In order for the recently passed Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act to be effective, the Delhi High Court ordered the Centre on 2 September to establish an authority and publish the regulations. On a suit contesting the new online gaming law, a bench consisting of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued the rulings.
The Act, which was approved by Parliament on August 21, encourages e-sports in addition to “safe online social and educational games” and outlaws all types of online money games.
The judges pointed out that the Centre had not yet established a body to supervise the law’s application. “Until you constitute the authority and promulgate the rules, you will not be able to work on the act,” the court stated. After eight weeks, the matter was scheduled for hearing.
Sharing his views on the development, Kamal Karanth, Co-Founder Xpheno- A specialist Staffing Firm stated, “While the focus and buzz has been on real money gaming (RMG), it is important to note that most gaming enterprises operate across three verticals—RMG, social gaming, and eSports. The skills and talent deployed across these lines are highly adjacent and transferable. This adjacency provides a talent agility which has helped the sector remain resilient despite regulatory uncertainties.”
“Gaming tech skills—ranging from AR/VR and app development to AI and immersive design—are not just central to gaming but are also critical to emerging sectors like fintech, edtech, and healthtech. The potential is hence high for redeployment and absorption of talent within the enterprise or within gaming and other adjacent sectors,” he added.
Argument in the Court
The government is now establishing an authority under the Act, according to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who spoke on behalf of the Centre during a brief session. According to him, the Central Government is now creating regulations and establishing its authority. Although online gaming is encouraged by the government, youngsters who play for real money become addicted and commit suicide.
The online carrom game platform Bagheera Carrom (OPC) Private Limited filed the petition, arguing that the new law was enacted in excessive haste and without adequate stakeholder participation, violating fundamental rights. The new rule, according to the petition, indiscriminately prohibits all online real-money games, regardless of whether they are skill-based or chance-based.
Already, Many Players Shutting Real Money Gaming From System
Shortly after the Indian government’s online gaming bill was approved by both Houses of Parliament, India’s leading real money gaming (RMG) companies, including Dream11 parent company Dream Sports, Gameskraft, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Zupee, and Nazara-backed PokerBaazi, started to stop holding money-related competitions and games on their platforms.
The measure forbids online money games, which are those in which players deposit money either directly or indirectly in the hopes of winning.
All ‘Pay to Play’ competitions on Dream Picks, a newly released fantasy sports app that allows users to create four-player teams and compete in both innings, have been suspended by Dream Sports. Additionally, Dream Play, the company’s casual RMG app, is being discontinued.
Wave of Layoffs in the Indian Online Gaming Sector
The Mobile Premier League (MPL), one of the largest gaming businesses in India, has announced significant employment layoffs as a result of the country’s decision to ban paid online games. Reuters reports that the Bengaluru-based startup will lay off roughly 300 employees, or 60% of its India workforce, because the new rule eliminates revenue from its primary fantasy and card gaming business.
Moonshine Technology, which was supported by Nazara Technologies and ran PokerBaazi, began firing its staff. According to sources who spoke to several media sites, the business has begun to lay off workers, with up to 50% of its personnel potentially affected.
Quick
Shots
•Delhi High Court directs Centre to
constitute an authority and frame rules for the new Promotion and Regulation
of Online Gaming Act.
•Act, passed on August 21, promotes
e-sports and safe social/educational games but bans all real-money online
games.
•Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar
Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stressed law cannot function without
rules and authority.
•Government assured it is working on
setting up the authority and framing regulations.
Shortly after the Indian government’s online gaming bill was approved by both Houses of Parliament, India’s leading real money gaming (RMG) companies, including Dream11 parent company Dream Sports, Gameskraft, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Zupee, and Nazara-backed PokerBaazi, started to stop holding money-related competitions and games on their platforms.
The measure forbids online money games, which are those in which players deposit money either directly or indirectly in the hopes of winning.
All ‘Pay to Play’ competitions on Dream Picks, a newly released fantasy sports app that allows users to create four-player teams and compete in both innings, have been suspended by Dream Sports. Additionally, Dream Play, the company’s casual RMG app, is being discontinued.
Dream11 Suspends Real Money Fantasy Competitions
A notification on the app states that Dream11is suspending all “pay to play” fantasy sports competitions on its platform due to the current developments surrounding “The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025”. The Dream11 app allows users to safely access and withdraw their account balance.
According various media reports, Dream Sports also intends to halt sponsored competitions on its main Dream11 app after the law is notified after the President’s approval. In FY23, the business reported a net profit of INR 188 crore on INR 6,384 crore in operational sales. Dream Sports chose not to respond.
