Poker has grown at a rapid pace across the globe during the last decade but Indian has been slow to catch on to the global poker craze. There has been a number of reasons why the land with 1.3 billion people have been slow to jump onto the poker bandwagon.
Gambling is legalized in only three Indian states as of now as most states still recognize the game of poker as a game of luck and hence categorize it under the ‘gambling’. Indians have also been more traditionalists in their preference for both table and online games and have preferred to play games that have more cultural significance and traditional ties to their values. They have preferred games like to chess and rummy over poker and hence they was only a niche market in India that had an interest in poker.
Things have changed over the last few years and the game of poker has now become more main-stream in India. Adda52.com is the biggest online poker website in the country and its player database is growing rapidly as the company continues to promote online poker with innovative promotions and marketing strategies that involves the popular Bollywood industry. The company has also tied up with the World Poker Tour and now offers its players the chance to attend selective WPT events all over the world.
Adda52.com has also launched a number of lucrative poker tournaments during the last few years that has caused more interest in the game of poker as a number of Indians now realize that it is possible for them to make a full time living playing the game of poker. Mobile gaming developers have recognized that with the increase in usage of smartphones in India, there is a rise in the demand for mobile gaming. The demand is centered around the millennials, which is a thriving market segment in India.
This consumer base is not only tech savvy but also spend a significant amount of time traveling to their workplaces. Most of these individuals like to pass their time playing online games and some of them even turn to online gaming to relieve their stress and take their mind of things that are pressurizing them. In the past, a lot of Indians used to spend their time playing popular games such as Candy Crush and Farmville but those days are now in the past.
Mobile gaming developers have introduced poker games apps to the Indian market and they have seen a good response so far. Mobile gaming developer Octro is the creator of Teen Patti, one of the most popular games in the Indian market and is a poker variant – that has an Indian flair to it. Octro launched Teen Patti back in 2013 and now states that it has more than 40 million users and more than 3.5 million active players on a daily basis. The company offers Teen Patti free of charge to its users and makes its revenue when players decide to buy chips and also from advertising.
While there are a number of online poker training websites out there catering to the American and European markets, there are a not a lot of quality online poker training websites that serve the Indian poker player. Poker High, a poker portal founded by an Indian is looking to bridge this gap in the market and has plans to launch a new online poker training school that specifically targets the Indian poker player. The company states that it has more than 10,000 users in 2017 and will soon launch its poker training portal to teach both beginners and advanced poker players how to get bet at poker.
Poker is now clearly beginning to have a major impact in India as evidenced by the fact that a number of states are now considering legalizing the game of poker as they realize the market potential of the industry and that they can benefit by legalizing poker and imposing gaming taxes on the industry. States such as Maharashtra, Kerala and Hyderabad are in the process of discussing gaming legislation surrounding poker and are expected to make a decision on the game of poker shortly. PokerStars, the biggest online poker operator in the world is also keeping a close watch on the lucrative Indian market and has confirmed that it could soon launch services in the country.