Thrill Poker Adds Nikita Luther As Team Thrill Pro

Nikita Luther
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  • PG News July 30, 2015
  • 2 Minutes Read

Poker in India is on the upswing with several developments and the latest is the increasing number of pro sign-ups by online sites. Today, we bring you news of Nikita Luther, the seventh and first lady pro to join the popular Thrill India team of poker pros.

In April this year, Thrill Poker launched its “Team Thrill India” with top MTT pros Sahil Agarwal, Shravan Chhabria, Dhaval Mudgal, Haresh Kukreja, Jasven Saigal and Danish Shaikh.

Luther is one among the few women, who have taken up poker on a serious basis and is a well-known name on the closely-knit Delhi circuit. She is a welcome addition to the Thrill Team, bringing in the right touch of enthusiasm and is sure to encourage more women to take up the sport.

Here we bring you a quick introduction to Luther, much of it in her own words.

Like many successful players, Luther had a talent for numbers since childhood and was always at the top in academics, though that did not stop her from mischief. She tells us about her school days and says, “I was the odd one out with favourite subject being Math, the kind of kid in school who was the first to get into trouble and bunk classes but somehow always came out on top academically (in fact I topped 2008 batch Sanskriti school in the class 12 CBSE Boards)”

Luther began to play in college and has now been playing almost 4 to 5 years. Her first game was an ₹1,000 buy in at a weekend party with friends and ever since then she has kept on evolving her game, learning as she played.

The lady prefers tournaments and declares that her “Interest in tournament poker was elicited not only by railing big names in poker in WSOPs and EPTs but also home grown talents such as Intervention, Dhaval Mudgal and Shashank Jain.”

Among international players, her inspirations are Vanessa Selbst and Daniel Negreanu.

Speaking about her recent game, Luther tells us that she has “mostly been playing cash games as the tournament poker scene in India was a bit dry the last couple of years.”

Looking ahead she adds, “Excited to be part of the illustrious TeamThrill and raring to debut for them at the IPC in August hoping for some good scores.”

About her own style of playing, Luther states, I go into tournaments focused and with eyes on the prize and my favorite part is when I’m in the cash that’s when I’m at my best and start playing poker instead of playing the cards.”

The delicate-featured Luther is self-admittedly “aggressive” in her approach to playing and “passionate and fearless when it comes to poker and love it for the adventure.”

The lady is unabashed when she confidently asserts that she believes in “taking advantage of the fact that women are a minority in poker and are underestimated.”

Luther is also quick to clarify that for her, “It has never been about the money, it’s for the rush you get when you soul read your opponents.”

Clearly, Luther is the ideal combination of confident-action and passion for poker and focussed on achieving her aims. She firmly asserts, “I’m very competitive and ambitious, I stop at nothing when I commit to a task I guess it’s a characteristic associated with most Capricorns.

Ask her about how she intends to use her earnings and she displays a different side as she informs us, “I believe in spending money on experiences rather than material possessions and I hope to spend any amount I win on exploring, travelling, good food, fulfilling experiences with family and charity.”

Luther’s other interests include reading books, she lists a love for playing pool, being a big foodie and is fascinated by the subject of noetic sciences and time-space theories.

I also absolutely love adventure sports and I think that’s where my THRILL for poker stems – pun intended. For me, poker is also an adventure sport albeit of the mind,” Luther adds, as she signs off.

Team Thrill India has already begun with a great start, where Dhaval Mudgal won the ₹12K Bounty Event at the THOS ’15 and followed it up by taking down two more events, Rockets Anniversary Series Ruby 5K event and the THOS Chip Hop Hustle Main Event. Mudgal narrowly missed the title in the 50K Golden Grind Main Event at Rockets Anniversary series but took the next best cash with a runners-up finish in the event.

Dhaval Mudgal
Dhaval Mudgal
Haresh Kukreja
Haresh Kukreja

Haresh Kukreja has been another consistent performer for the team with a win in the $50K GTD APT Philippines Opening Event in April,2015 along with a string of other deep finishes that include final tables finishes in the IPC, Rockets and Tilt Poker Series!

With this new inclusion, Team Thrill India is set for an exciting sojourn ahead and are sure to carve a glorious path filled with many successful exploits.

Here’s wishing Nikita a wonderful journey as a Team Thrill pro!

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