It all started when an android gaming application named Ludo Supreme gold started to give away real money in game, a plea was filed in Bombay high court by Mr. Keshav Muley asking the question weather or not the game of ludo is a game of chance or skill, if it is found that the game is a game of skill and not luck then we may see applications which would allow users to play ludo with real money, just like horse race, Dreams 11 etc.
What is the matter?
The Public Gambling Act of 1867, as the year suggests, was passed in British India to stop people from gambling. It has the concept of a game of skill and a game of chance. While the definition of both the games is clearly in the name itself, but for further explanation a game of luck/chance is a game where the outcome of the game is completely dependent on the factors of luck and the player who is investing his money in it has absolutely zero control on the outcome, that is he is in no way responsible for the outcome. While the game of skill is the one where is outcome or the result of the game depends on the skill of the player, most popular example of game of skill are chess, carrom, rummy, where the outcome is directly related to the players and their skill to turn the game, or their mastery in it.
The law was made to stop people from gambling on games where luck was the only winning factor which later on created hurdles in efficient running administration, there were more cases of murder, scuffle and what not on these trivial issue, the company was more interested in making money rather than solving the problems but they had to do this also just to make sure the productivity was heigh as a result this law was made, in modern India this law still existed in the Independent India. The business model of many cricket-based gambling applications (yes! That’s what they are) are based on this very factor, some brilliant man got an idea to convert the game of chance to game of skill and this small idea made it possible for him to make a good business out of it, while cricket is still a game of chance as the gambler of the one who is betting his money on a particular team or player has no control on the players performance in the match, he still can invest his money on individual players and earn money, thanks to the system.
Such loopholes can be created every now and then. If tomorrow someone comes up with a formula to convert another popular game of wrestling (animal or human) into a game of skill, will the government make it legal? That’s a pertinent question to ask, as there have been many amendments to the law and many states have banned gambling in their states (thanks to state list, law and order is a state subject) hence banning the modern apps no matter what they work on they are illegal on their grounds one such examples are Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
How does it matter?
Well weather it is a game of chance or skill it doesn’t matter to almost 95% of Indians per say but the rest 5% people play and invest a lot of money on this game and hence they would want to make it legal, many applications designers will also make such frivolous applications and demand that they be permitted to make a business model on it under article 19 (1) of the constitution which to be specific grants right to do any kind of business or profession.
What is it exactly?
While ludo as we all know that is a game of chance as to what number appears on the dice is completely out of anyone’s control, unless you have magical dice such as Shakuni had, which we know isn’t possible, it was, it is, and it will be a game of luck/chance. While the makers of the game can make a provision and make it a game of skill by controlling the number appearing on the dice by introducing possible definite outcomes, or fixing certain outcomes and making it a game of skill, in such a case it would allow players to play the game with “real” money.
How can one convert Ludo to a game of SKILL?
Well, it’s a bit difficult to explain but lets imagine that there are 2 players R and G, and the algorithm on the game controls the dice movement, there is a rule that the number on dice shall not appear more than twice, which gives us 12 possible outcomes, with each outcome passed the possibility of that number appearing again is cut down to one, for example if player R rolls dice once and the outcome is 5 then only once again the dice will have 5 and that way he can calculate his moves on all possible ways accordingly. With each passing move, the next number will be guessable, and the game becomes a game of skill as the player is crafting his next move based on the definite or possible outcome of the number on the die.
As of now the game is not a game of skill as no such controlling provision is present on dice and hence it remains to be a game of chance, but it shall be interesting to see what the court says on it or weather or not the application makers due to whom this question is raised show an evidence that they have any such programme to control the movement or the number appearing on dice.
It would be interesting to witness as a similar plea was filed on horse riding in 1996, and it was declared as a game of skill due to its vast interpretation.
The memory of ex-chief justice of India T.S Thakur crying Infront of Mr Modi saying we do not have enough judges to dispose the cases is still a fresh in our memories it has been 6 years since this historic movement and what the media portrayed as watershed movement which could now change the face of Indian judicial system, everyone hoped that when ex-CJI cries there is something wrong with the system and he was heard saying.
“Exactly the time in which judges around the country conclude 15 hearings and decide seven cases, on average. That's because judges in the busiest courts spend an average of 2.5 minutes to hear a case and about five minutes to decide one. Not because our judges are in a hurry. But because they can hardly devote more time to a case, such is a shortfall of judges in the country. As mentioned in the Lok Sabha on March 3, 2016, 44 per cent judges are missing in high courts, 25 per cent in subordinate courts, and 19 per cent in the Supreme Court.” [1]
It is pertinent to ask that in a country where there are lakhs of Nirbhaya waiting to get justice, lakhs of mritak lal Bihari to get alive in the govt records, lakhs of other cases lying on the tables and shelves of courts. Is this issue of all those more important? Just a question that, as a society, we collectively need to ask ourselves.
[1] https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20160509-chief-justice-of-india-tirath-singh-thakur-judicial-system-law-cases-828809-2016-04-27
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