Yes, Poker is legal in India. However, some states are permitted by the Indian Constitution to enact laws regulating betting and gambling in their respective jurisdictions. In light of these powers, various States have enacted anti-gambling legislation. Such legislations are largely in accordance with the Public Gambling Act of 1867 (and include the exception of 'games of skill'). Where a State legislation on gambling exists, it prevails over the Public Gambling Act of 1867.

In this regard, the Assam Game and Betting Act, 1970, Odisha (Prevention of) Gambling Act, 1955, Telangana State Gaming (Amendment), the Amendment to the Andhra Pradesh Gaming Act, 1974, and the Ordinance and High Court Judgment in Gujarat, 2017, prohibit games with money stakes and also does not create an exception for the games of skill. Therefore, currently, residents of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Odisha and Telangana are not permitted to play on our website.

For more information, please visit Play Legal Online Poker in India

1. Our services and products are not available to anybody who is under the age of 18 years on the day of them applying for membership through the registration process on the site. Also, it is strictly prohibited for any user under the age of 18 to play games on our website.

2. We reserve the right to request proof of age at any stage to verify that minors are not using the service. We may exclude a person from play if proof of age is not provided or if the Company suspects that a person using the service is underage. The services and products are not intended for users connecting to the site from jurisdictions that say it is illegal to do so. Any underage player who has provided dishonest or inaccurate information regarding their true age or identity may have all their winnings forfeited and could face criminal prosecution.

1. No-Limit Texas Hold'em(NLHE): Texas hold 'em is one of the most popular variants of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages.

2. Pot Limit Omaha(PLO): Omaha Hold'em is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold'em, where each player is dealt four/five cards and must make his or her best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards.

3. Pineapple (Open Face Chinese) Poker: Pineapple OFC poker is played between either 2 or 3 players. It can be played in a sit and go [sit'n'go] format or cash. Unlike poker, this game is played without chips. A point system is followed to determine the score, with each point holding a certain value.

1. In Omaha, 4 or 5 cards are dealt (depending on the variant) to each player whereas in Texas Hold'em only 2 cards are dealt.

2. The player needs to compulsorily use 2 hole cards to make the best possible hand in Pot Limit Omaha, whereas in Texas Hold'em, a player can use either 1 hole card or both the cards to make the best possible hand.

3. Omaha is a pot-limit game where the maximum a player can raise or bet depends on the size of the pot, whereas Texas Hold'em has no limits on betting.

Cash Games: Your chip stack in a cash game represents its real money value. Blinds and antes are set for the table and they don't increase like a tournament. You can enter or leave a cash game at any time you want.

Formats of Cash Games:
1. Cash table: Cash Game Tables can be played on our website or application using real cash bonuses or real cash chips.
2. Play Money table: Practice Money Tables can be played on our website or software using our virtual tokens or Play Money. It does not have any monetary value and is only useful to practice poker. New players are advised to play this game.

In this format, 5 hole cards are dealt instead of 4 and a player must use 2 hole cards and 3 community cards to complete his/her best 5 card combination. The game also follows a 'pot limit' structure, just like the regular variant.

In some cash games, if a player is all in before the river has been dealt, the players involved can agree to 'run it twice' i.e. the remaining streets get dealt twice, with half the pot going to the player with the best hand in each instance.

We offer two formats of Pineapple OFC Poker:

Sit 'N' Go: In a Sit 'N' Go gameo, a player buys-in with a fixed amount (which is the minimum and maximum that the player would need to invest). A fixed number of hands are played in each round, after which the scores are reset and players can choose either to play again or quit.

Cash Format: In a cash format game - which is the more popular of the two variants - there is no system of rounds and after a player chooses a table of his/her preference, the game is played similar to a 2 or 3-way game of Hold'em.

