India welcomes a poker tournament
The Indian market will experience for the first time a legal and professional poker tournament.
India.- The International Federation of Poker (IFP) revealed yesterday that they are planning a professional “match poker” tournament in India. The first legal event in the market will be held next September, according to the Federation’s statement. The Match Indian Poker League (Match IPL) will be based on popular Texas Hold’em format.
The exclusive event is part of a deal that the IFP has achieved this week with top Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra and her husband’s international company Raj Kundra’s Viaan Industries Ltd. The first match poker tournament in the market will feature teams owned by leading figures in Indian business and entertainment.
IFP President Patrick Nally commented, “The IFP has worked tirelessly for many years to develop the sport and the technology to support it and make it fit for purpose as a truly 21st century mind sport. It is a mind sport in an e-sport wrapper. Match Poker is inclusive and can be played by anybody with access to a smartphone and an Internet connection, anywhere and at any time.”
“We will be working closely with Viaan Industries to support the success of the Match Indian Poker League and are confident that it will create a model for the roll-out of other pro leagues elsewhere in the world.”
“The interest in India has been simply phenomenal and we can’t wait for the launch of the app and the build-up to the Match Indian Poker league later this year.”
According to the Federation’s statement, local players will be selected according to their rankings based on assessments made while playing against one of the world’s most advanced Poker ‘Bots using the Match Poker app which launches in August.
Raj Kundra said: “Viaan Industries Ltd is all about creating innovative technology and licensing deals and I am delighted to work with the International Federation of Poker on this tremendously exciting project. Together we are going to create India’s only internationally recognised sports Match Poker league, which will create new opportunities to play, and unprecedented levels of excitement and engagement. Significantly the Match IPL will also be the platform for identifying and selecting the six players who will represent Team India at the IFP Nations Cup later this year.”
