Future Of Poker In India
Considering the skills involved in poker and the craze currently going around the game, Anand sees a bright future for the game in India. According to him, the game has the potential to make it big in the near future. “There is a lot of scope for expansion. It is very similar to chess to be able to access online. Most of the online poker sites are fair you just have to look for poker sites which are safe and secure site If you are playing poker online then you need to check if that website is legally permissible in India and the website comply with Indian laws like Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Indian Information Technology.
While the world is rapidly moving towards a more liberal outlook towards Poker as a game of ‘skill’; Indian gaming and online gambling laws are either archaic or non-existent. The government hasn’t formulated any dedicated gambling laws and there is a complete lack of a techno-legal framework. Currently, the future of the legal status of poker in India looks bleak. Read on to find out more!
According to the Supreme Court, games of chance are illegal, but those which are based on ‘skill’ are not. However, since gambling is a state subject, different states have reacted differently and made the scenario very murky. Currently, gambling is only legal in Goa, Daman, Sikkim and Nagaland. Selective categories like horse racing and lottery are legal in a few states. Some states have explicitly allowed games of skill, others have specifically prohibited them in all forms. Nagaland has become the first gambling jurisdiction in India to award a license to an online Poker operator. The Calcutta High Court in a ruling in July 2015 exempted Poker from being punishable under gambling laws. In October 2013, Karnataka High Court decriminalized playing Poker in recreational clubs; however, there are still ambiguities in the law. Thanks to continued efforts of the Indian Poke Association; Gujarat and Kerala are on the fence on making Poker legal.
In June 2017, the state of Telangana issued two decrees modifying the Telangana’s Gaming Act of 1974, making gambling illegal as well as any form of online betting illegal. The ordinance also added a new definition of “cyber space”. Another setback for poker players was the deletion of the second amendment, Section 15 of the Gaming Act of 1974. This amendment earlier exempted ‘games of skill’ from the ambit of gambling. However, with the deletion of this amendment, playing online poker and rummy for money were deemed illegal. Three online rummy companies challenged the constitutional validity of the ordinance in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana High Court. They submitted that banning rummy goes against the Supreme Court verdict that recognized rummy as a game of skill and termed it legal in August 2015.
In September, this year, several hearings took place where the relationship between luck and skill in Poker was examined. The legislative council listened to arguments given by experts, players, and club owners and the bench considered these arguments before making the final decision on November 15, 2017. The situation was looking bleak and as expected, in a huge setback, the status of online poker in the state of Telangana was revoked. The state’s legislative council finally authorized and passed the Telangana Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which bans all online gaming and games of skill like Poker and Rummy. This was backed by all major political parties as well. In a statement issued by the Telangana Home Minister, all games either skill-based or luck-based that involve exchange of money have been included under the purview of gambling. According to the Bill, all these games have been made cognizable as non-bailable offences.
Sadly, the Telangana Gaming (Amendment) Bill has been passed by both Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. It is now awaiting the approval of the Governor and it’s expected to be passed in the next few days. After the Governor’s approval, the Bill will become a law. This is definitely a major setback for skill-based games like Poker and Rummy. What could’ve been a major breakthrough for Indian online gambling laws has gone 5 steps back. Like they say, fate is capricious. We need to wait and watch and see how destiny unfolds!
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Chess, in one of its earliest forms 'Chaturanga', originated and flourished in India more than 1400 years ago. Online Chess, its modern-day digital avatar - is also thriving in the country, especially after the coronavirus-induced restrictions began in early March.
However, it's not all roses for the pandemic-catapulted online-chess industry. While it is still grappling to resolve vexing issues like computer-doping and foul-play, recent bans on online gaming in some states have posed fresh challenges.
Currently, around 100 million people in India play the game, and there are around 45 million online players. They have increased by more than 50 per cent after the pandemic, and the number is rising. The number is rising further, according to a recent survey by WowChess.com, an online chess portal.
During the peak of the nationwide lockdowns in early May this year, altogether 200,000 players including some FIDE Grand-masters participated in an online tournament conducted by the government of Karnataka and gaming platform Mobile Premier League. Chess.com, the world’s largest site for online play which is very popular in India, has seen over 12 million new users this year, against just 6.5 million last year. Chess viewership has also experienced phenomenal growth in leading live streaming platforms. Almost 100,000 Indians had logged in to watch the final of the first-ever online Chess Olympiad in August this year.
