India Poker Experience (Goa)

Attracted by his posts of crushing the games, I couldn't resist coming back to India for a second visit. My friend had been doing well in the poker clubs of Noida (near Delhi) and the casinos in Goa. Since my Sri Lankan trip was cut short due to the lack of cash game options, I thought I'd give it a go. 

One of the floating casinos there

The day I landed in Delhi, the poker clubs stopped posting game updates and replying WhatsApp messages. Out of curiosity I Googled poker news in Noida and apparently the day before, a journalist infiltrated one of the top clubs and exposed their raking system etc. I was spooked so I quickly booked a trip to Goa instead, not before spending a couple of nights in Old Delhi. 

I tried to feed the stray dogs

Delhi definitely does not represent all of India, especially Old Delhi. It's bearable to visit for a couple of days, but you can't help to think about the people who live there their whole lives. They have been dealt a bad starting hand, yet they choose to grind it out, those who do well, still choose to stay as it is their home. There is much to learn from observing the people there, to appreciate what we have and our circumstances in life. Things did not change much since my last visit in 2012, as if it was stuck in time. I visited an old restaurant where I ate at 14 years ago, it was just as I remembered. 

The mangoes are amazing

Goa had a much different vibe. I got a hotel in the Portuguese old town that had a chill village vibe. A forewarning to others considering visiting, Goa has terrible taxi services. They do not allow Uber or any e-hailing apps, and insist on using their own janky app, that is virtually unusable for foreigners. You can pay the driver in cash, however you must have a balance in the app or order to do so, but as a foreigner you have no way of loading a balance. I was lucky to have a friend who knew the poker room manager at Big Daddy casino so I could request a pick up. For travelers I would suggest going online to find some taxi services that have WhatsApp and accept cash. 

To circumvent the law, the casinos are boats anchored offshore. You would arrive at the pier, purchase a ticket (yes it costs between INR 2900-5000 - approx. USD 29-50) to get on the boat depending on which package you choose. Then you would be ferried to the corresponding casino. The packages include some free chips, free flow alcohol and access to the buffets. The games are usually INR 100/200 or 100/200/500 but I heard there are bigger private games at 500/1000. However the whole system is not foreigner friendly. The exchange rate on offer was ridiculous, and it took me about 20 minutes to get it done. The table was soft but I did not enjoy it. However I must say, the food was tasty, as was with most of my meals in India, and I did not have any stomach issues with them. 

It's cool to collect my 41st poker country, and as a Jason Bourne fan, to visit another of his film locations. However I do not recommend Goa for a grind. The whole process of getting there is so tilting, and the environment on board was not fun either. It's impossible to game select as going to the next casino means boarding two other boats and paying for another entry ticket. I forgot to verify this but I believe the rake was capped at 7bbs. 

Bengaluru Airport

One thing that surprised me the most were the airports. During this visit I used 4 Indian airports and they were all very clean, efficient and fast. The Bengaluru airport looked more like a 5-star hotel. I think it is unlikely I would return, but never say never. If you haven't, follow me on Instagram for more of my poker adventures @happyriverpoker 

Sri Lanka Poker Experience (Colombo)

I think most of you are like me, shocked to hear that there's poker in Sri Lanka. A friend of mine was grinding in India in the past few months and told me games were good there, and heard that Sri Lanka was also great. I was looking for a break from MTTs, want to add to my list of poker countries (now 40th) and it sounded like an adventure so off I went. 

My initial plan was to grind cash games, but it just so happen that there was a series at the same time called the Royal Spade at the newly built City of Dreams. This time I had a couple of poker friends going together as well so it sounded like fun. 

We arrived at night and it was off to a bad start as my friend was stopped by immigration for having travelled to Cambodia too often. Interestingly I used to live there but I got by with no issues. We went to our separate hotels and he got semi-scammed, first by a tuk tuk driver who aggressively asked for a 5-star rating and a tip. He received 1-star and no tip. Then by the food delivery app that sent him a tiny burger. The next day he also had a bad experience with a cafe, overcharging him for a coffee by 40% based on the price on the wall. I on the other hand had a more fortunate experience. My Airbnb host was kind, the place was decent for the price. 

Our first day we explored 3 different casinos, only to find out the poker room permanently closed at Majestic Pride, rake uncapped at Bally's, and COD capped at 20bbs. The rake alone probably would have been okay but they enforce a minimum commitment time of 2-4 hours, and a 1 hour call time. That means you have to play at least 3-5 hours before you can leave the table. Cash games have edge because of game selection, seat selection, start and stop at your choosing... but with this setup, plus the rake, I felt that I had a better edge playing the tournament, so I did, shallow cashing the main, but nice to get my 12th flag on Hendon. To our surprise, we even met a couple of Malaysians there. 

The tournament was fun, the field soft, the environment comfy. The structure for the main was decent, although I would have preferred if they played till ITM or had a slower structure instead of being neither here or there. There was a lot of stalling as well so I hope they will introduce time banks at some point. The customer service and marketing need a lot of improvement but maybe just lacked initiative and experience. 

Colombo is pretty boring if you ask me, we covered half of the sights we wanted to see within the first day. Sri Lankan food is not as exciting or flavorful as their counterparts in South Asia, the best meal I had was at the Ministry of Crab but it was ridiculously overpriced. You'll easily spend $250 per person not to mention the 20% VAT and 10% service charge. 

This was the 3rd largest size they had on the menu

Sri Lanka in my opinion has potential, but it is a bud that needs to be nurtured. If operators are willing to spend the time and effort doing proper marketing, not go crazy with the rake, improve on the overall user experience and customer service, it can blossom into one of Asia's hot poker destinations. But if not done with care, it will just die off and be long forgotten. I am currently writing this in India, which I will share about my poker experience in another post. Stay tuned.