Real money gaming strikes back with a vengeance

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Editor's note: It has been a long time since the real money gaming companies in India breathed easy. At any given point in time, the entire sector is either mired in controversies over people betting (and losing) big money in games like online rummy or consequently, caught in regulatory crosshairs. The past year has been particularly tough.  Last year, in November 2020, the Tamil Nadu government outlawed any online game played for stakes, specifically rummy and poker. The government’s ordinance had followed a few cases of tragic suicides in the state, after people lost huge sums of money while betting online. We wrote about the ban and its ramifications last year. This strict ordinance became a stricter act that banned all kinds of games that involved money. For instance, the players could not even wager over tennis, pool, or badminton. The act was immediately challenged in Madras High Court, but the companies have spent the past year in fear—over the loss of revenue, the uncertainty of the future of the business, investors backing out and other states such as Karnataka and Uttar …