In this article Sarang Khanna, Content Marketing Executive at iPleaders, talks about the increasing scope and opportunities in the billion dollar gambling industry in India.

The word “Gambler” first came into popular usage in 1700’s as a slang that referred to cheats and reckless humans. “Gaming”, meanwhile, was meant to sport or play games that usually involved physical exertion and skill. Then came “Gambling” – which today means to wager money in games or sports by predicting the results of events.

In today’s times, the society and psychologists have added other dimensions to this definition and gambling is now seen primarily to be risky, uncertain and, hence, unethical.

Has this stopped India from indulging in this uncertain and unethical practice?

The revenues that are already touching a billion dollars should give you the answer. In fact, in a research undertaken in 2010 by Playwin (the lottery owned by the State of Sikkim), it was estimated that online gambling itself would be worth $5 billion had it been regulated in India. That was 2010, and we can imagine in which direction online gambling must have ascended ever since.

Online legends like Guruprasad Gupta have made it second nature to make millions of rupees every week just by online gaming. This Math teacher turned full-time poker-pro in his interview to India Poker News said, “It’s great to have poker as a fulltime career.”

To put it simply, there is a wealth of opportunities for anyone trying to establish a footing in this new and upcoming sector, and it is high time we explored this potential.

Here are avenues in various fields of gambling that you can make a career in (if you wish to):

Traditional Live Gambling

Live gambling in India is fairly popular and includes activities like lotteries, betting, various casino games, etc. Legality of these games in India varies from state to state and proper framework is put in every state with regards to operations in these businesses.

Not only do these businesses usually have the tendency of being around exotic holiday locations, but they also provide lucrative career opportunities for people with inclination towards the industry. Let’s take Goa for an example. A city quite popular as a holiday destination not only amongst indians but also foreigners has a number of offshore casinos frequented by anyone willing to bet.

Casinos are always looking for new and interesting games for its customers, and game developers are recruited at high frequency for these jobs. This is a fun and equally high paying job, with the added potential to fetch heavy royalties for someone who develops the most popular game. Did you know gaming surveillance officers, unfair means supervisors are some other noteworthy jobs in the industry?

Bookmarkers

Betting is a multi-billion dollar industry around the world and even India could soon see the regulation and legalization of the same. The Law Commission of India proposed to legalize sport betting in the country as early as May 2017.

Did you know bookmarkers or odd traders are the most crucial people in the betting business?

Their job is to play with numbers and create odds that encourage people to place wagers. Have you ever noticed the number that frequently pop up next to the scores while watching a football match on TV? They are odds that help people place bets and make profitable decisions while betting on the match.

These odds that you see are the work of an intelligent bookmarker. This is a unique work profile and betting companies pay handsome amounts to bookmarkers as huge profits are yielded as a result of their calculations.

With the legalization of betting in India, which seems to be on the cards, there is going to be ample of such exclusive job roles in the country.

Legal Compliance

Both traditional and online gaming are heavily regulated in India, with excess laws specific to each state in the country. India has also witnessed a steep rise in online gambling markets in the past few years. Land-based and online casinos both need to operate legally and the compliance with all these laws is a tedious job. This is where lawyers with knowledge in gambling laws come in and save the day. Their primary focus is to ensure that security and legal protocols are satisfied and all gambling activity taking place is transparent and legit. This is a position of high responsibility that requires much deliberation.

Those lawyers wanting to work in this area obviously require tremendous legal knowledge. India has very few experts on gambling laws, Jay Sayta being one of them. If you google any query related to gambling law you are bound to land up on his blog – www.glaws.in. Gambling related laws are distinct and extensive in India, and better understanding for all the laws governing this industry can be achieved through online courses here.

Poker

The booming popularity of poker in India cannot be doubted. Although there is a deficiency of a uniform legal jurisprudence on the matter, but more and more states through the medium of their high courts are conferring the ‘game of skill’ distinction on poker.

The Supreme Court of India in its judgment in State of Bombay v. RMD Chamarvaugwala has put games predominantly of skill outside the bracket of gambling, and the words “mere skill” have been interpreted to include – (i) the competitions where success depends on substantial degree of skill will not fall into category of ‘gambling’; and (ii) despite there being an element of chance, if a game is preponderantly a game of skill, it would nevertheless be a game of “mere skill”.

Due to this increased acceptance and recognition Texas Hold’em Poker has seen the mushrooming of various professions around it. From turning a full time professional poker player, to being mentors to wanna-be pros, the interest and opportunities around this one single game is only set to increase.

Offline and online poker portals constantly require big teams to smoothen their large scale functionings. More about licenses related to poker, implications of the recently hiked fees, and fundamentals related to setting up a poker business can be learnt here.

Business and Sports Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship and sports management are two disciplines that have witnessed significant growth during the last decade. Change and innovation are key to both, and for all reasons discussed above, the gaming industry in the country is set to undergo a paradigm shift rather soon.

Due to the same, this time has been identified by many as the perfect time to set up sporting, especially gambling, related business ventures. If you closely follow the poker circuit in the country, you must surely be already surprised by the number of new ventures. That is because this is a fairly new trade, and one with immense potential.

Entrepreneurship possibilities in the gaming sphere are immense in India. Like most online operated gambling companies are registered in Sikkim or West Bengal which make it possible for them to register and obtain licenses for online games. Likewise, Nagaland also facilitates setting up of online gambling companies and is the new hub for the same.

But is this all so easy? Have you wondered what all does it take to successfully run a business of this sort and make it grow?

With both sports laws and entrepreneurship being modern disciplines, their understanding is limited and even renowned names in the industry go through great problems in running ventures efficiently. Highly recognized courses have created many success stories of people who developed their new enterprises swiftly and effectively.

To tread on this unconventional path is still difficult and often criticized but it is unique and definitely fruitful.

We are working hard in making this ‘gamble’ safer, recognized, and more acceptable. Good luck us!