MPL Shuts Down Money-Based Games
The Mobile Premier League (MPL), an RMG platform, announced that it has closed all of its money-related gaming options.
“While new deposits will no longer be accepted, customers will be able to withdraw their balances seamlessly,” stated a spokeswoman. “Regardless of the revenue model, our goal has always been to become the biggest competitive gaming platform globally, and we are still dedicated to giving our Indian users competitive, free-to-play, non-money-based gaming experiences. As we finish the process of shutting down online money games, we will update our community on the following steps,” the representative stated.
On its iOS and Android apps, MPL provides more than 60 games in categories such as board games, puzzles, daily fantasy sports, quizzes, and casual games.
Gameskraft Halts RummyCulture Cash Services
In a stock market announcement on August 22, Nazara Technologies said that Moonshine Technology, the parent company of the online poker platform PokerBaazi, has “ceased offering real money online gaming operations.”
“Moonshine, an affiliate firm in which Nazara owns a 46.07% share, has stopped providing real money online gambling operations out of extreme caution and in accordance with the government’s mandate. After the bill is passed, the corporation will assess its next steps,” the multifaceted gaming and sports media organisation stated.
Additionally, Gameskraft, a Bengaluru-based company, is suspending “Add Cash” and “Gameplay services” on its rummy applications, such as RummyCulture. “In compliance with platform policies, the withdrawal services are still accessible. We wish to reassure users that their money is still secure with us. In order to guarantee complete compliance with the changing legislative framework, this is a preventative action,” a business representative stated in a statement.
Quick
Shots
•India passes Online Gaming Bill 2025,
banning money-based online games.
•Dream Sports suspends ‘Pay to Play’
competitions on Dream Picks & shuts down Dream Play RMG app.
•Mobile Premier League halts all
money-gaming; users can withdraw balances but no new deposits allowed.
•Bengaluru-based Gameskraft suspends
Add Cash & gameplay services on RummyCulture; withdrawals still open.
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Are you stuck in situations when you want to play poker but don’t have cards and chips with you? EasyPoker is designed to solve this problem. It is the digital substitute for the traditional silver case poker set. This means you can use the EasyPoker app to host poker nights with friends – no physical poker chips or playing cards needed. Now, you can play Poker at the bar, around the campfire – anytime, anywhere.
Read this article to know more about the EasyPoker app, product, founders, logo, business model, revenue, growth, challenges, funding, and achievements.
EasyPoker is the digital substitute for the traditional silver case poker set. This means you can use the EasyPoker app to host poker nights with friends – no physical poker chips or playing cards needed.
The app’s core mission is to bring back live poker with friends by making it as easy and convenient as online poker – all while still maintaining the feel of classic face-to-face poker.
At the moment the team is focusing on delivering COVID-19 friendly poker nights, making sure casual players don’t have to cancel their weekly games during the pandemic.
EasyPoker – Target Market Size
EasyPoker is operating in the market of both online poker and classic “offline” poker. Worldwide approximately 400,000,000 people consider themselves casual or experienced poker players. The market has a 12% CAGR (source: Adroit Market Research).
The market will become more digitized and using virtual playing cards and chips will become the new normal. This will both have something to do with convenience, connecting friends across borders, and the international COVID-19 pandemic that has put extra focus on the spread of bacteria by human interaction.
And on top of this, the company, of course, operate in the market of ‘casual gaming’, since the app is removing the usual struggles of facilitating face-to-face poker, meaning a game of poker with your friends will be just a tap away – probably leading to more frequent, casual games.
Tobias Oliver Eberhard, a co-founder of EasyPoker, had the idea for EasyPoker years back on a trip with his friends. They wanted to play poker but did not have a poker set. They ended up ripping small pieces of paper and cracking matches to use as “poker chips”.
Back then he was working on another startup so did not have the time to pursue this obvious gap in the market. Two years later Tobias ended up selling his first startup and then went to pursue the idea of making social poker digital. Tobias met his co-founders in college.
“We hit it off right away, as we all had an interest in digital entrepreneurship and apps. Before starting any development we created an interactive (non-functional) prototype using the Marvel App. We gave it to our friends in the poker community and asked for feedback on the concept”, recalls Tobias Oliver Eberhard, founder of EasyPoker.
After that, they started posting pictures and videos of the prototype on social media to see the reactions of potential users. Overall, people liked what the team was working on, as most of them had been in a situation missing a poker set themselves. They collected and analyzed all the feedback they had gotten and then started the official development.
EasyPoker – Products/Services
The app works kind of like “Kahoot” for poker. A user creates a table and gets a 4 digits game code that he/she shares with his friends.
