Skill Games May Escape India’s Real Money Online Gaming Ban

In a hearing on 4 November, the Indian Supreme Court indicated that skill based online gaming may be exempt from its outright ban on real money gaming. The SC passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 back in August, and by the first of October, all the major iGaming operators in the country had shut down their operations. Dream11, RummyCircle, Ace2Three and PokerBaazi were among the biggest casualties of the online gaming purge.

But now it seems there may be a lifeline for some of the companies. No official announcement or press release has been made public just yet, but we do know there have been a number of cases filed against the online gaming bill. Indian gaming company A23 challenged the laws, calling them unconstitutional and a product of state paternalism. At a recent case made by an online chess player, Justice Judge K.V. Viswanathan of the Supreme Court signalled that the tournaments that are based on skill may be completely excluded from the law. And another judge backed this up, stating the government has no agenda against games of skill, even if they involve real money.

India’s iGaming Real Money Ban

The biggest hit by the Indian iGaming ban was fantasy sports operators, online poker rooms, and rummy platforms. Within weeks of India banning real money iGaming, operators had already pulled their services from the market, and major player Dream Sports, which ran Dream11, had a 95% dip in group revenue. All online games played by users that had real money entries, deposits or stakes, with the chance to win money were banned, including:

• Fantasy sports with paid contests and cash prizes
• Online rummy and card games for stakes
• Online poker platforms for real money
• eSports gaming for money or betting

India also has strict rules banning other forms of iGaming from its previous legislation, which was upheld by the ban. Sports betting and casino style games are subject to strict enforcement and even time old Indian gambling games such as the popular Matka gambling. The comments made by the Judges at the recent hearing will not change the main markets that India was trying to ban. The Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated that online money games negatively impacted an estimated 450 million people. Furthermore, it was estimated that over $2.3 billion is lost every year through these games.

The government banned over 1,500 gaming sites and mobile apps between 2022 and 2025. Furthermore, if there are any operators facilitating or offering online money games, they could face up to 3 years in prison and fines of up to 1 million rupees. Advertising gambling games could also see jail time of up to 2 years and a fine of up to half a million rupees.

Could Skill Games Be Exempt from Online Gaming Ban

The backlash against the laws has been fierce, from operators, players and also the greater international iGaming community. India is a massive market, and there are fears that the laws will turn players towards the black market.

The recent concession by the Supreme Court Judges is just a comment right now, but a controversial one at that. Major news outlets such as the The Hindu, the Business Standardand the Supreme Court Observer have all picked up on the seemingly changed sentiment regarding real money gaming. Multiple petitions were held against the law when it came out, including A23, Clubboom 11 Sports and OPC.

For this new development, the Court has sought a response from the Union Government to clarify the government’s stance on skill-based real money games. And they have until November 26 to get an answer. But it is not a clear line to draw, as it boils down to what constitutes skill-based gaming – where does that end and where do the games become games of chance?

What Games are Defined as Skill Based

It is hard to define what a skill based game is, as there are also elements of chance tied in virtually all games. Is poker a skill based game? You are playing against other players for real money, but the outcomes are heavily defined by the draw of the cards. Maybe to a lesser extent than poker; chess, is purely defined by the battle of wits between two players, but there is no way of determining the outcome of a game.

It is not a straightforward test of the contestants’ abilities, as distractions, ploys and responses to layered strategies can weigh heavily on the outcome. Chance is needed to make these games – otherwise we would always know the outcome before the game or match even starts.

Making the distinction between skill games and games that run on pure chance can therefore be manipulated, and the line can be drawn wherever it is deemed best for the regulators and courts. That is not to say it will, but if the government is worried about gamers spending too much money, they will most likely direct a lot of the restrictions at the gambling games that seem to make the biggest revenue. Real money chess and checkers tournaments do not really fall into that bracket.

Can P2P Be a Way to Avoid the Ban

One way to brandish the games as skill-based and steer away from them being classified as games of chance is to introduce a new bracket to the Indian gambling legislation. Peer to peer betting games and contests.  That is what is happening in the US, with many operators launching DFS P2P fantasy apps, and even some skill-based games like FanDuel FaceOff or other similar apps.

Before the ban, cricket fantasy sports dominated the scene in India’s iGaming sector, led by the likes of Dream11 and MPL. Fantasy sports can be defined as a looser form of sports betting, but the operators can try to brandish these as peer-to-peer betting platforms. You have the same setup, with fantasy lineups and contests, but instead of playing against the house, you are competing against your fellow bettors in ranked contests. It is not exactly P2P, if the operators try to lean toward that angle, they may just find a way to bypass the ban.

Peer-to-Peer Card Games

With card games, it’s a bit more of a mixed bag. The poker and rummy online rooms could argue that they are pitting players against each other. There is no house, so it too could be defined at P2P. But classic Indian card games like Teen Patti and Andar Bahar generally require a dealer, and therefore, the P2P angle cannot really be fused in.

The big question here is how much chance is too much? How much control over the outcome is needed to bypass the bans and brandish the games as something that is a game of chance? They all have skill-based elements, and are not games of pure chance, such as slots, roulette, lottery products, or keno style games.

Similar Situations in Other Countries

What started as a leaked signal from the Supreme Court has now got India in a frenzy, and operators may just have a little hope to make a comeback. The skill vs chance debate is not too dissimilar from what is happening in the US right now. Online casino games are only legal in a few states, but the question of sweepstakes casinos has seen a tug of war between operators and regulators who are trying to find the legal definition. California banned sweeps recently, prompting big game companies like Pragmatic Play to exit the United States.

On the sports side of things, the situation is a bit more complex. Peer to peer betting apps, DFS (which has been debated for well over a decade now), and the newest phenomenon, prediction markets, all fall on blurred boundaries. Especially the latter. Even the US public is undecided on whether prediction markets are sports betting products or not – and state regulators cannot really touch them because they are regulated by the Federal Government.

Elsewhere, Germany and the Netherlands have both implemented strict online gambling regulations, but left specific exemptions for games that demonstrate skill, including eSports and certain fantasy leagues. Even Singapore, one of the strictest gambling jurisdictions in Asia, recently clarified its own laws to allow limited, licensed forms of skill-based gaming under its new Gambling Control Act.

Future of Real Money iGaming in India

But we have a deadline, November 26th, and it looks like the Union Government is set to concede the ban to ventures and games that it considers skill based. It may not be satisfactory to all, and it may not help dissuade Indian gamers from seeking internationally licensed casinos and gaming platforms (the black market), but who knows. This could be the moment that redefines the future of online gaming in India.