Full Bio of Vikrant Bhargava

Vikrant means powerful, courageous, and conqueror of the
world, and he certainly lives up to his name when it comes to
the impact he has had on the online gambling industry. Vikrant
is well-known for his contributions to PartyGaming during his
time serving as their marketing CEO.

He helped them launch PartyPoker.com, which was a huge
milestone for the company. Vikrant added to the success of the
company through his unique marketing strategies and his
dedication to customer service. Even though Vikrant left
PartyGaming in 2006, these are still values that the company
holds on to today.

Early Life

Vikrant Bhargava was born in Jaipur, India in December of
1972. Throughout high school Bhargava was always at the top of
his class; his favorite subjects were math and science.

In 1994, Bhargava first earned a Bachelor’s Degree in
Technology in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute
of Technology located in Dehli. He later attended and graduated
from the Indian Institute of Management in Calculatta, earning a
Postgraduate’s degree in management nearly two years later.

Before heading over to the gambling industry, Bhargava worked
as the credit officer of Bank of America where he was
responsible for managing credit exposure for the corporate
clients in his firm. He also worked in the business analysis
division of British Gas, an energy provider that works out of
the UK.

Association with PartyGaming

Since Bhargava had attended school with Anurad Dikshit, the
software developer for PartyGaming, he already had connections
to the company. He sent a resume over to Dikshit, who was quick
to recommend him to his boss, Ruth Parasol. In 2000, he accepted
a job offer from her, joining the PartyGaming team as their
marketing director.

Just one year later, Bhargava managed to launch
PartyPoker.com, and was named CEO of that division. He focused
on having an excellent customer service department, which came
from his background in customer service from his previous jobs.
He also was responsible for coming up with creative marketing
techniques for the company.

It was Bhargava’s idea to invite Hollywood celebrities like
Nicole Kidman and Ben Affleck to join in their marketing efforts
by playing in a televised poker tournament sponsored by
PartyGaming. Their tournaments took place on fancy cruise ships,
and they offered lucrative prizes of over one million dollars.
These tournaments generated nearly 13 million viewers each time
they took place.

Bhargava also focused on explaining the appeal of online
gambling to his customers, saying that unlike brick and mortar
casinos, it provides an opportunity for players to gamble for
low stakes from the comfort of their own homes.

He also helped the company expand by aiding in the
development of partycasino.com, a virtual online casino and
partysports.com, an online network for sports bettors. In early
2006, Bhargava also thought it would benefit the company to
offer multi-lingual versions of poker and more currency options
so that they would be able to attract more customers from
outside of the United States.

It was almost as if Bhargava could see into the future,
because later that same year the United States issued the
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This caused
PartyGaming to stop serving US customers, which had been their
main source of revenue up to that point.

In May 2006, after this act was instated, Bhargava left
PartyGaming for good with plans to set up Veddis Ventures. This
new company, founded by Bhargava, is an independent investment
company that operates out of London.

Personal Life

Bhargava admits that he has never actually played a hand of
poker before in an actual casino, but he does enjoy playing it
online. He still owns about 8.6 % of PartyGaming’s shares and
uses the proceeds from the company to fund his other business
endeavors.

He still has a major role in the operations of Veddis
Ventures by providing entrepreneurs with management expertise
and the necessary capital to get their companies off the ground.
As a young entrepreneur himself, he loves being able to
encourage others who are trying to start their own businesses.

Bhargava is currently married to his Surabhi Bhargava, and
they have two children together. In his spare time he enjoys
travelling the world with his family and photographing every
moment along the way. He aspires to be a professional
photographer someday.