Many people in India are still in doubt about the legality of poker in India. Real money poker has always been a topic of debate in India. Some people favor real money poker while others condemn it.
With the growing popularity of online poker in India, citizens need to know whether playing online poker with real money is safe and legal.
Online Poker: Legal or Illegal
- In India, online poker is legal in some states and illegal in others. When you are playing online poker with real money, you need to know whether it is allowed in your state.
- However, the Supreme Court gave a completely different ruling to gambling with real money. The gambling games are divided into two categories to give ruling about poker.
- The gambling games are divided into Games of Skill and Games of Chance. Each category has different laws.
Game of Skill and Game of Chance
As per the Public Gaming Act of 1897, the Indian Supreme Court gives a ruling about online real money poker games.
- Games of Skill: These are gambling games which are not solely depended on chance or luck factor. These games need skills to play. A player wins the game based on their skills. Poker falls into the category of Game of Skills because you need individual skills to win the game.
- Games of Chance: These are gambling games in which success depends on luck and chance. There are no skills needed to win these games. It includes gambling games like Bingo, Roulette, dice, etc.
Games of Skills are legal whereas games of chance of illegal in India. Online poker falls into the category of Games of Skills. So yes, online poker is legal in India. You can easily play online poker with real money.
State Rules and Regulations
Even though poker is legal in India, there are some Indian states where poker is not legal.
There are four stages in which you cannot play online poker. The states are Gujarat, Assam, Telangana, and Orissa. They use their own state laws to ban online poker. You will face legal consequences if you play online poker in these states. In all the other states poker is legal. You can play real money poker in the states.
Online Poker India Legal Sites
Here are some of the legal poker sites in India. You can use these sites to play online poker games with real money.
- Poker Baazi: It is a licensed and legal online poker site. You can use this site to play online poker games. It is safe, secure and provides lots of cash games and tournaments.
- Bet Online: This is another site where you can play online poker. It’s a licensed, safe, secure, and legal poker site. You will get a 100% bonus on this site.
- Spartan Poker: You can also play real-money poker on this site. This website is licensed and safe. It is a well-known online poker site.
This is all you need to know about online poker India’s legal rules and regulations.