Poker replaces teen patti as go-to activity for netizens this Diwali

There was a time when playing teen patti with friends and family was the go-to activity to spend a Diwali evening.

But this may be a thing of the past. Netizens, particularly millenials, are increasingly taking to online poker.

Stakes in online poker can go up to Rs 1.6 crore, way more than in a neighbourhood game of cards.

If luck is on your side, a good game of poker can win you a trip to great gambling destinations like Las Vegas, Macau or the Bahamas.

"This is the perfect time for someone to light up their Diwali by winning their ticket to the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em (PSPC) Championship in the Bahamas and a place in poker history," said Ankur Dewani, CEO, Sachiko Gaming, which runs online poker platform PokerStars India.

How do you win this ticket? Well, PokerStars India has put together a tournament called Diwali Rush, which has been running from October 28 and has a prize poll of over Rs 1.5 crore across 34 events.

The buy-in for the top games range between Rs 5,000 and Rs 12,000. The Rs 1.5 crore sum is just the guaranteed prize pool and the final amount depends on the number of people participating in a game.

"Thanks to overwhelming response the prize pool has gone up to Rs 1.65 crore," said Dewani.

There have been 200-350 players on the site everyday ever since Diwali Rush took off and the average spend per player ranges between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000.

Another leading platform for online poker in India, Adda 52, saw a 20 percent surge in its traffic right before Diwali.

With a buy-in of between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, the top games have a guaranteed prize pool of Rs 20 lakh each.

Adda 52 recently roped in Jamaican cricketer Chris Gayle as its brand ambassador and also held an event called 'Poker Nights with Gayle' to promote the game.

The Diwali traffic on these sites reflect the growing popularity of poker, particularly online poker, in India.

"2018 has been a great year for poker in India - both online and offline with team Adda52 pro winning laurels for the country on international forums. With online tournaments such as Gaylestorm where guaranteed prizes are upwards of RS 50 lacs for buy in as low as Rs 2500 pre Diwali mood in the country is great and users are making the best use of their talent in playing a hand a two with minimum investments online," said Mohit Agarwal, Co-founder, Adda52.

Another online platform, Poker Lion, has upped its game by helping people sort out their Dhanteras shopping.

"Poker Lion has started a new offer where one can start with depositing Rs 10,000 or Rs 5,000 and playing a raked hand every day for the next 30 days. In this new offer, the users maintaining Rs 10,000 or Rs 5,000 as minimum balance in their Poker Lion account and playing one raked hand will get a gold and silver coin respectively at the end of the time period,” said Jay Sayta of Glaws, a website on gambling laws.

A raked hand is a hand on which the host site charges a rake. Rake is charged only in cash games, not in tournaments.

Incidentally, millenials are not the only ones taking to poker. It is no more news that actor Aamir Khan on a recent chat show accepted that poker is his new guilty pleasure.