Online Casino and Gambling in India

Indian online and land-based casinos have become increasingly popular over the past decade. Currently, Indian law allows citizens to sign up for online casinos that are operated outside of India as long as the casino offers rupees.

However, whether the casino offers rupees or not is still not a significant concern as the team formed under the ‘Information Technology Act 2000’ in India does not monitor online gambling activities with overseas entities. On top of this, this is not exactly a law that has been set in stone.

As a result of the lax online gambling laws when it comes to overseas casinos, there are literally hundreds of online casinos that accept Indian players. Some accept Rupees as payment and convert them to USD or EUR because the games on the casino’s platform have not been designed to allow bets in Rupees. At the same time, there are casinos that will allow Indian citizens to deposit, keep a balance, and make bets using Rupees.

Today, Indian casino players have access to sportsbooks, online slots, poker, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, keno, scratchcards, sic bo, craps, and a host of live casinos streamed to both desktop and mobile devices in real-time via HD webcams.

• Indian players can sign up for online casinos overseas
• Play in USD, EUR, or INR
• No laws forbid online gambling

The Best and Most Trusted Online Casinos for Players in India

Choosing the best online casino in India comes down to several variables. The games available, software providers, licensing, bonus offers, support, and whether you prefer to play in USD, EUR, or INR.

Best Indian Casinos

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Casino Games Played for Cash at Legal Casinos in India

By law, the only games that are supposed to offer in casinos are those that require an element of skill. Games of chance are not strictly by the book, but the casinos in India are able to swerve this law by suggesting that you cannot define any game as having ‘no element of skill’. This applies to nearly all the popular casino games, such as poker and blackjack, as well as casino games that casino players in India traditionally play.

Traditional Casino Games in India’s Legal Casinos:

• Slots
• 3-card poker
• Caribbean Stud
• Casino Hold’em
• Roulette
• Baccarat
• Red Dog
• Craps
• Blackjack
• Dream Catcher

Popular card games in India:

• Andar Bahar (Ezugi live dealer platform)
• India Rummy
• Paplu Rummy
• Minu Flush

Playing Live Casino Cash Games With Live Croupiers and Dealers Online

For Indian players, live casinos have become somewhat of a godsend. As the only land-based casinos in India are found in just three locations, Goa, Sikkim, and Daman, before live casinos online were available, an Indian casino player would need to take a vacation to any one of these locations or overseas. However, live casinos have moved the goalposts giving everyone in the country a chance to join online casinos with live dealer options.

Real-Time Live Dealers Via HD Webcams

Indian casino players can now sit in the comfort of their own living room and play roulette, blackjack, and even Andar Bahar if the casino has an eZugi live dealer platform. This is all operated via webcam in real-time. The webcam will display the dealer or croupier and the casino board.

An example of playing live casino Andar Bahar:

• View the table and dealer on your device via an HD webcam
• Place your bets on the table using virtual chips as if you were physically sitting at the table
• The dealer will make announcements via clear audio microphones
• Once bets are off, the game will commence
• The dealer deals live cards onto the table in clear view of the webcam
• You use the options available to decide your next move
• The dealer will continue until the betting round ends
• If you win, you will be paid in virtual chips

Playing live dealer games in this way is as good as being physically sat at the table playing. It is also much cheaper than traveling, and every table comes with different min-max bets to suit your budget, whereas, in a land-based casino, you are often restricted to high-max bets.

How do Indian Live Dealer Suits Operate?

As a citizen of India, all you need to do is look for an online casino that accepts players from India and offers live dealer games. From here, it takes less than 30 seconds to sign up and a few more minutes to select a deposit option so you can top up your account in order to make real money bets.

The process is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Sign up (using the bonus if you wish)
2. Make a deposit
3. Start playing live dealer casino games

Once you have made a deposit, select the live casino option and the game you want to play. The live webcam will zoom the dealer and table to your device, and you can start playing as if you were in a land-based casino.

Play Andar Bahar Live Casino Games

If you are an Andar Bahar player, make sure you find an online casino with the Ezugi live dealer suite. It has only just been released as a live dealer table and is yet to be rolled out to any of the major live casinos that use eZugi, but watch this space because soon, all Ezugi casinos will be adding this game as an option.

