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D’Souza was initiated into the world of poker in 2009 when his college friends coaxed him to join in with Rs 100. “They told me about the rules and regulations. I lost the money, but the game sounded cool,” says D’Souza, now the #1 player in India. He quit his job recently and gave himself over to the game completely — he’s played over 1.5 million hands (games) of poker, a game that has morphed from a family card game to its present avatar, and that has been embraced by the internet-savvy generation.


PLAYING POKER ONLINE
D’Souza started out on Facebook, playing with non-monetary chips. “I felt I was doing well there and so decided to play with real money. I searched online and came across www.pokerstrategy.com which gives you a free starting capital of $50 dollars to play online. All I had to do was pass a quiz. I made $150 dollars in a month but later ended up losing the entire amount. Poker brought out the competitive side of me. I spent a lot of time to learn the game. I didn’t want to borrow money from my mother (there was initial resistance and scepticism from his mum's side) so I requested a friend to deposit $5 dollars into my poker account. Since it was borrowed money, I took the game seriously and in five months I earned $1,000 dollars.”

It was a proud moment for D’Souza and he mentioned his achievement on a forum where poker enthusiasts discuss and exchange information. On this forum, a member had  told him that poker was a game of luck and there was no skill involved. He challenged D’Souza to convert the $5 into $1,000 dollars. He was even willing to put up the money to prove D’Souza wrong. “I took up this challenge and in 41 days proved that he was wrong. Everybody on the forum was looking forward to the challenge, so it was a prestige issue for me. Since then, it has been a smooth ride,” he says.


A GAME OF SKILL OR CHANCE?
The ratio between skill and chance in poker is 75:25. “A lot of people assume poker is gambling, like roulette. But it is a game where you can make a steady income if you stick to certain strategies. In roulette, I bet on a number and play against the casino. Here, I play against other players. Whoever is better makes more money,” says D’Souza.


GETTING A COACH
Once D’Souza got a better hold of the game, he raised his stakes to $25 a game. Four months ago, he decided to get a coach. He got in touch with Neil Gewritz, a coach in the US, who represents bluefirepoker.com site. Neil watched his game and started telling him how to improve. “I started sharing my screen with Neil who guided me. He also shared his screen and I realised that he didn’t take risks and that I needed a lot more discipline. Since there is a certain amount of luck involved, it can be irritating to lose money. At this time, one needs to learn to control and not take rash decisions. This is what I have learnt from my coach,” says D’Souza. Since Neil charges $85 dollars a week, he connects with him once a week to improve his game further.


SUPERNOVA STATUS
D’Souza is the first Indian to reach the Supernova status this year on Pokerstars. “This status guarantees me a steady monthly income of $1800 (over Rs 90,000). This was one of the main reasons why I quit my job immediately. You reach this status when you play a lot, irrespective of whether you win the games or not.”

This year alone, he has managed to earn Rs 8 lakh. From two-three hours a day, he now spends eight-nine hours a day on poker when he is not feeling lazy. “It has been my main source of income over the last couple of months,” he says.

This article in full can be read at,
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/81/2011120320111203202938205e0d96f8b/The-guy-who-plays-poker-for-a-living.html