BENGALURU: The love for card games in India goes way back in time, especially when it comes to celebrating Deepavali. But with social distancing becoming mandatory, playing a round of cards physically has become a challenge. It’s no wonder then that the online space is seeing a boom, with many turning to it for entertainment.
Playing cards during Deepavali has always been a ritual for marketing professional Jigar Shah (26), who now misses indulging in it with friends. Despite this, Shah, who is now playing poker and rummy online, feels that online platforms with private tables allow for the game to be played with their "gang". This, to an extent, recreates the physical feel, she says.
The same old card games, with easy rules, are being played on mobiles or laptops. HR manager Ankit Kumar generally spends 4-5 hours playing poker and the duration only increases around Deepavali. “I find it more exciting to play online. There are more players around the country to play with,” says the 25-year-old.
It’s also an important occasion for the online gaming industry. "Playing card games is considered an 'auspicious' activity during Diwali, and online card games have become popular in Indian homes in the past few years," says Prithvi Singh, CEO and founder, RummyCulture, an online gaming app.
Considering the growing popularity of online rummy during Deepaval, they are holding tournaments with a prize pool of Rs 1.5 crore, with the first prize winner getting Rs 50 lakh. "Through the tournament, we are not just targeting avid rummy players and regular players on our site but also regular players from other platforms and new users too," says Singh.
The country’s first cryptographically-secure poker platform, Pocket52's, founder and CEO Nitesh Salvi finds that Bengaluru, with some premium colleges and several startups, has an audience inclined towards poker.
"We have experienced an average surge of around 20 per cent players month on month basis. We have players in the age group of 22-50 years. Some are professional poker players, others are college students looking to make a career in poker. There are also homemakers and players other regular professions who play poker for fun," he says.
Surbhi Bajaj, co-founder, Easy Hai, which offers classes for people to stay technologically up to date, had 10 people registering for a session where they taught playing Teen Patti online. "The one-hour lesson focussed on how online card games work, the different variations, private tables, etc," says Bajaj. In comparison to last year's pre-Diwali season, Singh has observed over a 100 per cent rise in traffic. "We expect the trend to continue further," he says.