Alternative Cash Format: In a cash format game of Pineapple OFC Poker, there is no system of rounds and the scores do not reset at the end of each round. After a player has chosen a table of his/her choice, the game is played in a similar manner to a 2 or 3-way game of Hold'em poker.

Remarks: Currently it is not available, we are updating it and it will be back soon with a new look.

1. Regular: Players in a Fantasy are dealt 14 cards and get to play any 13 of them, discarding any one card. When a player qualifies for a recurring fantasy, he/she will be dealt with only 14 cards in the next hand. Players can qualify for a recurring fantasy by placing a Full House in the bottom row or if they have a Full House in the middle row, as long as they don't foul.

2. Progressive: Players can be dealt up to 17 cards in a fantasy depending on the strength of the hand in the top row 14 (QQ), 15 (KK), 16 (AA), 17 (three-of-a-kind). Players need to manage quads or better in the bottom row or three-of-a-kind in the top row to qualify for a recurring fantasy. Players will only be dealt 14 cards in a recurring fantasy.

3. Ultimate: Players can be dealt up to 17 cards in a fantasy depending on the strength of the hand in the top row 14 (QQ), 15 (KK), 16 (AA), 17 (three-of-a-kind). Players need to manage quads or better in the bottom row or three-of-a-kind in the top row to qualify for a recurring fantasy. Players can be dealt up to 17 cards in a recurring fantasy, depending on the hand they originally entered the fantasy with.

Remarks: Currently it is not available, we are updating it and it will be back soon with a new look.

Tournament: A poker tournament is a game with a fixed format. Everything is predetermined – the blinds, buy-in, stack sizes, antes, structure, and time limit.

Formats of Tournaments:
1. Guaranteed Tournaments: In poker, a "guaranteed prize pool" is when tournament organizers guarantee that a tournament will have a minimum prize pool of a certain amount. Guaranteeing a prize pool is done to increase attendance as players will know that they will be playing for a minimum amount of money.
2. Free Entry Tournaments: A Free Entry tournament is a poker tournament with no entry fee. Some freerolls (eg: Depositors FreeRoll) require payment at some point to gain entry to the tournament.

There are three variants of tournaments:

KnockOut tournaments: Knockout tournaments (also known as Bounty tournaments) pay a cash prize for every player you knock out of the tournament. This cash prize is the 'bounty' on the player and is separate from the tournament's prize pool. This means that players with many knockouts can still take home some money, even if they do not make it to a winning position in the tournament. The last player of the tournament - i.e. the winner - will have his/her bounty credited to him/her as winnings.

Progressive Knockout: The bigger the catch, the better the prize! While regular Knockout pays a player the same fixed amount for each knockout, Progressive Knockout places a different price on each player's head. In this variant, you win 50% of the bounty each time you knock out a player and the rest gets added to your bounty. As the tournament progresses, players with many knockouts will subsequently have higher bounties, and will be worth more to knock out! The last player of the tournament - i.e. the winner - will have his/her bounty credited to him/her as winnings.

Win the Button: In a regular poker game, the dealer button is moved around the table in a clockwise manner. However, in this format, the button will be passed to whoever wins the round. Effectively, this gives them the advantage of acting last in the game. Win the Button is an action-packed variant that rewards players that actively go for the win.

Hand Rankings, from strongest to weakest, are:

The highest among the best poker hands. It is a unique combination of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten - each of the same suit. The probability of getting it is 0.000154% (odds as 649739:1). The Royal Flush is an invincible Hand because any player who possesses cannot be beaten under any circumstances.

Hole Cards: Two random face-down cards dealt to each player on a table.

Community Cards: Five cards put face-up on the game table. Players use them to make their respective card combinations.

A player strives to make a winning card combination using his two Hole Cards and a fixed number of Community Cards (depending on the poker variant he is playing) to make the best five-card combination.

In Texas Hold'em, every player strives to make the best five-card poker hand using his two Hole Cards and Five Community Cards. The player with the best card combination is the winner.

