Even as playing cards go from dealer’s tables to digital arenas, enthusiasts will be spoiled for choice with a panoply of games to choose from. Adda52 Rummy is one of the most popular sites for playing India’s very own Paplu, and so we spoke to its Head of Marketing, Ashish Bhakuni, to get our cards straight.
How large is the online rummy market in India? Is rummy among the most popular card games in the online sphere?
The gaming industry in India has undergone a major paradigm shift over the last decade. People in India love skill-based games and incentivisation is an added advantage that attracts them to such platforms. Skill-based card games like Rummy has been thriving in the online gaming segment in India.
Rummy is a fun-filled challenging game that has derived its legacy from South India. The game is still prevalent in the region and we see major traction in the region for our platform Adda52 Rummy. There are about 300 million online gamers, as per the All India Gaming Federation. Online rummy industry has been growing steadily at around 6 per cent every month. Most of this growth is driven by newer geographies like Gujarat and West Bengal.
Tell us a little about the inception of Adda52 Rummy.
Adda52 Rummy launched in 2012. It is India’s most trusted and rewarding rummy app with over 1 million registered user base.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of gaming and hospitality giant Delta Corp Ltd, Adda52 Rummy has established a market leadership position in the online rummy industry thanks to its focus on user experience and customer support.
We are the first in the industry to spot a demand pattern emerging towards 21 Card Rummy and have championed multi-player 21 Card Rummy game by launching high-value tables, which have unique advantages such as lowest rake, minimal service charges and biggest pay-outs than any other 21 Card Rummy provider in India.
What makes Adda52 Rummy stand out from its competitors? Do you have plans to expand your footprint?
Our biggest USP is Instant Bonus which we give as free cash for Gameplay as Cashback. Second, we have the best prize to participation ratio in industry and finally, our welcome bonus Package is the biggest Offer for new users provided by any online rummy app.
Our primary focus is on user experience and we are continuously making efforts to enhance it with all our future offerings. It is our continuous endeavour to provide the best offers and prizes to our players.
We are running monthly tournaments with enticing give-aways and big prizes like trip packages, cars, bikes etc. This really brings a lot of consumer interest to our platform and not just customer acquisition; it also helps to increase user’s stickiness with the band and invariably, increases loyalty. The industry is marred by concerns over legality, fair gameplay and payment safety. We are certified by iTech Labs for fair play game and Random Number Generator (RNG).
Within India, which areas/cities is Adda52 used the most?
We have a large amount of users in the south, the website and app are available in Telugu and Tamil. Rummy in India, popularly known as “Paplu”, is supposed to be a cross between Rummy 500 and Gin Rummy. In South India, rummy is like a legacy game.
On our platform, we have witnessed lot of traction from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Rummy is popular in Gujarat as well and Kolkata is picking up real fast. Leveraging above growth drivers, We plan to increase our customer base in the near future. In the core geographies like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the growth is driven largely by deeper penetration and increased awareness about the online version of the game.
How does India’s online rummy playing market compare to international ones?
As per a recent study, regularly playing mahjong was one of several types of social participation linked to reduced rates of depression among middle-aged and older adults in China.
What do you see happening in this segment in this new decade?
Online games have been gaining popularity in India rapidly. The number of players is rising in South India, particularly in Tier II and III cities. This growth can be attributed to the technological advancements, higher Internet speeds and availability of high-quality smartphones.
At Adda52 Rummy, our primary focus is on user experience and we are continuously making great efforts at it. We also plan to include more types of tournaments.
The future of rummy
Brain Duel, India’s first Mind sports league was launched with an open entry structure and it included skill and strategy games like chess, rummy and e-gaming among others so we can see rummy enter in Olympics as third category in this decade.