Currently, India’s fastest growing website 9stacks has recently launched “Vegas in Rs. 2” Tournaments are being held in the regular format except with one key difference. Entry fees start as low as Rs. 2 and players have to cross 5 simple levels in order to win a trip to Las Vegas which has been valued at Rs. 2 lakhs.
Small sized entry fees of only Rs. 2, Rs. 5 and Rs. 10 is aimed at amateur online poker players. 9stacks is trying to take the game across the country by targeting cities across tier 1 to 3.
The winners of the tournament will get a chance to visit Las Vegas, the Poker capital of the world, during the 50th Anniversary edition of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) which is the world’s largest poker festival. The winner gets a free flight, free visa fees, and free accommodation during the trip.
Sudhir Kamath, CEO 9stacks, states that this is just the beginning of trying to encourage undiscovered talent across the country.
9stacks currently has a user base of over 1 lakh players with 7 million hands played every month on their platform and monthly gross transactions exceeding Rs. 55 crore every month.
As part of the All India Gaming Federation 9stacks has also been strongly propagating Poker as a game of skill. 9stacks recently launched India’s first skills dashboard where gamers can evaluate their play by carrying out an in-depth analysis of their strategy and thus lead them to become better poker players.
India is one of the last, large and largely untapped gaming markets in the world. Not only the large population and its youthful demographics make it exciting for gaming companies, but also the propensity for Indians to gamble and partake in sports betting.
There are stories dated as far back as Mahabharat and betting on cricket is arguably the largest industry in the country, albeit unofficially. The logical extension is thus fantasy cricket which is picking up rapidly through companies the likes of Dream11.
Stay tuned for updates on the latest industry news and trends in the gaming market.