Many people have even learnt the board game online during the pandemic-restrictions. During the recent 60-hour curfew imposed in the city from the night of November 20 to the dawn of November 23, Abhigyan Gadhvi (28), an automobile engineer, played it as a favourite pastime/stress-buster in his rented apartment in Ahmedabad. With almost no knowledge of the board-game till before the lockdowns, he is now a frequent player.
The main drivers of this phenomenal interest and growth include people having more free time owing to the restrictions on social mobility, availability of affordable smart-phones and cheaper data. Online chess is played both formally and casually with or without any prize-money. The International Chess Federation (FIDE), All India Chess Federation (AICF) and other such bodies organise official online tournaments, while independent chess/multi-gaming platforms do so for training and fun. Most of the independent platforms are foreign players, but the number of domestic ones is also rising.
“Chess is popular in India. Due to the pandemic, things are quickly shifting online,” says entrepreneur and promoter of online chess Gaurav Gaggar. “Growth of the online segment is now much higher than the over-all Indian chess industry's CAGR of around 20 per cent. It also attracts casual and amateur players who do not have other formal platforms,” he said.
“With the rise in the number of players, the revenues of the sector has also risen by around 50 per cent. But it’s still early days for revenue in India as online chess is mostly free at the moment. The main sources of revenue are membership/subscription fees, per play charges, advertisements and online tournament tickets. The revenue size, currently, is estimated to be close to Rs 100 million only but this is likely to see a quick growth if the ecosystem continues to build,” Gaggar said.
FIDE Grandmaster (GM) Ankit Rajpara (26) said the online play has gained popularity after the lockdowns as people spent more time indoors. Unlike cricket and football, chess does not involve physical activity. So it's easy to shift online without much loss of flavour.
Purists including Director-General of FIDE Emil Sutovsky and AICF secretary B S Chauhan prefer the physical board-game, citing 'drawbacks' of online play. However, the online version also has many big supporters including legendary Vishwanathan Anand. Several of the 66 Indian GMs apart from Anand are also strong proponents.
“The most significant thing in 2020 is that we are overcoming the psychological barrier of making things online. Chess has been playable online for decades, but we are better prepared now,” Anand said during an AICF webinar. He had also endorsed an online tournament which was won by V.S. Rathanvel, a FIDE International Master (IM). Rathanvel (19), had later said that the prize money helped him meet the high expenses of his chess-training. CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant too sees online gaming and eSports as a great platform for chess talents.
AICF secretary Chauhan, however, said the issue of cheating/foul-play during online games was the biggest roadblock to wider adoption of the digital format. Programs/apps that can rapidly calculate near-perfect moves are often misused during digital tournaments. “If in future this issue could be resolved, then, of course, online things will be preferred. It cuts costs like travelling expenses,' he said. FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich terms cheating as a 'real plague' for the online game. Measures like multiple camera recording, continuous monitoring and eye-tracking etc., are being tried to counter it.
An industry insider said the online play has also provided a lucrative opportunity for chess talents who are even at IM/GM level. They can pursue their high training cost involving career by playing and winning prize money from such tournaments. But It's not all roses at the moment. The skill-gaming industry including online-chess is in a way threatened,' he said.
“State governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are blurring the lines between casino games like rummy and poker and skill based games such as chess. They have imposed a blanket ban without seemingly understanding the difference. Now more states might follow suit, even though the apex court is also not opposed to the idea of eSports. Viewing all online games as addiction and prize money as gambling is not fair,’ he added. “India, currently 4th in the FIDE ranking can be globally more dominant. It can have more than 25 GMs in the top 100 instead of only three to four that we have today. It requires a lot of talent nurturing sponsorships and funds to achieve such feats and the very sources of it should not be cut down,’ he argued.
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Andhra Pradesh, India’s 7th largest province with a large number of online chess players and gamers, banned all online gaming involving money/stakes/prize money a few weeks ago, which cast a shadow over the gaming industry including online chess. An ordinance to this effect was promulgated on September 25 and credible skill gaming operators in the state have geo-blocked players since. Telangana had implemented a similar ban in July this year. And more states might follow.
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(Rajnish Mishra is a journalist who writes on various topics including sports and online gaming. The views are personal and do not necessarily reflect that of Outlook magazine.)