a couple of low buy-in ones. When APT was announced, I decided to just come for playing in it. I felt my game had also improved from the earlier novice levels as I had put in a lot of volume playing 6-max micro cash online. After my 3rd place finish at APT 5K FO, I started to entertain thoughts of doing the Goa circuit from 2012. I started to actively look for backers as tournaments are high variance and one needs adequate bankroll to grind them. Luckily I found someone who was willing to back me. First stop was going to be IPC but I couldn't make it due to personal reasons. PGT was our first shot and boy did we score. So to answer your question, Yes, I will definitely be playing a lot more live Goa tournaments in 2012.
However the tournaments which I will not be seen playing in will be the ones which have same day re-entry. (I am actually not a fan of re-entry format at all) I think this is just artificial bloating of the prize pool. It adulterates tournament poker. In the pure form of tournament poker, a player has the fear of making mistakes, busting out. It’s what makes tournament poker beautiful. If one doesn’t have the patience and wants to gamble early in tournaments, one can always play the re-buy/add-on format. However, this is another format which needs to be re-structured. I have never played this in live setting till now but I have observed and followed it via live updates on your site. The add-on chips that are given are just too low. Just check the online structures on this format. This is just one of my gripes.
Do you have any other suggestions or gripes?
I have a lot of other suggestions as well for (other) tournament organizers. One of it is that organizers have to start giving prize pool guarantees (and without re-entry). This is how you (as an organizer) get to earn your 10% of the prize pools. If organizing tournaments was only about facebook bombardment and taking 10% from prize pools, anyone would be able to do this. Come on guys, back yourselves to do well, to arrest the slide and get the numbers. If there is overlay, advertise it. This overlay itself will get many players to your next event.
Do share some highlights of your experience at PGT!
I would say the highlight of my experience would be definitely being able to play the 6-max high roller and sitting on the table with professional players such as Adi ‘Intervention’ Agarwal, Raman Gujral, Aditya Sushant, Sangeeth Mohan, Prabhat Mukherjee. 3-betting light the likes of Raman and Adi was naughty and fun (laughs). I tried a light 5-bet on Sushant. Didn’t work though as he 6-bet shoved. Raman also got the better of me later as he flatted that time and check shoved a wet board on me.
The hand with YJ Kim was another highlight where I called down his 3 barrel shove with second pair when we were 3-handed in the Main Event.
So how long have you been playing poker and how did you get started in Live Tournaments?
I started playing poker after I saw the movie Casino Royale featuring Daniel Craig. But it was with play money chips on Yahoo. This was before the advent of facebook poker. I then came across PokerStars. I deposited 50 dollars on it and took it from there. Playing profile went from single table SNGs to multi-table SNG’s to MTT to 8-game MTT and now have settled on 6-max cash. 1st Live tournament I played was when I had gone as a tourist in Macau’s Grand Lisboa (Pokerstars Room). They were a couple of small buy-in tourneys. I managed to win a seat in a satellite to an APPT side-event which I played. Came close in that one but didn’t cash.
What are your Poker Goals for 2012?
I am definitely looking at increasing my online roll so that I can jump from micro-stakes 6-max to low-stakes 6-max. Playing live tourneys and hopefully cashing in as many as possible to maintain +ROI. Also want to get started in the live cash games. The full ring live cash games are a very different kettle of fish (no pun intended) and I am a bit nervous about them. How about comping me a 1 hour coaching session with one of your PG mentors? ;-)
Haha! Ok we will need to ask our Mentors about that. Apart from Poker ,tell us about your favourite things to do in Goa.
The best thing to do in Goa is to do nothing. Sleep till late. Have one of those sumptuous breakfasts. Drink beer or whatever your favourite tipple is at the beach shacks. Get massages. Evenings go out for dinner and then to one of the sport bars or a disco. Do this for 7 days and see how you feel. It is just amazing.
For those who want to thank/pray to the Lord for their winnings, you can do the Old Goa Church, Mangeshi Temple, ShantaDurga Temple tour. You can also go ahead from there and visit the Dudhsagar falls on Karnataka border. They are really amazing.
On a parting note is there anything you would like to say or add?
Yes. I will like to use this forum to ask a favour from organizers who are interested in some philanthropy. As many in our poker circuit already know, I am a type 1 diabetic (which means that I have to take insulin externally to keep blood sugar control). This condition usually occurs in children who are then dependent on externally injected insulin for life. In my formative years I had been helped emotionally to combat this condition by a foundation called the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDF). This is led by a team of highly qualified doctors, dieticians, counsellors and volunteers. This foundation keeps weekly (Saturday) clinics in the Andheri, Mumbai to help children of ‘not well to do’ parents with free/discounted insulin, glucose measuring strips, free consultation etc. If any of you want to keep a small 5K side event-tournament at one of your series (on the lines of WSOP’s ante up for Africa) where some % of prize-pool goes to this foundation do let me know. It is a government registered NGO and donations are covered under some section of Income Tax department. Do get in touch with me over phone/facebook/twitter for more details etc.
Thank you Vinay for taking the time to talk to us and wish you all the best for all your Poker endeavours!
