Is Online Betting Legal in India? (2021)

Games of Skills vs Games of Luck

Is online betting legal in India?

To understand it better, we must first nail the differences between games of chance and those reliant on skill.

So, what is a game of skill?

It could be any game where the player can better the chances of success by learning more about it. According to this logic, online sports betting should undoubtedly be categorised as a ‘game of skill’. The more you follow a particular sport/tournament/team/player, the greater your chances of calling that bet correctly.

And what is a game of chance?

Simple. It could be a range of games where you (or your skills) have no bearing on the final result. An example of this would be roulette. No matter how much you learn about online roulette and the best online roulette sites, you still cannot influence the outcome. Once the tiny ball goes into the roulette wheel, it can land anywhere. Our bet is as good as yours.

What About Sports Betting?

Let's take the following scenario as an example.

India is taking on New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship Final. You know the two teams’ H2H records and have dissected the players’ form, pitch report, weather conditions, team news, and every other nugget of information that typically go into making the best cricket prediction in the world.

Therefore, your chances of calling the match outcome correctly will certainly be much more than somebody with no idea of how to bet on cricket. Therefore, a certain amount of skill is involved here, a skill that you’ve honed for years by analysing cricket and watching several top cricket tournaments happening worldwide.

On a similar note, think about the 2008 Wimbledon final. Back then, Rafael Nadal was gunning for his first Championship, while the then reigning (and five-time) champion Roger Federer was looking to extend his glorious run at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Now, would there have been any chance for the tennis newbie to predict that Nadal would go on to upset the apple cart and create history by defeating the Swiss maestro and winning his first Wimbledon title? Of course not. One would have to be a keen follower of this beautiful sport to even think about Wimbledon betting, let alone acing it.

However, despite such overwhelming proof of it involving a skill-based approach, whether sports betting is legal or not hasn’t been categorically stated anywhere.

The same skills and learning come into play while wagering on any other sport — be it field hockey betting or kabaddi betting, for that matter.

What About Fantasy Sports?

App-based fantasy sports are perfectly legal. These typically consist of squad selectors or predictors. With the former, you bet on the full-time result or the margin of victory. You get points if your bet wins. Simple.

But squad selectors are a little more elaborate. Here, you build an entire team for yourself – comprising players from the two teams that will play a real-world match on that day – and nominate a captain. There’s also a mock budget you have to stick to. The general rule is that better players will cost more.

Now, should these selections of yours play well in the actual match, they'll win points for you as well.

The best example we can think for fantasy sports betting is Dream 11. Here, you build your own cricket team with players from any upcoming real-world match and compete with others for lucrative prizes, which range from regular cash winnings to big-ticket cash jackpots.

And Casino Games?

Again, the same old quandary for betting and gambling enthusiasts in the country. There is no legislation in India prohibiting users from participating in online casino games.

That said, going by the book, casino games can well be categorised as games of chance that require only a sprinkling of luck (and no skill whatsoever). So, technically, this is another grey area.

However, thanks to the utterly contradictory and confusing maze that is the gambling space in the country, the best online casino sites in India attract many avid customers, offering a raft of table games, slots, and live games like roulette, blackjack, poker, Teen Patti, and Andar Bahar.