Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government's bill to ban online gambling is awaiting assent from Governor R N Ravi even as the organizers of the E Gaming Federation (EGF) have met the Governor and clarified that rummy and poker are games of skill but not gambling. The EGF is seeking relief as the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act 2022 is still pending with the Governor for his assent.
In this regard, EGF CEO Sameer Barde has said in a press release that “The EGF delegation made a representation to Governor of Tamil Nadu regarding the Bill banning Online Games in the state of Tamil Nadu where games of skill like rummy and poker have been prohibited. We placed the legal jurisprudence in this regard set by the honourable Supreme Court and several High Courts, whereby games like poker and rummy have been clearly identified as games of skill".
Sameer Barde claimed that in its detailed judgement, the High Court of Madras reaffirmed the preponderance test for distinguishing between games of skill and games of chance especially in the context of rummy, reinforcing that both rummy and poker are games of skill. The fact that these games have been listed for prohibition as games of chance or gambling under the bill raised by the government of Tamil Nadu is unconstitutional, he said.
