Former poker player Kunal Patni reckoned that the recently organised Poker Sports league was a milestone for the Indian players.
Patni, who was Hyderabad King's mentor in the previous PSl season, explained how PSl has helped in improving the experience and skill set of the players.
"It is a unique platform where the best players participate, not only from within the country but also internationally," he said. "It has surpassed all expectations in terms of the whole set-up, media coverage, social media coverage and the enthusiasm among the players. Overall, everything has been great," he added.
While explaining the standards of the league, he said, "There were three participating players who have won bracelets in World Series, which is one of the main events at world stage. So, credibility and trust was automatically there."
He went on to explain how it has helped players in several ways. "The format is such that players don't have to spend a single rupee in terms of accommodation, food, travel, etc. The only thing it takes is 2-3 months of rigorous training to go through the qualifiers. It's a platform for everyone — be it a mentor, a qualifier or a pro player. The learning that you get here helps you upgrade your skills immensely along with experience," he elucidated.
The CEO of Adda52.com online poker site Anuj Gupta also spoke about how the game is now being looked at compared to the earlier days.
"Today the perception about online card games is different. The people and the environment are more supportive as compared to when we started the site," he said.
To change the perception Gupta's team had tried advertising and launching new programs in this field such as pro program for poker players. It also got recognised by the President of India as they produced their first professional poker player for India (Muskan Sethi) .
When asked about the future of such leagues in India, he said, "The future seems bright as long as we have people like Amit Burman — who is the Co-founder of PSl and Dabur India Vice-Chairman, saw an insight and worked on creating a format that is more mainstream, more acceptable and has nothing to do with buyer. Sometimes companies take entry fee, giving out the idea to players that maybe they are doing this only for profits. But PSl has worked to ensure to be mainstream and even removed entry fees for tournament. Also, the players are given salaries like any other franchise sports leagues," he said.
Gupta added that to ensure a better future, the public needs to understand the whole idea and have to appreciate the efforts of the players and the organizers.
He added, "Bringing in ambassadors like Viswanathan Anand will add more trust and credibility."
He concluded by saying that e-commerce and the online gaming industry has a great potential and it just begging to be explored.