Indian Poker – The best online poker sites in India
Despite strict state rules, India is experiencing a major poker boom, making it one of the fastest-growing markets for online poker in the world.
There are many safe and reliable Indian online poker sites, offering great rakeback deals for players.
This page will give you all the essential information about online poker in India, including the legal environment and the history of poker in the country.
Since more than 20% of the Indian population doesn’t have a bank account and many existing accounts are rarely used, we have also included a helpful guide on handling poker payments in India.
Finally, our professional online poker players and experts have tested all the Indian poker rooms to bring you the ultimate list of the best Indian poker sites:
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The Best Online Poker Sites in India
If you are looking for the best Indian poker sites, then you have come to the right place! Simply select your favourite from the TOP 6 Indian poker sites above and start playing online poker for real money with huge poker bonuses and fantastic rakeback.
When choosing the top Indian Poker sites, we have considered all important factors such as security, traffic, software, game selections as well as poker bonus offers and rakeback.
The best Indian Poker Rooms from the above widget all guarantee:
- Fast and safe cashouts and deposits and secure poker payment methods
- High traffic and a wide variety of cash games and poker tournaments
- A great and reliable poker software that allows multitabling
- Great poker bonuses and the highest rakeback for Indian poker players
View the best Indian Poker Sites
At which poker sites can I play online poker online in India?
As mentioned above, there are several poker sites available in India, where you can play online poker for real money.
However, we recommend you to use the safest and most trusted Top 6 Indian Poker Sites from the widget above.
Indian Poker Payment Methods
Unlike Americans and Europeans, Indians prefer an eWallet for making deposits and withdrawals at online poker sites.
The reason for that is simply that most banks will not allow credit card deposits, that’s why by far the best option is an eWallet such as Skrill, Neteller or ecoPayz.
Furthermore, 20% percent of the Indian population doesn’t have a bank account and only half of the remaining 80% uses it.
Below are the currently available poker payment methods for Indian poker players:
- Recommended payment method are eWallets: Skrill, Neteller, EcoPayz
- Visa, Mastercard
- PayPal
- Paysafecard
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India is the future of online poker!
Since the online gaming market in India is not regulated, Poker and Texas Holdem are relatively young games and there is not a long history of Poker in India.
However, India is definitely the future of poker! There is a huge poker boom going on in India at the moment, comparable to what we saw in the USA and Europe between 2003 and 2006.
On Indian soil, the first poker TV show has just launched on national television and we saw in the past what poker TV formats such as the World Poker Tour, WSOP or High Stakes Poker did for the growth of the games.
In addition to that, Twitch Poker and poker videos and Vlogs on YouTube are on the rise, which will lead to further growth of online poker in India.
Young Indians love IT and the internet and online poker is the perfect fit for them to earn some much-needed money on the side. Indian online poker sites are growing rapidly and exponentially.
And this is just the start, as it is expected that the Indian government will open up to online poker in the future, making the game available to 1.339 billion people!
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Indian Poker Laws
The most important legal document regarding poker and playing online poker for real money is the so-called federal Public Gambling Act of 1867.
It not only rendered it illegal to run a casino or gaming hall but also even to be present in one!
However, the law applies only to games of chance and as we all know poker is clearly a game of skill with a short-term luck component.
There are two existing legal precedents in India, which undermine that poker and online poker should be considered a game of skill.
The first one refers to the card game Rummy. In a trial, the Indian court ruled that despite having a luck factor, the skill of the player has much more impact on the outcome. The same applies to poker and online poker. Participating players have more of an impact on the outcome.
The second and much more important precedent, as it deals directly with poker, was set after a raid in a poker club.
The Madras High Court ruled that the skill was more important than the chance element and acquit the accused from all charges.
While the two precedents clearly speak for legalization of poker in India, the current status is that some other courts unfortunately still ignore the precedent decision made in Madras, but this is likely to change in the future.
Can you legally play online poker in India?
So now you are probably asking yourself if you can legally play online poker in India? Yes, you can!
As in many other countries, online poker is in a bit of a grey zone as the laws in India are unclear in relation to online gaming, but this is also the case in many European countries such as Germany and Germans playing online poker for almost two decades now. as the laws haven’t been updated since the introduction of the internet.
Consequently, most online poker sites are officially accepting players from India, so you won’t have any problems playing online poker when you are Indian or residing in India.
