Poker in India: live rooms in Goa and Sikkim, the 2025 online gaming ban, and what it mean

India was one of the fastest-growing online poker markets in the world until 2025, when a national law banned real-money online gaming outright. Live poker survives in Goa's floating casinos and in Sikkim and Nagaland, and India still has a large community of tournament players who travel to Vietnam, Macau and Las Vegas. This page is informational: none of our partner operators accepts players from India.

Is poker legal in India?

Gambling is a state subject in India, and the picture has always been patchwork. The Public Gambling Act of 1867 is the default in most states and prohibits gaming houses; several courts have recognised poker as a game of skill, while states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have moved to ban it regardless. Live casinos are licensed in Goa, Sikkim and Daman, and Goa's riverboat casinos on the Mandovi have long hosted poker rooms and tour stops. In 2025 the national Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act banned online games played for money across the country, ending the domestic real-money poker industry that had grown up around Indian-licensed sites. Offshore sites are not licensed either, and payments to them fall foul of the same law. This is general information, not legal advice.

Live poker in India

Goa remains the destination: the offshore casinos on the Mandovi River have poker rooms and have hosted India's largest tournament series. Sikkim licenses casinos in Gangtok, and Nagaland issued licences for online skill games before the 2025 Act. Indian players with bigger ambitions play abroad, in Vietnam, Cambodia, Macau and Las Vegas, and the country has produced WSOP bracelet winners and regular high-roller competitors.

Online poker and India

None of our partner operators accepts players from India, and given the 2025 ban we would not recommend one if it did. The domestic Indian poker sites have shut or moved to free-play formats. If the law changes we will update this page.

Nearby markets

We cover the Asian markets our partners do serve: Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia each have their own page.