Final Table Takedown: The Raminator Keeps Finding The Winner’s Circle

Raminder Singh (aka the Raminator) is the CEO of a management consulting company and a resident of South Florida. Rami has been an IT and consulting professional since 1994. He started his journey in New York City when he came to the United States after completing dual engineering degrees in New Delhi, India.

Singh got introduced to poker in 2006 at a corporate job by his boss. Although he still considers himself an amateur poker player, mainly because his main priorities are his family and businesses, he has proven himself time and time again on the felt.

Singh has racked up a whopping 54 wins over the years, which comes along with nearly 300 tournament cashes. He won a WSOP Circuit ring back in 2017, taking down the main event at Palm Beach Kennel Club for $168,995.

One of the highlights of Singh’s career came in 2018 and 2019, when he won back-to-back High Roller events at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach, Florida, and getting a shoutout from tournament host Phil Hellmuth.

He won the 2021 RunGood Poker Series main event at his home casino in Coconut Creek, Florida, which earned him a trip to Aria in Las Vegas for the inaugural RunGood All-Stars ProAm. There were 64 champions in the field, and Singh outlasted them all for the title.

His biggest win came in 2019, when he banked $200,000 at the Hard Rock Poker Open. Singh also has two runner-up, six-figure showings at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open and Battle At The Beach. In total, Singh has cashed for nearly $2 million overall.

Card Player spoke with Singh to break down a couple of hands from a pair of recent victories.

Craig Tapscott: You have won a few events since the hands below occurred this past fall. To what do you attribute your consistent growth in the game and success year after year?

Raminder Singh: I attribute my success to my father mainly and to my mother. Tournament poker and the journey of life, career, and business are very similar. There are ups and downs always with a lot of variance and unexpected events throughout.

My father is one of the strongest persons mentally that I know. He owned an auto rikshaw and drove it for decades to raise four of his kids, including me, to provide us with the best education possible. He never ever gave up in the worst of times for our family. That’s the biggest lesson I learned from him that applies not just to poker tournaments, but also to my family and business scenarios. I give all credit for my poker and life successes to my awesome parents.

CT: Wonderful. Can you please set this first hand up.

RS: I late registered for this tournament due to family commitments on Friday evening and because it was so hard to find a parking spot at the Hard Rock Casino. (laughs) I doubled up early from a 20,000 short stack and slowly built it up as the levels ticked by.

Event: Everglades Poker Open Turbo Bounty
Buy-In: $150
Entrants: 183
Prize Pool: $17,109
First-Place Prize: $4,408

Stacks: Raminder Singh – 220,000 (36.5 BB) Cutoff – 95,000 (16 BB) Big Blind – 110,000 (18 BB)
Blinds: 3,000-6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante
Players Remaining: 21

Singh raised to 14,000 with 6 7 from middle position. The cutoff and big blind both called.

RS: I had moved to that table only two orbits before from a broken table but the villain in this scenario was super active and had played 7-8 hands already, and many out of position to other players’ raises.

Flop: K 7 2
The big blind checked. Singh bet 19,000.

CT: What determining factors do you base your continuation bet sizing on?

RS: Well since I had middle pair and a backdoor diamond flush draw, I decided to lead into him. I did this in case he missed with a holding of A-x. It was an easy pickup, and I can always represent hands such as a K-Q/K-J combo to take it down right there. If not, I still had a potential path to victory on the turn and river.

The cutoff called, and the big blind folded.

RS: The cutoff tanked a bit then called reluctantly.

Turn: 2. Singh checked.

RS: The turn is another favorable card for me with the flush draw, but the board paired.

CT: Was that a big concern for you at the time?

RS: It wasn’t a huge concern to me unless he played an A-2 type of holding or unless he had a pair that’s above sevens and is worried about the king on board. I was still happy with the turn. But then this happened…

The cutoff moved all in.

RS: He thought it over and went all in there after my check.

CT: What was the plan now?

RS: My first instinct was to fold. Moving all in was a strong move in that spot.

CT: So, what hands were you contemplating he could have done that with?

