Is poker Legal in India?

Hello Poker Lovers! India is one of the budding nations when it comes to the terms of playing online poker. The signs are positive that this trend will continue. There are already loads of new poker sites in the making and live tournaments have increased in frequency as well. The impact is obvious from the rise in demand for quality game content in India.
Poker Lion has gone through great lengths to ensure that the games offered on our newly launched site such as the Texas Hold'em Poker, Omaha Poker are games which involve ample skills.

The public gambling act of India, 1857 mandates that any games which are in form of betting or “game of chance” is liable to punishment. The game of Poker is globally recognised to be a game which needs a high level of intellect and mental prowess. The poker experts globally have accepted that the poker involves large degree of skill. In India, gaming legislations in all states with the exemption of Assam, Odisha, Telangana and Gujarat exempt “games of skill or “games of mere skill” from the definition of gambling.
Playing poker games in Poker Lion, implies you can play them as a game of skill at according to law it is considered legal.

Various Supreme Court judgments have noted that poker as games of skill is a fundamental right under the Indian constitution and consequently games of skill cannot be prohibited.
The High Courts of Karnataka and Calcutta have noted that police or law enforcement authorities cannot interfere in the game of poker. Based on this legal background, various legal experts and jurists have opined that online poker is completely legal in India.

Poker Lion complies with all laws and regulations applicable to online games of skill. We will further comply with any change in this present legal position due to any order of a court of competent jurisdiction, regulatory body, central or state government or law enforcement agency.
This is though an ongoing process with litigations pending at different forums and we are keeping a close watch on the same. We also have a legal team working continuously on trying to ensure that there is to a greater extent clarity and certainty in the laws linked to the poker gaming in India. We are also engaged in litigations to bring about this clarity in law and while Poker Lion has taken every precaution possible to remain absolutely legal.

We allow players from all states and union territories in India except Assam, Odisha, Telangana and Gujarat. Due to the peculiar wording of gaming legislations in these states, at present, we do not permit residents of these states to play online real money pokergames at Poker Lion.