Gaming Federation wants exempting Poker from Kerala Gaming Act

The All India Gaming Federation, an apex body dealing with issues on the gaming industry, has approached the Kerala government to exempt 'Poker' and other skill based fantasy games from the ambit of the Kerala Gaming Act.
The Federation representatives met Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Vigilance) Nalini Netto and submitted a memorandum in this regard here yesterday.
AIGF CEO Roland Landers and gaming lawyer Jay Sayta requested Netto to make necessary amendments in this regard.
It would be a huge boost to the tourism, hospitality, technology and other ancillary industries in Kerala and usher larger amounts of investments in the state, the memorandum said.

The representatives later said in a release that the government gave assurance to consider their request.
The Additional Chief Secretary told them that the government was considering updating the list of exempted skill games after consultations with the Law Department, they said.
Roland Landers said states including Karnataka, West Bengal and Nagaland have already acknowledged the games of poker, rummy and fantasy sports outside the ambit of gaming or gambling and have brought legislative changes to bring clarity and legality to the activity.
The game of poker is akin to chess or sudoku, Jay Sayta said.