In Pot Limit Omaha, a player should also make the best five-card combination. Every player initially gets four Hole Cards, out of which he discards two. He should then try to make a winning five-card poker hand with two Hole Cards and Five Community Cards.

Pot Limit Omaha differs when it comes to figuring out the winner at the end of play as compared to Texas Hold'em. However, the Hand Rankings remain the same between the two.

1. The players are allowed to use exactly two hole cards and three Community Cards to make their best hand possible. This also determines the winner.
2. In case of a deadlock with regards to common weak cards with all the players, the winner is then decided based on the highest valued single card.
3. All participants must use two cards of their own. In case they all have a straight board, they will complete it with their two cards to emerge as the winner.
4. The relevancy and priority of cards are irrelevant in comparison to the strength of a hand.

Please visit our Youtube page to know how to play Pineapple OFC Poker. This game aims to set your best hand and compare it against your opponent(s) to determine the scores. This is divided into 3 rows – bottom, middle, and top. The bottom and middle row comprise of 5 cards each, while the top row comprises just 3. So, a Pineapple OFC poker hand comprises a total of 13 cards (5+5+3).

Based on poker hand rankings, players need to set their cards into these rows following one primary rule – the bottom hand must be stronger than the middle hand, and the middle hand must be stronger than the top hand.

Each player is first dealt with 5 cards face-up. A player then begins to construct his/her hand using these 5 cards. Once this round is concluded, the players are dealt 3 cards each (face-down), of which they must use 2 cards and discard one. This continues until each player has completed constructing his/her hand (5 rounds of play in total). Once each player sets his/her hand, points are calculated and compared against each other to gather the final tally. Players are dealt in a style similar to that seen in Texas Hold 'em with a Small Blind, Big Blind and Dealer in three-handed games.

Remarks: Currently it is not available, we are updating it and it will be back soon with a new look.

The game of Pineapple OFC Poker follows a point system where players earn a set number of points for making certain hands. Each row is compared with your opponent's respective row, and scores are calculated based on the points secured by each player. Each row is assigned a value of one point. This means that if you were to beat your opponent in 2 rows - you would win 1 point from him/her (your two points minus opponent's 1 point). However, if you beat your opponent in all 3 rows – you would win a total of 6 points (known as sweep or scoop). Player scores are calculated clockwise, starting from the left of the button. This means that in a three-handed game, points are tallied first between the Big Blind and Small Blind, then the Small Blind and Dealer, and finally the Big Blind and Dealer.

Remarks: Currently it is not available, we are updating it and it will be back soon with a new look.

Apart from the basic points system, players can earn Royalties for hands like a Flush, Straight, Full House, Trips, etc. Hands have different points based on the row they are set in.

Royalty points are counted and compared with the total tally while calculating the score, and the player with the most points wins. He/she will win an amount equivalent to the points scored times the value of each point. These Royalty amounts are earned by a player regardless of whether they win that particular row or not. Additionally, bonuses negate each other (for example if two players have a flush at the bottom row – while the player with the higher flush earns one point for the row – the royalty points will be 0 instead of 4).

Remarks: Currently it is not available, we are updating it and it will be back soon with a new look.

Fantasyland is where you want to be! This part of the game is probably the most exciting, and rewards players with additional points. If a player manages to set Queens or better in their top row, they qualify for a "Fantasy Hand". This means that once that round completes, an additional round is dealt – only this time, the player who had a fantasy hand gets dealt either 14-17 cards (depending on the variant) face-up at one shot and sets his/her best 13 card hand. Opponents are regularly dealt with their hands (5+3+3+3+3). Additionally, a player can get a "recurring fantasy" hand if he/she manages to set either quad in the bottom row or by placing trips in their top row (in a fantasy hand). In this case, a player is dealt with another fantasy in the subsequent hand. There is no limit to the number of recurring fantasy hands that a player can get.

Remarks: Currently it is not available, we are updating it and it will be back soon with a new look.

