Know How to Shake Hands with The Indian Poker Community 

Poker is a mind sport that requires an endearing level of dexterity and calls for a psychological warfare between players to stay put and calm until the last hand is dealt. Such is the appeal and complexity of the sport that it is rapidly capturing hearts of the young and old alike in the Indian sports community. 

Today, the country is witnessing a rising trend of poker players who are going all in with their passion for poker today. As such, gaming operators are responding in great numbers and are hosting all kind of free tournaments, cash games and leagues to cater to the rising affection for this amazing sport. 

Here, we shall talk about certain features that a standard gaming portal must have to provide the best and most secure gaming experience to its players. Later on, we shall discuss various tournament types and how to make the transition from free games to real money poker in India today.  

Must Have Features in a Poker Portal

The recent growth of poker in India can be owed to the online perforation of the game into the palm of your hands that has substantially increased the accessibility of playing any time anywhere on the go. Online poker has created an explosion of new poker players due to the ease of playing and availability of multiple game types and choices in a single platform. 

However, in order enjoy a holistic experience, an online poker portal must cover certain features.

1. An online poker app must offer a seamless user experience through a quick responsive user interface
2. It must feature at least the most played poker games such as Texas Holdem, Omaha Poker and Open Face Chinese Poker and possibly more to offer maximum variety and game choice
3. It must ensure fair play under all circumstances
4.  It should be 100% legal and safe to play app
5. An online poker portal must offer secure bank-grade transactions for cash tournaments
6. It must practice responsible gaming by setting limits on deposits and withdrawals to discourage any form of obsession
7. It must offer regular promotions and offers to boost your game and maximize your winnings
8. An online poker platform must cater to players of all stakes and calibre by introducing free tournaments for beginners, low stakes tourneys for new cash players and high stakes for professionals 
9. Every player must be motivated with an ideal beginning and should be offered a healthy transition from a novice to a professional

These bunch of features help secure your game at all times and create a fun and friendly environment for players to churn the maximum out of their skills. Talking about the same, we have one such portal in mind that ticks all the boxes for you. It is called PokerBaazi (PB), an online poker portal that incentivizes your game according to your performance in the monthly Leaderboards. It offers a complete gaming experience to players of all measures by offering them unlimited online and live opportunities across various levels of gaming all year round. 

PokerBaazi: A Poker Portal Bridging the Gap between Amateurs & Pros

Such is the popularity of this portal that it has successfully bridged the gap between online and live poker by combining the two at different stages of a tournament. Tournaments such as the ongoing Baazi Poker Tour 3rd Edition INR 7CR GTD (2nd– 14th January, 2020) and 2019 PokerBaazi Premier League (INR 7Cr GTD) have prepared online players to face the challenge of live poker and accept the limelight of the mainstream poker community.  

Play Poker Online for Money & Win BIG

While new players are offered a 24*7 platform through Free Entry tournaments (INR 40LAC GTD) to hone their skills on platforms like PokerBaazi, seasoned players can too boost their career through this portal by participating in daily, monthly and flagship tournaments throughout the year and win superlative rewards. 

Real Money Poker Tournaments in India

The real money poker scenario is thriving in India as Indian players too are aspiring big in this domain and are receiving big returns for their dexterity on the felts. Over the course of five years, several major leagues and tournaments are being hosted across Asia and Europe and Indians can be seen conquering the international felts too.

This rising confidence and performance of the Indian poker circuit has spearheaded a number of domestic mega tournaments flaunting seven-eight figure prize pools naturally calling the attention of the country’s best trained minds under a single roof. 

For players looking to make this transition, we say you get these pointers covered first.

• Play enough free entry or practice games to understand the tricks of the trade 
• WIN enough free entry or practice games to make a confident leap into the cash realm of poker
• Start with low stakes games and tournaments to own up the feel of a real cash game without risking much from your pocket
• Play different variety of cash games and find your comfort in the game format that favors your style of play
• Understand the difference when you play real money poker as you shall see real money players play much more tighter and seldom get involved in pots where they don’t have the cards
• Bring a sense of balance when you make your first deposit and chose a site very carefully that promotes responsible gaming only

Poker in India: Tournament Types

There are different tournament types that are held for most poker variants in India. It might be intimidating for new players who are looking to cash in at the initial stage of their real money journey. Knowing the various types of tournaments will help you figure out your style.

• Guaranteed tournaments

The most common type where the prize pool is guaranteed to reach a certain amount that shall be distributed among the top finishers accordingly. 

• Multi-Table tournaments

Players at different tables compete against one another for each other’s chips. In the process, many get eliminated and thereafter, tables are broken and remaining survivors are assembled together in the final table to compete each other and one becomes the winner by beating the final opponent.

• Knockouts & Progressive Knockouts

In knockout, every player carries a bounty that is generated by paying an extra buy-in. So, whenever you eliminate someone, you win his/her bounty as cash prize. The winner also wins one’s own bounty. 

In progressive knockouts, you win a part of the bounty of the eliminated player (usually 50%) and the remaining amount is added to your bounty. The more players you eliminate, your bounty gets bigger making yourself a preferred target for other players.

• Rebuy and Re-entry tournaments

In re-buy tourneys, you are allowed to buy more chips if you run out on them as opposed to standard tourneys where once you are out of chips, you are eliminated for good. However, there usually is a re-buy time period beyond which you can’t buy any more chips. 

In re-entry tourneys, you are allowed to re-enter the tournament after elimination. However, you are only allowed to do so immediately after elimination or during the late registration period.

• Sit and Go

Sit and Go are tournaments begin whenever the seats are filled and do not have any given time. They are preferred by casual cash players who like to come, play, win some and leave. This is an ideal tourney type for transitioning players to get the hang of a cash game without much fret.

There are many more types of tournaments, but these are most common and shall suffice to get started for now.

Is Online Poker Legal in India

India is yet to acknowledge poker as a game of skill in certain Indian states. Even so, playing online poker is legal in most states in India with the exception of Assam, Telangana, Odisha and Gujarat who do not recognize this as a skill based sport under their law. Here, you are forbidden to play poker for real money as of today. As long as you are not a resident of these states, feel free to play any variant of poker. The only relief that remains till date is that you may play free online poker across India on any platform of your choice. 

So, this 2020, slay your doubts, raise your stakes, stay calm and play them right. Good Game!