Source: http://madoverpoker.com/support/legal.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 20:14:21+00:00

Document:
MOP Networks Private Limited owns and operates the platform ‘Mad Over Poker’ through which it offers the registered users an opportunity to participate in tournaments of Poker for real money and prizes.
The owner and operator have gone to every extent to ensure that the platform remains legal and the Poker games offered on the platform strictly comply with the Central and State legislations to protect the users from any legal risk. The Poker tournaments offered on this platform, which is our intellectual property, are structured in such a way so as to comply with the legislations and be in conformity with the judicial pronouncements prevailing in India. The Poker games we offer on the platform are games of skill and hence, legal.
Is it Legal to play Poker in India?
Poker is a game which pre-dominantly depends on skill over chance and is classified as a ‘game of skill’ and is therefore, legal in India. Legality of any game is judged on it being a game of 'skill' as opposed to it being a game of 'chance'.
Game of Chance - These games depend on factors like luck and unpredictability of the final outcome of the game. Games of chance are considered gambling and are illegal in India.
Game of Skill - The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of State of Andhra Pradesh v. K Satyanarayana, AIR 1968 SC 825 noted that game of skill would be where "success depends principally upon the superior knowledge, training, attention, experience and adroitness of the player". Such games are not deemed to constitute 'gambling' and hence are not prohibited under gambling laws. Element of skill must pre-dominate the element of chance in affecting the results of the game.
The Public Gambling Act, 1867 criminalises the act of 'public gambling', however, it creates an exception in favour of games of skill. Gambling is a State subject under the Constitution of India where State specific acts take precedence over the Public Gaming Act, 1867.
“Games of skill- shall include all such games where there is preponderance of skill over chance, including where the skill relates to strategising the manner of placing wagers or placing bets or where the skill lies in team selection or selection of virtual stocks based on analyses or where the skill relates to the manner in which the moves are made, whether through deployment of physical or mental skill and acumen.
All Games provided in Schedule A of this Act shall fall under the category of “Games of Skill”.
Games of skill may be (a) Card based and (b) action / virtual sports / adventure / mystery and (c) calculation / strategy / quiz based.” Further, the definition of gaming under Section 2(b) of the West Bengal Gambling and Prize Competitions Act, 1957 specifically excludes lottery or games of cards like Bridge, Poker, Rummy or Nap from the ambit of gambling and betting and therefore classified as games of skill.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Dr. K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu laid down a basic principle for classification of games; a game of chance is one in which the element of chance predominates over the element of skill and a game of skill is one in which the element of skill predominates over the element of chance. It is therefore the dominant element out of ‘skill’ or ‘chance’ which determines the character of the game. The Supreme Court of India in State of Andhra Pradesh v. K. Satyanarayana accepts that there is a 'chance' element in all card games yet that alone cannot be indicative of the fact that ‘skill’ is not involved. Further, the Apex court in the case of R.M.D Chamarbaugwala v. Union of India has held that competitions where the success depends upon a substantial degree of skills are not gambling.
Further, the High Court of Karnataka in R. Shankar Creation Association v. State of Karnataka has held that poker is a game of skill similar to games like Chess, Rummy, Dart, Carom etc.
Furthermore, the Andhra Pradesh High Court in D. Krishna Kumar v. State of A.P has held that a game of skill, even when played for stakes is outside the ambit of the Gambling Act whereas the Madras High Court in Director General of Police, State of Tamil Nadu v. Mahalakshmi Cultural Association has held that a game of skill, when played for stakes, will not be afforded the protection offered to ‘games of skill’ under the Chennai City Police Act, 1888.
Recently, the Calcutta High Court in Kizhakke Naduvath Suresh v. State of West Bengal & Others directed the state government, police, municipal and other authorities not to interfere in the poker games conducted by the petitioner and his club.
Beginners’ strategy in poker is very basic and is generally based on the cards he holds in total disregard to the position/role he occupies in the game, therefore it would be generally assumed that he would bet on a stronger hand, call on an intermediate hand and fold on a weaker hand. An optimum player bases his strategy on the role he occupies on the table, the card he holds, the community cards, the number of players in the game, their betting strategy and position at the table amongst many other variables which require sound knowledge and skill. Statistical analysis of different variants of poker have shown that more the complexities involved in the game or the higher the number of rounds, the element of skill becomes even more important.
It is more likely that a skilled player would be able to triumph this element of chance to win the game. In order to achieve success at Madover Poker, a player must have the aforementioned knowledge, attention, experience and adroitness. The ‘skill’ element of the Poker is found primarily in two aspects: assessing the challenges provided in the game and playing accordingly. Users are subject to several carefully structured constraints and limitations in the game rules which minimize the instance of chance dictating the outcome and are required to engage in a qualitative assessment of the challenges and their execution in light of the scoring criteria used by Madover Poker. Accordingly, the Poker games played at Madover Poker would not amount to ‘gambling’ under Central and most State gambling statutes except in the States of Telangana, Assam and Odisha. Furthermore, in the States of Sikkim and Nagaland a license is required to offer such skill based games.

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