PokaBunga Poker Stories are back with a different chronicle of a new & diverse Poker Player, but brings along the same kind of dedication & enthusiasm towards playing card games.
A frequent traveler, nature lover, Biker & energetic marathoner, Ravi Tanna , MBA SP Jain School of Global Management alumnus of the 2011 batch, Let’s hear your story…
I raised my sore eyes and looked around. The noise of Slot machines was clamoring all over the place. The place was abundant with sweet aroma of coffee & coke served by the waiters. The air had freshness of new card decks dealt every now and then. And I had no clue about the whereabouts of my friends as I sat at this Poker table at my favorite casino and rolled along all night, or till as long as my pockets were empty. Geeeeezzz!! This is how a typical night would unfold at our weekly, and at times, daily trips to the casino. ‘Aaj Kuch Toofani Karte Hai’ was always on top of my mind during my MBA days and I made sure I live upto the motto…
It all started when I was a kid and was introduced to 2 games namely Bridge and Rummy. With a penchant for counting cards, I immediately got captivated on to these games, or any other, that required me to keep a count of cards in order to guess the move of the other players. Soon I had formed a coterie of friends interested in cards that met during the afternoons over the weekends.
As I grew, so did my risk taking ability. I had matured to become a small time “gamer” from just being a card player who played with friends. We started with any random card game but finally settled on the one addiction that was to remain the love of our lives, POKER. Playing Poker is like any other addiction; you can never check out of an addiction. It’s just not limited to that, I always looked upto the advantages which the game brought along.
Back to the casino night which I will remember for a long time to come, the dealer had just dealt me the cards. As many nights before that one, I was again on the verge of betting the last dollar I had in my pocket. But this night was going to be different; or so I felt. Those who have seen the Dev Anand starrer movie Gambler would recall the scene in which he is broke. He finds a single coin in his pocket and goes on to gamble that coin only to make millions out of it. There is something about this particular night that makes me feel like the Dev Anand from that movie. I mean who would not be upbeat with 2 Queens in his hand.
The dealer lays down 3 cards – 2, King and QUEEN !!!!! I am sure this is going to be mine. Dev Anand is all over my mind.
Another card – QUEEN !!!!! I am All In.
Can anyone guess the last card? No? It’s a King again. Now card counting and probability theory tells me that if you have four of a kind, and that too Queens, there’s not much of a reason to worry. As luck would have it, the dealer had 2 Kings and I lost even my last dollar; yet again.
And if you think this is going to deter me coming back to this godforsaken game and to the casino, let me tell you that you are mistaken. Always remember – Once a Poker player, always a Poker player.
As the saying goes, once a poker player always a Poker player. I am sure a lot of us would be able to connect or relate to Ravi’s Story. Ravi Tanna we see the sportsmen in you, appreciate & acknowledge the zest of being a gamer with the tossing of an adventure guy.. Hope you go places….
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