Poker takes a day to learn but a lifetime to master. Learn more about Poker on our all new Poker School platform. It has:

1. Video Chapters: The foundation to learning any game is getting your fundamentals right. Our lessons are broken down to help you understand a game of poker right from scratch. Crafted by experts, the lessons simplify poker and make learning fun with interactive tests.
2. Practice Zone: Learning is impactful when there is application. At the PokerBaazi School, we have a dedicated zone for you to practice all the tips and tricks you’ve learnt in our lessons!
3. Forum: Collaboration and communication is key to your learning process. The PokerBaazi School forum enables just that, by allowing budding players seek clarity and learn from a community of growing poker players.

Check out the website, or download the app from https://www.pokerbaazi.com/pokerbaazi-school

If the auto-muck check box is selected then the showdown rules at the river are:

1. The player who took the last aggressive action in the hand will show his hand first. If the aggressive player is the winner then the other player/players in the hand can muck their hand. If the aggressive player loses the hand then the aggressive player's hand will be shown first and then the winner's hand is shown.
2. If everybody has checked on the river, then the first active player to the left of the dealer will show the hand to the table first. If the next active player has a better hand than the previous player, then he/she needs to show the hand to the table, or else if they are losing (with reference to all previous players) the hand will be automatically mucked and this sequence will continue for all players.

Example: For a 6 player table, 6 players (all have selected the auto-muck check box) have checked on the river and the 3rd player (player next to BB) has the second-best hand, and the player on the button has the best hand. The actions that will follow at showdown are:-

• The first player will show the hole cards to the table
• The second player will muck the hand
• The third player will show the hole cards to the table
• The fourth player will muck the hand
• The fifth player will muck the hand
• The sixth player will show the hole cards to the table as this player is the winner.

The straddle will work in the following conditions:

1. The straddle will only be enabled if the straddle checkbox is checked before the hand.
2. The straddle will only have an impact on the game pre-flop. Pre-flop, the minimum call amount is the straddle amount if the straddle check box is enabled. After the flop opens, the minimum bet amount will be the big blind amount.
3. Straddle cannot be done on the dealer button. So the straddle can only be posted if 4 or more players are involved in a hand.

Running it twice is a method of determining the winner of a poker hand once all betting on the hand is complete but before the final card(s) (either community cards or other cards) have been dealt. In practice, this is only done when the hand has gotten down to the heads up and one player is all-in and the other player has matched their bet. Running it twice can be done after either the flop or the turn, but only after one of the two players is fully all-in. Both players must agree to run it twice in order for the procedure to be allowed.

Running it twice directs the dealer to deal with two sets of the final cards to be dealt, thus creating two different outcomes. The pot is split into two halves, and the first half of the pot is awarded to the winner of the hand using the first set of cards that were dealt and the second half of the pot is awarded to the winner of the hand using the second set of cards that were dealt.

Pineapple OFC poker tables are available only for Mobile application or Instant Play browser.

Remarks: Currently it is not available, we are updating it and it will be back soon with a new look.

Playing poker online is a close function of your internet quality and speed. We suggest that you use a fast Internet connection for the best gaming experience on PokerBaazi.

• We recommend a high-speed broadband connection of at least 256 Kbps and above, with little or no packet loss and low latency to our servers.
• You can check if you are experiencing any connectivity issues, packet losses and internet latency by following these steps:
  1. On your PC click on the 'Start' button, and select 'Run' and type 'cmd' without the quotes and press Enter.
  2. Type ping -n 10 www.pokerbaazi.com After a few seconds, a summary of the connection statistics from your computer to our servers will be displayed.
  3. For the best experience, the loss percentage should be 0% and latency should be lower than 400ms.

From the Browser, you can play on 3 tables simultaneously.

From the Desktop App, there are no restrictions.

From the Android App, you can play on 3 tables simultaneously.