EasyPoker – Features
The app is designed to feel as close to using playing cards and poker chips in real life as possible. This means a completely new design compared to traditional poker apps. The app also does not offer players to buy chips to use in the game – It’s all included, which means no gambling of your real-life money (even simulated).
EasyPoker – Founders and Team
Tobias Oliver Eberhard, Ulrik Hunskjær, Martin Jensen, and Anders Eggert are the founders of EasyPoker.
EasyPoker Founders
One of the co-founders (Ulrik Hunskjaer) is Tobias’s cousin and the other two they met in college. They all have a BA in Multiplatform Storytelling & Production. Tobias (CEO of EasyPoker) and Anders Eggert (CFO) have a technical background from college while Ulrik (COO) and Martin Jensen (CGO) specialized in product development, marketing, and storytelling.
“It was actually pretty easy to convince the guys to start the app business as we have all just finished college and were looking to be a part of a startup or similar. I had recently just exited my old company and Ulrik Hunskjaer had just left a job at Niantic Labs (Pokemon GO, Ingress) as he wanted to pursue his own app ideas. It pretty much lined up perfectly”, says Tobias Eberhard, CEO of EasyPoker.
Today the company has 5 employees – the 4 founders and a backend developer. They have a small office in Aarhus, but since the COVID-19 outbreak been working mostly remotely.
EasyPoker – Name, Tagline and Logo
EasyPoker was the first “working title” the company had when the team first started development. The name is very generic and it’s not how Tobias would normally name a startup. But other poker apps (which they needed to stand out from) all had “creative” non-generic names. This meant they had to be thinking simple to stand out from the crowd.
EasyPoker Logo
The app’s entire design is aimed to be as clean and effective as possible. According to Tobias, the team aims to design the app, logo, and marketing material as if Apple had to make a poker app. This means a clean, no-nonsense design and communication. Normally this would not make you stand out, but general poker marketing is very cluttered and sketchy, so it works well for EasyPoker.
EasyPoker is also the first poker app to base its whole app on a subscription business model. The subscription gives access to extra features and bigger tables.
EasyPoker works on a subscription based business model. The pricing is $5.99 monthly, $29.99 every 6 months or $39.99 annual.
EasyPoker – Startup Launch
As the team started posting images and videos of their prototype on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, they already had 1000+ email subscribers when launching (using a landing page created in WordPress + MailChimp). The founders managed to get most of them to sign up to become early users after the soft launch.
Fun fact: The app did not officially launch until it had 150k users.
EasyPoker – User Acquisition and Growth
The startup has been looking into growth hacking, making it easy for users to invite more players right from within the app. Other than that they have created web content and done a lot of SEO/ASO. Recently the product launched on Product Hunt where it became the #1 Product of the day.
Today, EasyPoker has about 7,000 paying subscriptions on its platform. The platform has seen significant growth in the last 4 months and expects it to continue. The founders are looking for an investment that can help scale the product even more.
“We had a lot of challenges along the way. One major challenge was with a former team member that left the company. He wanted out and we had to keep going without him. We ended up hiring a replacement that we paid out of our own pocket.
After some months the former member wanted to re-join the company, making it a difficult situation for the team as we did not have a clear legal standpoint of what to do. Everything worked out in the end, but this has taught us to have professional contracts designed by lawyers. It’s expensive but worth it”, recalls Tobias about the challenges faced by the startup.
EasyPoker – Funding and Investors
EasyPoker is currently bootstrapped and is looking for an investment that can help scale the product even more.
EasyPoker – Recognition and Achievements
According to the founder, launching the app is itself a big achievement. Most people don’t get this far. Second is successfully monetizing the users. The third is being able to make a living off an app you build yourself. And then of course being voted ‘#1 Product of the day’ on Product Hunt was a huge win, since the members there are often people from the tech industry.
EasyPoker is the digital substitute for the traditional silver case poker set. This means you can use the EasyPoker app to host poker nights with friends – no physical poker chips or playing cards needed.
Who are the Founders of EasyPoker?
Tobias Oliver Eberhard, Ulrik Hunskjær, Martin Jensen, and Anders Eggert are founders of EasyPoker.
How does EasyPoker make money?
EasyPoker works on asubscription based business model. The pricing is $5.99 monthly, $29.99 every 6 months or $39.99 annual
EasyPoker – Conclusion
EasyPoker is a free poker app that lets you and your friends play a private game of social poker whether live or online. You don’t need any chips or playing cards for that. The EasyPoker Team is crazy about poker with friends, and you can find them on their YouTube channel where they upload videos related to Poker Tutorials, Poker Player Stories, Behind the App Videos and much more. Whether you’re just getting started with poker, or looking to go from good to great this is the best platform for getting started.