Mobile Casino in India

One of the up-and-coming trends when it comes to gambling online is mobile casino play. This means you will be playing casino games from your smartphone or tablet device. Once again, signing up for a mobile casino is as easy as 1-2-3 for players from India.

1. Sign up via your mobile device
2. Make a deposit via your mobile device
3. Play casino games on your smartphone or tablet
4. Games are iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile compatible

You will find that an excellent online casino will offer hundreds of online slot games as well as a host of virtual roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and poker games. Games can be played using a downloadable app, while other casinos offer instant play options.

• App casino games: Download the app and select games
• Instant play: Surf to the casino home page, log in, and play games via your browser

Mobile Slots Based on India:

Also, mobile slots are very popular with titles and themes that are based on India itself. Here are some of the popular mobile slots created with a theme based on 'India':

• Pearls of India (Play’n Go 2014)
• India Treasure (Playstar 2018)
• Jewels of India (High 5 Games 2015)

Online and Mobile Casino Security

As long as you follow our online casino guides, you will be able to find a casino that is safe and fair. Online casinos go to great lengths in order to employ the best IT security professionals to ensure your connection, account information, account balance, and the games you play are all safe from cyber-criminals. The technology used is so advanced that online casinos are often more secure than online banking themselves.

• 128-bit SSL encrypted connection
• Impenetrable firewall security
• Highly talented IT security teams
• Fraud protection teams

Fair Game Results When Playing Virtual Casino Games (RNGs)

Every licensed online casino uses random number generators (RNGs) to produce totally random game results on their virtual casino games. Live dealer games do not need RNGs because they have a real person dealing cards and spinning the wheels live on webcam. However, virtual casino games use computer code to produce results. These codes are sophisticated algorithms and have been designed to produce results as close as possible to the probability of results you would get if you were playing a live game.

• RNGs contain every outcome a casino game can produce
• Combinations run through an ‘indicator’ thousands of times per millisecond
• When you press the deal or spin button, the RNG stops
• The outcome in the indicator window will be the next card, number, or combination

RNGs use various sequences and are extremely complex. If you see a casino licensed by the MGA, UKGC, or one with an eCOGRA seal of approval, then you can 100% be sure that the RNGs at these casinos have been fully tested. eCOGRA is always a sign of a great casino as this company produces a report with the percentages paid out by every game at the casino. This report is produced every quarter and is available to the public.

Welcome Bonuses For Players From India

Players in India can take advantage of welcome bonuses offered by the casinos. These are offers provided to new members of an online casino site. When you are searching for an online casino to play, make sure you check the welcome bonus offers. Some come with a one-time deposit match that will match a percentage of the amount of money you deposit to the casino.

For example, if you deposit 20,000 INR with a 100% deposit match, you will get back 40,000 INR. You can also test an online casino out without making a deposit using a no deposit bonus. Some casinos will also offer free spins with their welcome bonus code so you can test the online slot games. In most cases, you will get a deposit match deal with free spins.

• Welcome bonuses are a deposit match for new players
• Deposit match deal only or deposit match free spins on slots
• No deposit bonus gives you free money to test the casino without a deposit

Casino Bonus Wagering Requirements

Most welcome bonuses and other casino bonuses will come with something called ‘wagering requirements’. This is the amount of money you need to bet in order to be able to withdraw your bonus deposit match cash or cash won from free spins into money that you can withdraw. When choosing your welcome bonus, you should always consider the terms and conditions. However, welcome bonuses are there for fun, so as long as you understand how they work, you will be able to use them to your full advantage.

Wagering requirement: When your deposit is matched with, for example, 10,000 INR, 10,000 will become real money, and 20,000 will be placed in a ‘bonus money’ balance. To withdraw the bonus money balance, you will need to play through the wagering requirement. For example, if the wagering requirement is 20x, you must bet 10,000 INR x 20 = 200,000 INR to withdraw it as cash.

No Playthrough Bonuses: Some bonuses come with no wagering requirements, but they are very hard to find. The no-playthrough requirement is usually only applied to free spins or deals with cashback.

Game Percentage Contributions: When you make a 70 INR bet, 100% of that bet will count towards the wagering requirements. However, this does not apply to all games. Games like blackjack or baccarat tend only to count 5% of the bet, so 3.5 INR towards the wagering requirement. This is something you should always check for.