RS: Well with two spades on board I went in the tank thinking if he had a K-Q, 10-10, 9-9, or 8-8 types of hands. Why didn’t he go all in preflop on me with such a strong hand with 15+ big blind effective? Now to win a pot of 151,000, I had to call off 62,000 roughly. That was approximately 10 big blinds more. The price was great, but my instincts are telling me that he has me beat the way he’s played this hand thus far.

CT: He could be on a big draw.

RS: Of course. He could be on a spade draw, but with my draw to a diamond flush and a pair, I was finding it difficult to fold. I took some time to make my decision. This event was a turbo plus a bounty structure, and another player on the table reminded me of that during my tanking. I finally decided to…

Singh called. Villain turned over 9 9.
River: 3 (pot: 213,000)

RS: The river was a blank and he doubled up through me leaving me with 125,000 behind. He obviously played his hand well there to double up. I came back to win the tournament outright later that evening.

After the event, I still thought over my decision in that hand. It was one hand I thought I could have played differently and found a fold on the turn. But it was a tough scenario, and my opponent clearly outplayed me there. Well done.

Event: WPT Florida NLH $30,000 GTD
Buy-In: $600
Entrants: 161
Prize Pool: $84,525
First-Place Prize: $22,475

Stacks: Raminder Singh – 31,000 (77.5 BB) Big Blind – 22,500 (56.5 BB)
Blinds: 200-400
Players Remaining: 125

Singh raised to 1,000 from middle position holding 10 8. The big blind called.

CT: What was your read on the big blind?

RS: He was a very active player so far and very aggressive.

Flop: A 6 4
The big blind led out for 2,100.

CT: Strange that he would donk lead there and bet almost the size of the pot? Perhaps just trying to take it down right there and move on.

RS: My thought process exactly. That flop is more favorable to me since I raised preflop initially. He may have an ace but can have many straight draws also or perhaps a pair. I want to see the turn card. I smooth called in position.

Singh called.
Turn: K

RS: The turn card put two spades on the board along with two hearts. He quickly bet…

The big blind bet 5,500.

CT: Is he protecting his ace? What did you make of that bet?

RS: I thought that he bet big, almost a pot-size bet, and so quickly. I thought it over for a bit and tried to get a read. I eventually…

Singh called.
River: 4 (pot: 17,400)
The big blind moved all in.

CT: What did you make of this shove?

RS: Well, the board paired. He didn’t even make eye contact or look at me, the dealer, or anyone. He just shipped all in for the remainder of his stack, which was around pot size again on the river.

CT: What was going through your mind?

RS: I tanked for a while and gave it some deep thought. I looked over at him. He was attempting to make his body posture look super strong. Then he made eye contact with me but still looked a bit nervous two minutes into the hand. I kept running through the hand, over and over. I realized that he was in the big blind and could have easily missed a straight draw with 5-3 or 7-5 types of holdings. Plus, he was super aggressive, and I had seen him bluff a couple of other players in previous hands. And he even showed a bluff one time.

CT: Was it even possible you could call here with ten high?

RS: Even with that info and read, I did just have 10 high. He said, “I won’t call the clock on you bro. We can sit here all day long plus I can always rebuy if I lose this hand to you.” And he said it in a stern voice. That was his mistake. As soon as he said that, for some reason, I thought I was good. He had missed his draw also. So…

Singh called.

RS: He said, “You’re good.” And then he tried to muck, but the dealer made him turn his cards over since it was an all-in bet. One part of me said to myself, ‘please muck it,’ in case he has a missed queen or jack high flush or a gutshot draw to Broadway. But rules are rules. He showed his hand while standing up to go rebuy.

The big blind revealed 5 2. Singh won the pot of 45,200.

CT: Nice call.

RS: Thanks. That was similar to one of the hands I thought he might have had. Of course, in this scenario it was slightly easier for me in the sense that in case I lost that hand, a rebuy was an option for me too. But I wanted to go with my read this time and prove to myself that I was right when I made that call. Thankfully it worked out. That pot gave me a strong start to build upon that foundation and win the tournament late into the evening.

Follow Raminder Singh on Twitter @PokerTrue. ♠