All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) Approaches State Govt to Make Poker Legal in Kerala

All India Gaming Federation
  • Profile picture
  • PG News July 27, 2016
  • 2 Minutes Read

Kerala may soon be a new poker frontier, with the efforts of the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) which has approached the state govt to exempt certain games including poker from the ambit of gambling, as ‘games of skill’.

The AIGF was recently formed to address issues faced by gaming stakeholders and had begun its activities by writing to the govt to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indian gaming industry.

On Saturday, July 23, Roland Landers, CEO AIGF and Jay Sayta, gaming lawyer met up with Nalini Netto, Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Vigilance) in Thiruvananthapuram and submitted a memorandum on the issue of ‘games of skill’.

Currently, poker is banned in the state as a gambling activity under the terms of the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960. Recently Kerala announced that it was about to update its list of exempted skill games, which prompted the AIGF to approach the govt.

Landers and Sayta told the minister that poker was similar in terms of being a ‘game of skill’ like rummy, chess and soduku and should not be considered gambling. The duo also pointed out to the allied advantages of legal poker centers, as they brought in growth for sectors such as tourism, technology and hospitality.

Should the state exempt poker as a ‘game of skill’ it will be the third South Indian state after Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to do so, increasing poker’s reach in the lower half of the country with Goa being the primary bastion of the game. West Bengal, Nagaland and Diu are other locales where such games are currently allowed in the country.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru