Real money gambling | A nation at stake

As the enactment betwixt online gaming and gambling blurs, millions of Indians grapple with addiction, indebtedness and fraud portion the authorities scrambles to rein successful a booming yet chaotic industry

(Photo illustration by Nilanjan Das / AI)

ISSUE DATE: Jun 2, 2025 | UPDATED: May 23, 2025 18:43 IST

It’s a sweltering day successful Brahimpur successful eastbound Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district, but 35-year-old husbandman Surya Pratap Singh seems oblivious to it. He is sitting beneath a neem tree, furiously tapping his telephone screen. Around him, a fewer integrative chairs and a charpoy marque up what is astir apt Brahimpur gram sabha’s unofficial gaming lounge. The crippled of prime isn’t played with dice oregon cards, it’s each integer instead, beryllium it ludo, phantasy cricket oregon online rummy. The stakes? They are precise real. “This has been our regular for years,” says Surya Pratap. “No substance what I’m doing, I person to play. I request Rs 2,000-3,000 each time conscionable to get by... I cognize I won’t win. But I cannot stop.”