Free Spins Max Bet: Free spins offered with a no deposit bonus or welcome bonus will always be valued at the min spin bet. Therefore, if the slot has 20 pay lines, then the free spin will likely be worth 20 INR per spin, which is 1 INR per line.

Max Bet using Bonus Money: All bonuses will come with a maximum bet allowed using bonus money. These will be applied to slots and table games. Usually, the terms and conditions will show a maximum bet of 15% of the total bonus per bet or 350 INR per bet.

Min/Max Deposits: Every bonus comes with a min/max deposit. For instance, if you want to participate in a welcome bonus, the minimum deposit might be 1,000 INR. The maximum is the maximum amount the deposit match will be effective. So maybe the max is 10,000 INR, so if you deposit 20,000 INR for a 100% deposit bonus, only 10,000 INR will be matched.

Bonus Expiry: The expiry is the amount of time you have to play and turn your ‘bonus money’ balance into withdrawable cash. Once the expiry is up, the bonus money will is removed, so make sure you bet it within the time limit to reap the full benefits.

Payment Method Restrictions: Always check to see if the welcome bonus has any payment restrictions. Some welcome bonuses exclude the offer when making payments via some e-wallets.

Real Money Deposits To Online Casinos in India

All online casinos are in the business of money, and therefore, they all provide several ways to make a deposit and withdraw your winnings. As an Indian citizen, you will be able to use numerous payment options such as VISA and MasterCard debit and credit cards, e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill, plus you can deposit and withdraw using cryptocurrency.

• Credit cards
• E-wallets
• Pre-paid cards
• Cryptocurrency
• Online banking

Deposits

Making a deposit is nearly always instant. You just need to head over to the cashier, banking, or deposit area of the casino on your desktop or mobile device, select the payment method you want to use, then make the deposit. As soon as the financial institution that you bank with clears approves the payment method, the casino will instantly update your casino balance. In some cases, you may be asked for proof of ID, as the fraud protection teams at online casinos are very stringent. However, once you have been through this process once, you will not need to do it again.

• Instant deposits so you can start playing immediately
• Make sure the casino accepts INR currency payments
• All deposits should always be free of charge

Withdrawals

Always check which withdrawal methods the casino offers before you sign up. Sometimes there will not be an option that you will viably be able to use. An example is Mastercard, which is a great payment method, but in India, you will not be able to use it to withdraw. If this is your only financial option, then you will not be able to make withdrawals from the casino. This is why it is very important that you check both deposits and withdrawals will match your financial tools. When you make withdrawals, they are usually not instant as casinos add a pending time, so it is always good to check how fast each casino will payout if this is a major concern in your casino analysis.

• Not all deposit methods can be used for withdrawals, so make sure you check
• Not all withdrawals are instant, so always check withdrawal times
• Check to see if the casino adds a withdrawal fee

The legality of Gambling in India

Online gambling with an overseas entity is legal, but physical gambling within India is illegal according to the ‘The Public Gambling Act of 1867’, which forbids gambling establishments from operating within the country. However, this ‘Act’ can be overturned on a state level. As a result, gambling laws fall under each state’s government jurisdiction. That said, gambling is still heavily restricted, and generally, only certain gambling categories are allowed.

Games are also separated into two categories: ' games of chance’ and ‘games of skill’. Each game played for money must first be classed under one of these categories.

Right now, there are only three states in the country that have state laws that allow land-based casinos to operate ‘games of chance’:

• Goa
• Daman
• Sikkim

Online gambling laws

Overseas online casinos, those operating outside of India, are legally obliged to offer Indian players the option to sign up and play real money casino games as long as they offer rupees. Therefore, Indian players can gamble online at online casino and poker sites and place sports bets.

The reason for this is that using an online casino to place bets has not been officially verified as legal or illegal. The ‘Information Technology Act 2000’ does not specifically mention online gambling, so that it can be left to interpretation. With no written law, there are no legal grounds for prosecution; therefore, online gambling with overseas companies must be legal.

As for opening an online casino or betting site and running the server as well as business operations in India, this is illegal because you would need to gain a license to run a gambling operation, and currently, no satisfactory license for online gambling exists.

Although the state of Sikkim has attempted to create online gambling licenses, nothing has come of it. Right now, the only Indian-based online gambling license that has been issued is one that permits online lottery services. Currently, no other state has followed Sikkim into the online lottery industry.

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