Raj Kundra Joins Hands With IFP, Announces Match Indian Poker League in September

Raj Kundra Joins Hands With IFP
  • Profile picture
  • PG News June 2, 2017
  • 3 Minutes Read

Businessman Raj Kundra (cover image) is back in IPL – but only this time not in the much-popular Indian Premier League T20 cricket mega event but with the new Indian Poker League.

Leading entrepreneur Raj Kundra and celebrity Shilpa Shetty Kundra promoted Viaan Industries Limited, a popular licensing, entertainment & wellness Company has signed an agreement with International Federation of Poker (IFP) to launch Match Indian Poker League that is supposed to kick-start in September this year.

Much like the cricket’s IPL, this league will see eight city-based teams compete in the world’s first professional match poker league.

The first eight teams representing the cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Kolkata and Mumbai will be owned by leading figures in business and entertainment while the players will be selected for the teams based on their skill based ranking, where their performances will be assessed while playing against one of the world’s most advanced Poker Bot’s using the Match Poker app which is expected to launch in August this year.

Matches will be played over a weekend to determine the most skillful Match Poker team along with the six players that will represent the Indian National team on a global stage.

The Match IPL will thus be the second poker league to be launched in India after the Amit Burman and Adda52 promoted Poker Sports League (PSL).

IFP President Patrick Nally in a press release said, “We are delighted to be working with Viaan Industries and with Shilpa and Raj who have had the vision to recognize the potential of Match Poker and the business instincts to create an exciting and entertaining, sporting framework which will attract massive interest among players, sponsors and commercial backers in one of the world’s fastest growing markets.”

“The IFP has worked tirelessly for many years to develop the sport and the technology to support it and make it fit for purpose as a truly 21st century mind sport. It is a mind sport in an e-sport wrapper. Match Poker is inclusive and can be played by anybody with access to a smartphone and an Internet connection, anywhere and at any time,” Nally added.

Raj Kundra, Chairman & Managing Director, Viaan Industries, too was upbeat on his new partnership and said, “Viaan Industries Ltd is all about creating innovative technology and licensing deals and I am delighted to work with the International Federation of Poker on this tremendously exciting project. Together we are going to create India’s only internationally recognized sports Match Poker League, which will create new opportunities to play, and unprecedented levels of excitement and engagement. Significantly the Match IPL will also be the platform for identifying and selecting the six players who will respect Team India at the IFP Nations Cup later this year.”

Kundra tweeted about the association from his official handle –

It however remains to be seen whether this new league brings about a change in Kundra’s fortunes who have suffered quite a number of reverses in his ventures in recent times.

The British businessman Kundra was held guilty of betting and match fixing in Indian Premier League (IPL) matches by a Supreme Court appointed committee in January 2015 and banned for life from participating in any cricket related activity.

Kundra also abandoned his plans to launch a new online poker website celebritygames. in last December amidst allegations of false representations that several celebrities like Shane Warne, Harman Baweja, Shahid Kapoor and Minissha Lamba were endorsing his poker site. However, sources inform us that the intense competition in the Indian poker space along with the impending entry of several big international brands played a major role in his decision to drop the project.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru