Diwali Festival Sees Betting Boom

Story by George Oborne on 2011-10-21 09:40:03

Indian banks will be preparing themselves for Diwali by stocking up ATMs throughout India, ready for the spending splurge that occurs over the religious festival. Most of this money will be spent on food, drink, presents and decorations, however, most people will be setting some cash aside to spend at the card tables.

There is a great tradition of gambling over Diwali and it is thought that the Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth, thoroughly approves of the occasional punt. Indeed, it is thought that by gambling over the festival of Diwali, the Goddess will bring you prosperity throughout the year.

Indeed, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the North East of India, gambling is usually illegal. However, for the five days of Diwali these laws are reversed and gambling licenses are issued. A traditional local game called Jhandi Munda is played throughout the state. It is a dice game and there are no restrictions on who can play, it is not uncommon to see young children of both sexes indulging in a low stakes game of Jhandi Munda.

The majority of games are for low stakes, but for those who are superstitious there are games of Jhandi Munda played for large sums of money. Many stories are told of men and women who have had too much to drink and after a bad run at the betting tables, return home with empty pockets. The government does very well from the gambling sprees, selling licences for large sums and also taking a percentage of profits made by bookmakers.

All levels of society take part in the gambling festivities, well known film stars and public figures often host big card games over the festival. One major public figure who hosts a particularly famous card game is Pankaj Chaturvedi, who holds a 100 strong party with card tables taking bets of up to 5000 rupees. However, he says that in Delhi there are games played where it is not unusual for Lakhs of Rupees to be won and lost on each hand.

Games that are particularly popular over Diwali include Teen Patti and Rummy. It is a great tradition and the states of Goa and Sikkim, where gambling is legal, are usually flooded with tourists. People will also be betting online with companies such as bet365, the gambling laws in India are unclear over the legality of online betting and it is becoming more and more popular.

It is inevitable that people will be waking up after Diwali with a rather sore head, let's just hope that the hangovers are made a bit easier through the recollection of gambling wins and not made worse by the discovery of empty wallets.