Nikita Luther
| Nikita Luther | |
|---|---|
 Luther in 2019 | |
| Residence | New Delhi |
| Born | January 17, 1991 New Delhi, India |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 1 |
| Final table(s) | 1 |
| Money finish(es) | 14 |
| Highest WSOP Main Event finish | 96th, 2023 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | 3 |
| Money finish(es) | 4 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 4 |
Nikita Luther (born January 20, 1991) is an Indian professional poker player based in Greater Kailash, New Delhi.[1]
Nikita is the first Indian female Poker player who won a bracelet in the 2018 World Series of Poker.[2][3]
Currently, she is mentoring her insights at the ‘Super Bowl’ of poker championship in India and COO of Poker Sports League.[4][5]
Early life
[edit]Nikita Luther was born into a military family and raised in Delhi. She completed her schooling from "Sanskriti School", Delhi followed by a bachelor’s degree from Delhi University.[6]
Career
[edit]Nikita started playing poker on an American based poker platform called Zynga, until finally when she got a chance to play poker at a friend’s birthday in 2015 for real money. After realizing her penchant for poker & she started playing poker full time.[7]
She pursued poker because her passion for the game is deeply rooted in her love for mathematics and its logical structure, which she compares to solving intricate math puzzles. She was drawn to the game after recognizing that it wasn’t about luck but a skill-based sport requiring strategic thinking, probability analysis, and psychological insight, qualities she naturally excelled in through her mathematical acumen.[1]
In 2015, Nikita won her first title which was the ladies' event at the Indian Poker Championship in Goa. She has also made it to the final table of three other big tournaments, finishing second, fourth, and eighth.[8]
Luther along with another poker player Raghav Bansal won Macau Poker Cup team event in February 2017.[9] In June 2017, she won 5th place in the Aria Poker Classic Main Event, which awarded her $65,000.[6]
In 2018, at the age of 27, Nikita won her career's first bracelet at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Las Vegas, Nevada with her teammate, German Italian poker player Giuseppe Pantaleo. This year, participants from 88 nations entered over 123,000 entries across multiple tournaments. Only one girl, Nikita Luther, has won the WSOP gold championship.[10][5]
Later that year, she was featured on the cover of Gutshot Magazine, a leading poker news and content platform based in India. The cover titled 'Bracelet Buddies' was one signifying the only two Indians to win a WSOP gold bracelet in Las Vegas - Aditya Sushant and Luther herself.
Subsequently she made x final tables throughout her career which included a 2nd place out of 1932 entries in Aria Poker Classic, Las Vegas again posting India’s first 6 figure score in 2019.[11]
Nikita is the brand ambassador of Natural8 India, Asia's online poker room.[12][13]
Nikita Luther can also be seen in Karan Johar's The Traitors India, an Amazon Prime web series.[14][15] Where she won the show with Urfi Javed.
Awards
[edit]- Olympic Gold Medal with a victory in $1,000 NLH Tag Team Event in Las Vegas in June 2018[citation needed]
- 2015 India Poker Championship Ladies Event Title[8]
- 2017 Poker Stars Trophy, Macau Poker Cup[16]
World Series of Poker bracelets
[edit]| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $1,000 Tag Team No Limit Hold'em | $175,805 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b David, Shantanu (18 June 2020). "Going all in: 28-year-old Nikita Luther a math nerd but also India's finest female poker player". The New Indian Express.
- ^ Kasturi, Charu Sudan. "Game over for India's booming online gaming Industry?". Al Jazeera English.
- ^ "Poker is a mental sport and women have no disadvantage: Poker champ Nikita Luther - CNBC TV18". CNBCTV18. 26 December 2019.
- ^ Sen, J. D. (20 March 2019). "Cash me in! Introducing the new-age high-flying Indian poker champion celebrity lifestyle". Indulgexpress.
- ^ a b "Ace up her sleeve". The Telegraph (India).
- ^ a b "Nikita Luther - Female Indian Poker Player - Adda52". Adda52.com.
- ^ "Who Is Nikita Luther Poker Player? Here Are Her Results!". gutshotmagazine.
- ^ a b "Meet Nikita Luther-The girl changing perception of Indian masses about POKER". ANI News.
- ^ "MCP 26 | Online Poker News". Onlinepokernews. 15 February 2017.
- ^ "India Online Poker Championship rakes in players with rewards". The New Indian Express. 15 July 2021.
- ^ "Ben Farrell Wins Zynga Poker WPT500, Nikita Luther Finishes 2nd (~₹75.32 Lakhs)". PokerGuru. 28 June 2019.
- ^ "Putting India on the global poker table: Natural8 India ambassador Nikita Luther takes on heavyweights at the Game of Gold, a first-of-its-kind poker reality show!". Passionate In Marketing. 24 November 2023.
- ^ "Nikita Luther / Pro Poker Player / WSOP Bracelet Winner / Natural8 India Ambassador | Jeff Gross - The Flow Show". jeffgrosspodcast.podbean.com.
- ^ "India's Poker Queen Nikita Luther to Join Karan Johar and a Star-Studded Cast on Amazon Prime's 'The Traitors India'!". PokerGuru. 7 October 2024.
- ^ Amena, Rasti (19 September 2024). "Karan Johar's The Traitors: Full list of 20 celebrity contestants". The Siasat Daily.
- ^ bhanushali, aarti (17 May 2017). "Running deep' in the game". Asianage.