Nipun Java needs no introduction in the poker arena. When we talk about the professional poker players of Indian origin, the name shines in the top list. The man with $1,150,808 in live tournament winnings has also won the Main Event of WSOP Circuit – Los Angeles. In the recently finished 46th annual Word Series of Poker, he cashed in 4 events. He had a fantastic run in the Event #46: $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six Handed, but missed the bracelet by 1 place.
We at OPN India spoke to Nipun Java about his WSOP outing this year. Nipun shared his experience of playing in the big field WSOP tournaments and his growing dexterity in Omaha tournaments after the runner-up finish in the WSOP PLO event. Here are the excerpts of the interview:
Q1. Hi Nipun, 2015 WSOP was the most successful WSOP outing so far for you. Share your experiences.
Nipun – Thanks for the interview. This was my 2nd year of playing WSOP full time. I feel very blessed to be playing a strategy game for a living. The best part about the World Series is that the 6 weeks at the series gives you enough time to settle into the poker grind, and gives opportunity for one to make good choices off the table (eating/sleeping/exercise), and watch those choices affect your performance. I also got an opportunity this year to meet the Indian poker contingent and hang out with them a bit which was a lot of fun. This series gave me a lot of confidence in my PLO game which I’ve only learned recently.
Q2. You finished as the runner-up in the Event #46: $ 3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six Handed. Had you thought of running so deep at the start of the event?
Nipun – Considering I have only played lifetime less than 10 live PLO tournaments. I would say no..! I do enjoy short-handed poker though and feel it is my strength, so I was mildly optimistic.
Q3. The entire community railing for you got disappointed when you missed the bracelet by 1 place. What do you think went wrong in heads-up?
Nipun – I came into heads up with a small chip-lead and basically lost every key hand. I may have made a couple of marginal river calls but overall, the cards spoke and he had the winning hand. So what went wrong was I did not win.
Q4. In the four events you cashed, who do you think were the toughest competitors?
Nipun – Numit Agrawal (4th place finisher in the PLO event) was by far the toughest competitor I played with. He is a high-stakes shorthanded PLO cash game specialist. After I watched the replay of the broadcast, I was very impressed and picked up a lot from his style of play. He successfully bluffed with a fairly high frequency and looked very believable at the tables, which in my opinion is a hallmark of a great player. There were many other tough competitors across the series, as the series attracts the best in the world. Taylor Paur was extremely tough to play against as well on day 2 of the PLO run.
Q5. This was your first cash in any Omaha event of WSOP. So, will we see you playing more Omaha events in coming days?
Nipun – Yeah for sure. I’m going to be working a lot more on my PLO game and play more tournaments.
Q6. What are your poker plans for the rest of the year? Which all tournaments will you be playing?
Nipun – The plans are somewhat in flux. But I do intend on visiting Choctaw for the WPT event end of July, and Florida in mid-August. I may go to EPT Malta end of October as well.
Q7. Are you active at the online felt? Which all sites you play?
Nipun – Not super active. I play some cash games on Bovada. I play mostly the live games and tournaments.
Q8. What do you love to do most off the poker felt?
Nipun – When I am not playing poker, I mostly like watching Movies, TV shows, playing tennis, golf, chilling and a whole lot of sleeping.