Poker Comes to the Mainland

In its bid to woo the burgeoning poker cult of India, Sikkim has set up the country’s first land-based poker room.

Till two months ago, it was Goa and its floating casinos on the River Mandovi that had the only licenses to hold live Texas Hold’em poker games. But not anymore. The government of Sikkim, in its bid to woo the burgeoning poker cult of India (read India’s Poker Cult), has given a gaming license to Mayfair Group to set up India’s first land-based poker room—High Roller.

Last June, after the green signal from the state’s ministry of tourism, the Mayfair Group launched Casino Mahjong in Ranipool, located 10 km from Gangtok. The casino has five-star lodging facilities, unlike the casino ships of Goa, and allows live gambling, namely people versus people poker, along with casino-versus-people games, such as roulette, slot machines and Black Jack, for the first time in India.

“We started live poker games the week we opened the casino, and with increasing popularity, had to dedicate a separate playing area to the game on 21 July,” says Suraksha Rai, an executive at the casino, which gets an average of 30 players daily from all over India and Nepal.

The casino has 11 poker tables, accompanied by free food, drinks and live entertainment. It also has eight slot machines, four roulettes and 10 card tables spread over 5,000 sq ft.

High Roller’s poker room has a wide range of cash games with stakes suitable for every wallet. At the moment, poker tournaments are available at the casino on request basis for private groups, corporate events and regional tournament promoters.

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Arindam Mukherjee