Poker Writer
Online poker will not be coming back to India after the Supreme Court backed state-level bans on betting. The May 27th ruling upheld bans on changes to the real-money wagering laws, which now apply whether or not a game is skill-based. The passed amendments criminalized online games played for money or stakes, including poker.
The main motivation behind the ban was public health concerns. In the eyes of the court, the easy availability of online betting poses serious risks to public order and public health.
Previously, there had been a debate in the Indian Supreme Court over games of skill vs. chance. That debate centered around games like chess, rummy and bridge while poker remained in the gambling category. Solicitor General N. Venkataraman argued that betting on games of skill was still gambling regardless of whether it was a skill game. The court has now followed his point of view with this ruling.
India’s Poker Market Stopped In Its Tracks
India had been a growing market for poker before the country’s parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill in August 2025, which swiftly banned real-money poker. Since then, there have been numerous appeals that have now been shut down.
Navkiran Singh, co-founder of Baazi Games, called the decision the “darkest day for poker in India‘ back in August. But he held out hope that the move was a pause rather than a full goodbye and that it would be reconsidered or reversed. But now it seems that his hope has been extinguished by the Supreme Court ruling.
A Reddit thread discussed the negatives of real money online poker getting banned in India:
Damn. India was going to be a huge emerging online poker market, and now it’s gone. Bad for the whole world.
Another poster noted that even before the ban, poker was greatly hurt in India by a 28% goods and services tax that made it very hard to be profitable as a poker player.
