Jaipur, Ritesh Khatwani, an Indian Poker player, showcased exceptional Poker gameplay in India’s first-ever Poker reality show ‘Poker Masterclass’ on Jio Cinema powered by Poker Baazi. His expertise of reading his opponents to understand their strategy stems from his experience of intricately studying the stock markets since the last one decade.
Hailing from Jaipur, Ritesh is a 31-year-old stock market expert and an exceptional Poker player. He has a dedicated schedule to improve his skill and his Poker knowledge where he devotes 3-4 days in a week with each session lasting 6-8 hours playing the mind sport. His dedication to Poker has taken him to various live tournaments in Asia and across India.
On recalling his first interaction with the sport, Ritesh shared, “I saw a few of my friends playing the game and discussing strategy, this elaborate discussion about different nuances compelled me to learn and then play Poker. I read more about the sport in the next year and dabbled in some friendly games before venturing into the world of online Poker with PokerBaazi in 2016.”
In his debut as a reality TV contestant, Ritesh Khatwani represented Poker Master, Vinod Megalmani’s Pocket Rockets in the game-show. He is seen showcasing his strategic Poker game-play and building camaraderie with other Poker players and participants. After every session Ritesh would study his and his opponents hands to understand how he can better for the next rounds.
“The Indian Poker scene in the last one year has progressed significantly and a lot of credit for this is dedicated to PokerBaazi which has extended a platform that offers holistic learning and secure interactions during Poker games. Additionally, the way they are marketing themselves by aggressively combating negative connotations about Poker has catalyzed the growth of the mind-sport in the country.”
Ritesh’s future plans include traveling more for Poker tournaments to other countries while also participating in major events like the Indian Poker Masters series and the G.O.A.T tournament, which boasts a 25 Crore GTD and a 5 Crore GTD to the winner.
Biography of Ritesh Khatwani
Name: Ritesh Khatwani
Age: 31
Hometown and current location: Born and brought up in Jaipur
Educational Qualification: B.com from Commerce College Jaipur, MBA in finance from IBS Mumbai
Professional background: was working with Kotak Securities till COVID 19 hit. He then quit his job, and now is managing his own broking firm and playing poker almost full time.
- How was your experience in the Poker Masterclass?
The experience was amazing. It’s the first poker game show organised in India so it was a great experience. Hospitality was great from Day 1. Every one was a bit camera conscious on the first day but then we understood that we can’t just maintain poker faces throughout the shoot so it got sorted after day 2 and we were enjoying. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and I got to learn many things. It was about poker, playing other physical sports/activities, sound therapy, chilling by the pool and the competition among the teams was quite crazy.
The coaching/masterclass experience by the masters was also very good because we learnt many things. Day 1 was dedicated to heads-up so this was a very rare and interesting situation to learn about heads-up. Mostly when we play online poker, it’s usually about playing with 7-8 people. We get to play heads-up rarely there are only two players left in the tournament. We got to know many things about heads-up, the ranges, and what strategies to use. After that also, Vinod took classes with everyone so we got to learn a lot of things.
Poker is so dynamic that strategies change every few years so you need to keep adapting to new trends otherwise you will fall behind. So overall, the experience was great.
- How did you get introduced to poker and what has your poker journey been (with timeline)?
I got introduced to poker in my college days when I was pursuing my MBA. I saw a few of my friends playing poker in home games and online. This would be in 2015. My friends used to discuss about the strategies so that fascinated me and I got more into it.
Poker is a game which is so dynamic that even if you just learn basics, you become keen to learn new things.
After that, in 2016, PokerBaazi was the first online website that I registered on
- How much time do you devote to poker? What is your grind regime/routine?
There is no specific regime or routine. I try to play 3-4 days in a week and my usual sessions are between 6-8 hours per day. I try grinding on all Sundays and decide the rest of the days depending on how much work I have and how comfortable/zoned in I am. Rest of the days, I manage my work and family commitments.
I play high stakes cash games and select featured tournaments and also prefer playing live poker if given opportunity. Have also traveled to the Asian circuit and live tournaments happening in the country. I am planning to devote more time playing poker and traveling to big live series happening in Cambodia/Vietnam.
Value for money is crazy online because of huge fields of 1,000 entries these days. 4-5 years back this number was just at 100-200.
- Poker is a very diverse sport which teaches its players a lot of things about life as well. Is there any such life lesson you have learnt since you have started playing poker?
Yes poker and life both have a lots of ups and downs so poker teaches you how to be calm and composed even if you are facing a downswing. Also taking wise and sensible decisions when you are under pressure both on and off the tables. Other things would be discipline, how to learn from your mistakes, multi-tasking, and how to invest/utilise your money wisely.
- Do you study the game? If yes, how? And what’s your study routine?
Earlier it used to be playing more and watching content to learn or pick up strategies. I have an online course of MTTs. These days, there is so much free content available, PokerBaazi has also partnered with PokerGo so you can watch a lot of content and its entertaining at the same time as you are watching the streams/videos with commentary.
I also have subscribed to a training course for MTTs majorly.
- How do you strike a balance between your Poker life and Personal/Professional life?
Striking a balance between these has always been difficult for a poker player so I am still learning to do it. I do try to focus on only one thing at a time so if I am playing poker, I only do that. If I am working, I only concentrate on that. It gets complicated and difficult to manage otherwise.
- According to you, what are the skill elements in poker? How would you explain the skill aspect of poker to a layman or a non-poker player?
This has been a major point and I am actually very very thankful to PokerBaazi as they have literally changed the perception for a lot of people in the country. The way they have been promoting poker aggressively, it has helped change the minds of several people and given them a lot of knowledge. 3-4 years back, if I used to tell my relatives that I play poker, they just assumed its a card game but now they recognise poker as a mind sport and that’s to PokerBaazi for promoting it so well.
Even now with Poker Masterclass being aired on OTTs, they have given this sport a different look and people see it in a different way now.
If I had to explain the skill aspect of poker to a layman, I tell them that even if you are investing in the stock market without much knowledge, you will make losses. Similarly, if you gain skills and acquire knowledge in poker, you can be profitable just like the stock market.
- What are your future plans? Both in terms of your poker career and personal life? Any other goals or milestones you want to achieve on PokerBaazi?
Yea so I am planning to travel more and I am really looking forward to the Indian Poker Masters series and obviously the upcoming G.O.A.T which is the biggest tournament in the country offering 25 Crore GTD and 5 Crore GTD to the winner.
