For all the excellence and individual brilliance, cricket is played more in the mind and if that battle in the dressing room is won, the encounter on the field becomes easier to combat. Very similar to cards, and quite like the way Poker is played.
Opponents try to outwit each other, they play around with the mind, stand back when the going seems to be tricky and go all out attack when the momentum is behind their back.
With the upcoming Indian Premier League, it is not just about the action on the field, but also identifying moments and players to arrest the momentum and then drive home the advantage.
The nuances of the game and the several clinching moments should be the ally of the winning team, perhaps herein lies the ability to hoodwink the opponents.
Also read: IPL 2018: Top Five Players who never captained an IPL team
We will now correlate Poker to cricket and identify the many similarities between them.
Not many games and interfaces can get better than 9stacks poker, which not only guarantees you money within two hours but has a fluid interface and legal by all means.
It is after all the quest to win, they push boundaries, and to stand on that winner’s podium.
Flush:
A hand is deemed to be Flush if it contains five cards of the same suit, diamonds, hearts, spades, or clubs.
Strikes eerily similar to how the teams have panned out this IPL, starting from retentions to auctions to using the Right to Match cards, every team has five players who form the nucleus of the side and have the ability to win games all on their own.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis
Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Colin Munro
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane, D’Arcy Short, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jaydev Unadkat
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Kane Williamson
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Andre Russell
Kings XI Punjab: R Ashwin, KL Rahul, Aaron Finch, Chris Gayle, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Agarwal
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Brendon McCullum, Yuzvendra Chahal
And then again there is a term called Bluff in Poker which means bet or raise, holding a hand you believe to be weaker than that of your opponent, with the intention of getting them to fold their stronger hand.
The IPL is not only about big-ticket signings and marquee names, but often the players who slip under the radar are the ones who make the difference when the opportune moment comes by.
These players might not be very flashy, they might not attract packed houses, but almost quietly get the job done and account for big names in the opposition camp.
We take a look at 8 such Bluffs from each team:
Mumbai Indians: Rahul Chahar
Chennai Super Kings: Shardul Thakur
Delhi Daredevils: Prithvi Shaw
Rajasthan Royals: Shreyas Gopal
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Deepak Hooda
Kings XI Punjab: Mujeeb Zadran
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Washington Sundar
As per Poker jargons, a full house is when there are any three cards of the same number or face value, plus any other two cards of the same number or face value.
Also read: IPL 2018: Ranveer Singh To Miss Out From Opening Ceremony
Eerily similar to how the teams line up this season, a combination of three batsmen and two bowlers, many might saw the nucleus of the team, others might say full house.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Evin Lewis, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Mark Wood, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur
Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson, Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer
Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Johnson
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan
Kings XI Punjab: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Andrew Tye
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Chahal
The jackpot is up for grabs and which team goes ‘all in’ and which team ‘holds’ on for the latter stages of the tournament might well translate into the eventual champions.