From the IOS App, you can play on 3 tables simultaneously.

This can be happen due to the below mentioned reasons:

1. If you are trying to play from territories outside India.
2. If you are trying to play within the restricted state boundaries (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Telangana and Gujarat)
3. If you are trying to play using a VPN(Virtual Private Network)
4. If you are playing using a HUD(Heads Up Display) software.
5. If you are trying to open more than 3 tables on the Mobile application or the Mobile/desktop browser.
6. If there is a popup blocker.
7. If there is Internet Fluctuation while entering any table.
8. We recommend you to clear cache and cookies from browser and/or cache from the application and then re-login

Note: Incase all the above points are checked and you are still experiencing issues, please send us a screenshot/video of the same.. We will immediately get it checked with the technical team.

Chrome:

• By default, Google Chrome blocks pop-ups from automatically showing up on your screen. When a pop-up is blocked, the address bar will be marked 'Pop-up blocked.'
• Click on this icon in your address bar to allow popups from PokerBaazi and reopen the game lobby. If it still does not work, you may follow the below steps. At the top right of Chrome browser, click More and then click Settings. At the lowermost placed option named Advanced, click 'Privacy and Security.' Now click Content settings to go to Popups. Click the same and turn the setting to Allowed.

B. Firefox:

• When blocking a pop-up, Firefox displays an information bar. If it hasn't been previously dismissed, you would see it just below your Bookmark's bar. The browser will also notify you with an icon in the address bar.
  

• When you click either the Preferences button in the info bar or the icon in the address bar, a menu is displayed with the following choices:

  1. Allow/Block pop-ups for this site
  2. Edit Pop-up Blocker Preferences
  3. Don't show this message when pop-ups are blocked
  4. (show the blocked pop-up)

• To access the pop-up blocker settings:

  1. Click the menu button (it would be marked as) and choose Preferences.
  2. Select the Privacy and Security panel.
  3. In the Permissions section, uncheck the box next to Block pop-up windows to disable the pop-up blocker altogether.

C. Internet Explorer 11:

• Open Internet Explorer, select the Tools button and then select Internet options.
• On the Privacy tab, go to Pop-up Blocker and clear the Turn on Pop-up Blocker check box.
• Click OK to confirm, and that's it. You can now start playing poker online!

D. Internet Explorer 10:

• Click the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop to open the program.
• Click the Tools button in the toolbar at the top of the browser window.
• Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.
• Click the Privacy tab in the Internet Options pop-up window.
• Clear the check mark next to 'Turn on Pop-Up Blocker' so that it is deselected.

• Click OK.

E. Safari:

• Click Safari in the browser menu. You will find it at the top of the screen.
• Choose Preferences when the drop-down menu appears. Alternatively, you can also use the Command and Comma key together.
• Click the Security tab to open the Security Preferences window.
• In the Web content section, clear the check box next to the option called Block pop-up windows.

Please uninstall the old app and then download the new app from https://www.pokerbaazi.com/go-mobile and install it.

1. The downloaded APK should be fully downloaded before installing.
2. The Android version should be 7 or above.
3. If there is an Internet Fluctuation while login to your account.

Note: In case all the above points are checked and ensured and if the still issue persists, we request you to share the screenshot/video at support@pokerbaazi.com or chat with us. We will immediately get it checked with our technical team.

Please check the following points:

1. Your Login credential should be correct.
2. Your phone number should be correct and validated.
3. App should be updated.
4. Android version should be 7 and above.
5. We also recommend you to clear cache and cookies from the browser and cache from the application and then re-login.
6. If there is an Internet Fluctuation while login to your account.

Note: In case all the above points are checked and ensured and if the still issue persists, we request you to share the screenshot/video at support@pokerbaazi.com or chat with us. We will immediately get it checked with our technical team.

Yes, PokerBaazi does have a bug bounty program. To know more, please mail us on engineering@pokerbaazi.com