‘Deposit krke ready rho. Jackpot karenge’: How online gamblers are dodging India’s real money gaming ban

Four days after India banned real-money games, Rahul (name changed), a 26-year-old network engineer from Andhra Pradesh, was back in action on a humid evening. Shifting between Telegram and WhatsApp, he rallied players for an “exclusive” rummy cash game. With platforms like RummyCircle and Adda52Rummy blocked, he turned to private chat groups, using practice apps for play while settling all money matters offline.