How safe is online poker in India? Let’s find out (2024)

In the past few years, online gaming has emerged as one of the most popular forms of entertainment and recreation among the Indian masses. As a result, many classic games that were earlier played at a table can now be enjoyed on your smartphone. Poker, one of the most popular card games in the world, has also gained quite a following in the world of online gaming. What makes online poker so appealing is that it gives you a chance to win real money. At the same time, many people are quite skeptical about the safety and fairness promised by various online poker platforms.

So, how safe is it to play online poker in India? Which platform offers absolute fair-play? What is the legality of online poker in India? This article will answer all these questions and more, so you can choose the right poker platform and enjoy the game without any worries.

What security factors must one consider before playing on an online poker platform?

RNG Certification: Poker is a game of skill and the Random Number Generator (RNG) certification ensures that the only factor determining your chances of winning is your skill level. On an RNG certified platform, the cards dealt are completely random and no amount of mathematics or knowledge of probability can tell you what the next card would be. If a poker platform doesn’t have this certification, strike it off the list immediately. Spartan Poker’s RNG software has been vetted and certified by Australia based iTech Labs, which means that every card dealt is completely random with no possibility of detecting patterns or exploiting loops.

KYC Review: A KYC review ensures the safety of your winnings by verifying documents such as PAN Card or any other ID proof for every player. At Spartan Poker, every cash out request is processed only after the PAN card attached to the profile is verified and the cash out is deposited only in a bank account linked to that PAN card.

Can the RNG certification be rigged?

An RNG certification ensures that the cards, the die numbers, the slot game symbols, the feature game outputs, the jackpot triggers, etc. are statistically random. This essentially means that the system is not rigged in any way. Spartan Poker has an RNG software that has been vetted and certified by Australia based iTech Labs, giving you the assurance that the cards dealt with you are completely random.

Are there any online poker platforms that are effectively identifying and restricting bots?

Essentially, bots are computer programs that have been designed to play the game against human opponents or other pieces of software. Once activated, a bot will play a game that is underpinned by certain mathematical concepts with a view to making profitable long-term decisions, which leaves you at a huge disadvantage. A platform that doesn’t have a system to identify and restrict these bots can never ensure fair-play.

Spartan Poker has stringent checking mechanisms in place to ensure that bots do not interfere with their application. Their CAPTCHA program checks the application at regular intervals for bots and their security team keeps monitoring cash tables to ensure that fraudulent activities like collusion and chip dumping are immediately penalized.

What is the legality of online poker in India?

While it’s true that poker contains elements of randomness, it is essentially a game that involves substantial skill, probability and game theory. The seventh schedule of the Constitution of India gives the states the power to make laws on betting and gambling, with each state holding its own interpretation of whether the game of Poker falls under that category or not. States like Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana have banned poker whereas in the rest of the country, to enjoy a game of poker is totally legal.

How do online poker platforms deal with players who pass derogatory remarks on chat?

Spartan Poker takes chat abuse very seriously and players who engage in that type of behavior are banned immediately. The first instance of chat abuse leads to a one-week ban on chat privileges, the second instance leads to a month-long ban and the third instance leads to a lifetime ban on chat privileges. The key is to not respond to these miscreants and report their abusive behaviour by sending an e-mail to Spartan Poker’s support team.

Now that we have answered your questions, do not let skepticism stop you from enjoying the exciting world of online poker. Head over to Spartan Poker and put your mad skills to use!