Guide

Poker With Crypto From India

India's Online Gaming Act of 2025 bans online money games, whether they rest on skill or chance, and punishes offering, advertising and facilitating payments.

The short answer

India's Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 bans online money games, whatever their mix of skill and chance. By that definition, poker played for money is one. The Act punishes those who offer such games, advertise them or handle their payments; the summary of the bill lists no penalty for the player. The rules under the Act came into force on 1 May 2026.

From the sources at the bottom of the page. We are players, not lawyers; this page is what the law and our sources say, not legal advice.

At a glance

The law: The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 was passed by Parliament on 21 August 2025, and its rules came into force on 1 May 2026.
What is banned: The Act bans offering or aiding online money games, advertising them, and facilitating payments for them. An online money game is one where a user pays money or other stakes, including credits, coins or tokens equivalent or convertible to money, expecting money or other enrichment, whether it rests on skill, chance or both.
Penalties: Offering online money games carries up to three years in prison, a fine of up to one crore rupees, or both. Advertising them carries up to two years, a fine of up to 50 lakh rupees, or both. Facilitating payments carries up to three years, a fine of up to one crore rupees, or both.
Players: The bill summary lists penalties for those who offer, advertise or facilitate online money games, and none for the player.
The rooms: India is not on WePlay's list of refused countries, and Basepoker's terms name no countries. Both leave the law of your own country to you.

A ban on online money games

Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act on 21 August 2025, and its rules came into force on 1 May 2026. The Act gives a framework to e-sports and online social games and bans online money games: games where a user pays money or other stakes, credits, coins and tokens that can be turned into money included, in the hope of winning money or something else of value. It makes no difference whether the game rests on skill, chance or both, so by that definition the Supreme Court's view that rummy is mainly a game of skill does not change the answer for online play for money.

The penalties fall on the business around the game. Offering or aiding online money games carries up to three years in prison, a fine of up to one crore rupees, or both; advertising them up to two years, a fine of up to 50 lakh rupees, or both; and facilitating their payments up to three years, a fine of up to one crore rupees, or both. The summary of the bill by PRS Legislative Research lists no penalty for the player.

What this means for a reader in India

India is not on WePlay's list of refused countries, and Basepoker's terms name no countries. Both rooms' terms leave the law of your own country to you, and India's law now bans online money games. We do not give advice on getting around that, and we do not describe VPNs or ways around payment blocks.

Our strategy pages, the odds chart and the calculators are free to read anywhere, and none of them needs a deposit.

Time zones

India is UTC+5:30 all year. A 20:30 start on WePlay's GMT+2 schedule, 18:30 UTC, is midnight in India. The Tonight page shows every start in your own time zone.

What runs tonight at WePlay and Basepoker, in your own time zone.

Sources

Questions

Is online poker legal in India?

Not for money, by the Act's definition. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 bans online money games, whether they rest on skill, chance or both, and punishes offering, advertising and facilitating payments for them.

Are players punished under India's online gaming law?

The summary of the bill lists penalties for those who offer, advertise or facilitate online money games, and none for the player.

Is poker a game of skill in India?

For online play for money, the question no longer decides it: the 2025 Act bans online money games whatever their mix of skill and chance. The Supreme Court has held that rummy is mainly a game of skill, but the Act applies either way.