When Kunal Patni shared his strategies of stopping a hierarchical fund job to be an expert poker player, relatives and friends dismissed the thought for a bluff. A couple of months afterwards, in 2014, Patni matched his lawsuit to hoodies and dark shades, and led to Macau to take part in the Asian Championship of Poker.

Five years on, Patni is considered among the very best poker players in the nation. In 2018, in the World Poker Tournament, Patni managed another place finish, winning 96,000 euros (approximately Rs 75 lakh).

“Poker has become quite popular in India… Lots of youngsters play the game now,” states Patni, that had been part of personal banking teams in Birla, IIFL and HSBC.

The fascination with poker has improved in tandem with mushrooming internet poker platforms. Within the last couple of months, almost 50 lakh players have signed for’real money’ poker matches over a dozen online platforms in India. Yet, top five poker websites — Adda 52, Spartan Poker, Pokerstars, 9stacks and Pokerbaazi — control over 70 percent of participant visitors, gaming industry specialists say.

“Poker is relatively a new’game’ in India… This, probably, explains the sudden spurt in numbers,” says Amin Rozani, founder of Spartan Poker, that claims to have more than five lakh subscribers.