Champion Boxer Vijender Singh is Fighting for Poker in India Now

Olympic medalist Vijender Singh is coming to poker. The Indian super middleweight champion has won every single one of his ten fights since going professional in 2015. His high profile has now attracted PokerBaazi a large Indian online poker provider, who have hired him as a spokesperson. He also comes with 3.2 million Twitter followers.

Singh said:

“As a sportsperson, it is always an honor for me to be part of campaigns or associate with brands that endeavor to promote sports in the nation. PokerBaazi is doing a great job of utilizing technology and letting Indians play online a game that they adore.”

Born in the village of Kulawas, Singh is a native to Haryana, and as such is a hometown hero of sorts to the Hindu speaking states in Northern India, areas PokerBaazi is keen to appeal to.

An Air of Legitimacy

India’s poker players live in a current grey area. While the law allows games with “a preponderance of skill” to be played for money the judge’s rulings that have previously included poker under that rubrik are not applicable countrywide. Players can take a short boat trip to a number of offshore islands where live games are unambiguously legal, but for those who live a little more landlocked the only options are home games, underground clubs, and the internet.

When it comes to online gambling the majority of players don’t worry to much since whatever the current law might mean for poker, no one on the internet is enforcing it at the moment.

Some hope that attaching prominent figures will add to the legitimacy of the game, and the presence of sportspeople, like Singh, among those figures will lend the game some authenticity to the claim that poker is indeed skill based. Hopefully assisting in the process of bringing India’s expanding poker scene to the mainstream.