Thrill Poker Targets Huge Market in India
10 years ago
19 Jan
Poker's popularity is growing in India, a country whose population of about 1.3 billion is second only to that of China.
With such a large available pool of players, establishing a poker site that caters to Indian players was a no-brainer for Mirch Entertainment, the owners of Thrill Poker. The online poker site officially launched less than a year ago and recently joined forces with the popular India Poker Championship (IPC).
The IPC is set to host its next festival on January 21-25 in the Deltin Royale Poker Room aboard the Casino Deltin Royale in Goa. Thrill Poker has been offering satellites to the IPC since mid-December and will send a number of players to the tour's 17th edition that kicks off in a couple days.
Six tournaments are on the schedule at the Deltin Royale, including the two-day Main Event that begins on Jan. 24 and features a buy-in of INR 30,000 (Indian Rupee) and guaranteed prize pool of INR 20,00,000. That's about $487 in U.S. dollars to enter.
With regard to online poker's legality in India, court rulings by the country's Supreme Court have found poker to be a game of skill, which poker players have known for ages, of course. As a skill game falling under the category of gaming rather than gambling, penalties cannot be imposed upon players.
Thrill Poker also offers Rummy to its Indian customers, another game that requires skill and expertise rather than luck. Typically, there are dozens of players competing on the poker and rummy tables at Thrill Poker, but that number is expected to go up shortly.
Our first few large affiliates are in the process of moving their players over now, so very soon, we should see a lot more action on cash tables," Mirch Entertainment Director Aditya Oberoi told PokerTube. "As for satellites for live events, we found this to be a great way to get our brand out there, let people know that we're here, and here to stay."
The appeal and popularity of poker in India was further confirmed just a couple weeks ago when the world's largest poker site, PokerStars, signed the first-ever sponsorship deal with an Indian player. Aditya Agarwal, originally from Darjeeling, India, has won almost $400,000 in live tournaments and is now a PokerStars Team Pro who hopes "to help promote the game in India, and inspire more players to play and enjoy the sport.”
Thrill Poker, after launching in May of 2014, is also promoting poker in India. Its alliance with the IPC may be one of the first steps toward grabbing a chunk of the Indian online poker market that undoubtedly has plenty of room for growth.
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