Shankar Pillai was born in 1985 and was raised in Commack, New York, by his parents – a government employee and a school teacher. As he grew up, young Shankar Pillai discovered the online poker, and has been playing in various online poker websites for eight years now, since he was 17 years old.
Only on 2007 did Shankar Pillai make his first move into the world of live professional poker tournaments. The young poker player, with a great ambition and aspiration to become a professional player in the live poker tournaments scene, took his profits from the online poker tournaments and used them to get into the $3,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tournament of the 38th Annual WSOP.
The tournament took three long days, but Shankar Pillai never gave up, never surrendered, made some fine moves and some great moves, read his opponents correctly and didn't fold even at the utmost stressing moments, that could have cost him his entire bankroll. Apparently it was worth it, as three days later, on June 17th, 2007, Shankar Pillai was declared the winner of this No Limit Hold'em tournament, and earned both a WSOP bracelet and $527,829.
The last table of the No Limit Hold'em tournament at the 38th Annual WSOP was a hard one to beat, and Shankar Pillai played head-to-head (or hand-to-hand) against Beth Shak, another great poker player, and beat her. It wasn't trivial at all, as Beth Shak had two eights and a king in her hand, whereas he had two eights and an ace. It was a tight match, but Shankar Pillai was the winner at last, and promised himself overnight fame right on his first live professional poker tournament.
Shankar Pillai is not only a poker player, but also works in investments and has a degree in finance from Baruch College. That WSOP No Limit Hold'em tournament was both his first live professional poker tournament and his first visit to Las Vegas, Nevada, home of the professional poker kingdom.
Ever since his grand winning, Shankar Pillai continued playing various live tournaments whenever he managed to do so. His winnings of the last year weren't as grand and exciting as the 1st place he took at the 38th Annual WSOP, but there's a great feeling in the poker world that Shankar Pillai it just waiting for the right moment to strike again. In the meantime, search for him at the online poker websites.
Shankar Pillai Quick Facts
Cashes: 4
Total Winnings: $546,355
First Place Finishes: 1
WSOP Bracelets: 1
