Sports Betting in India

India has five major turf clubs running race meetings through the year, tote pools merged nationally, and bookmakers standing at the trackside rails. The racing tradition goes back to the colonial era. Everything else, from IPL betting to kabaddi, moved online over the past two decades, and the state's answer in 2025 was a complete ban on online money games. Your legal option is horse racing, and it is a good one. This page walks you through what exists, where to find it, how it works, and what the offshore options look like in practice.

Horse racing: the one legal form of sports betting

Horse racing occupies a special place in Indian gambling law. Betting at the races is treated as a game of skill rather than chance, which is what makes it lawful where other gambling is not¹. Research on Indian gambling puts it plainly: the only legal forms of gambling in India are state-run lotteries in some states, horse racing, rummy card games, and casinos in two states⁵. The Supreme Court affirmed as far back as 1959 that horse races are allowed throughout India and that the state derives revenue from them⁶.

The legal footing also rests on contract law. Under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, wagering agreements are void and unenforceable, but the provision contains an exemption for horse racing betting, which makes such bets legally permissible⁷. In practice, this means a bet placed with a licensed race club or its bookmakers is backed by rules, published dividends and a payout process, unlike a bet with a street bookie.

For the full picture of the sport, see our pages on horse racing in India, betting on horse races and the major horse races.

The race clubs and where to find them

India's racing is run by a handful of historic clubs, each with its own racecourse and network of off-course betting centers where you can watch and bet on races from other tracks.

RWITC lists five off-course betting centers in Mumbai and five in Pune, including venues such as Ashish Enterprises in Ghorpadi, Pune, so you do not have to travel to the racecourse itself to bet on a Mumbai or Pune race day⁸.

One thing that makes Indian racing unusual is the Combined National Tote. The host club's pool is merged with the investments of all the other racing centers in India, namely Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mysore, Madras, Ooty and RWITC, so a common dividend is paid across every racing center in the country⁹. A Chennai race day, for example, has carried pools such as a Jackpot covering races 5 through 9 and a Treble over races 7 to 9¹⁰.

If you cannot get to the track, two clubs sell live streams. Mysore Race Club charges Rs. 1000 per race day for a subscription valid for one Mysore race day, with registration at mysoreraceclub.com¹¹. Bangalore Turf Club charges the same Rs. 1000 for a subscription valid for one Bangalore race day¹³. Mysore Race Club's office is at Post Box No 11, Race Course Road, Mysore 570010, and can be reached at secretary@mysoreraceclub.com¹¹.

Each club has its own detailed page: Royal Western India Turf Club, Bangalore Turf Club, Hyderabad Race Club, Madras Race Club and Mysore Race Club.

How tote and bookmaker betting works at the races

There are two ways to bet at an Indian race meeting, and you can use both on the same day.

The tote (totalizator) is a pool bet. Everyone's money goes into a pool for a bet type, the club takes its deduction, and the rest is divided among winners. Tote odds are not fixed when you bet: they update continuously according to how much bettors wager on each horse, right up until the race starts¹⁴. At Hyderabad Race Club, tote receipts go on sale from 9.00 AM on race day, or a day earlier where the stewards specify, at the Race Course, Malakpet and the off-course tote centers. Betting closes at the actual start of each race, and nothing is accepted after the start bell¹⁵. Winning receipts must be claimed within half an hour after the all clear for the last race of the day, so do not tuck a winning ticket into a drawer for a week¹⁵.

Bookmakers stand at the course and offer fixed odds. Your price is locked when the bet is struck, whatever the crowd does afterwards. At Hyderabad, bookmakers must record the names and addresses of backers making transactions of Rs. 5,000 or more, and of anyone winning Rs. 10,000 or more, so large bets involve showing ID¹⁵. Complaints about bookmaker transactions must be reported immediately in writing to the Chief Operating Officer or Secretary at the Hyderabad Race Club office¹⁵.

The bet types on offer are broader than win and place. A standard racing card includes win betting, place betting, forecast and place forecast bets, tierce, trio, quartet, quadro, doubles, double forecasts, double trio, triple trio, six up, all up and roll betting¹⁶. The exotic bets are where the big dividends come from: a jackpot pool carried over a full race card can pay life-changing money for a Rs. 10 or Rs. 20 ticket.

For a worked view of odds and payouts, our race betting page goes through the arithmetic.

Online sports betting is banned

Here is the part to be clear about. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 imposes a complete ban on all forms of online money games. It applies to games of chance, games of skill, and any mix of the two, and it bans their advertising, promotion and facilitation as well². The Act's text prohibits any person from offering, aiding, abetting, inducing or otherwise engaging in the offering of an online money game or online money gaming service, regardless of whether the game is based on skill, chance, or both¹⁷.

That means betting on IPL, cricket, football, kabaddi and similar sports is unlawful in India, and this has been the position under the older Public Gambling Act, 1867 as well, with state governments able to set their own position within that framework¹⁸. Press reporting puts the practical risk of illegal betting at 3 to 5 years imprisonment and a heavy fine¹⁸. The ban applies to everyone in India, citizen, resident and visitor alike.

Esports: recognized, but no spectator betting

Esports got a genuinely different treatment. Under the rules that followed the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, e-sports are recognized as competitive, multiplayer, skill-based games, permitted and subject to mandatory registration, with prize money for performance expressly allowed. What is not permitted is spectator betting on esports, and online money games remain flatly prohibited with no license route and no skill-based exception¹⁹.

So an esports competitor in India can register, compete and win prize money lawfully. A fan who wants to bet on the outcome of someone else's match has no legal route, online or otherwise. Our esports betting page covers this in detail.

Fantasy sports: from skill game to ban

Fantasy sports were the great Indian gambling story of the 2010s. Dream11 built a huge business on the argument that fantasy sports is a game of skill, a platform where Indian sports fans showcase their knowledge, and that positioning was widely accepted for years²⁰. Courts, including on appeal, treated paid fantasy contests as skill games rather than wagering.

That era ended in 2025. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 effectively outlawed paid fantasy sports contests, and Dream11 has paused its paid contests, with parent Dream Sports shifting focus to FanCode and DreamSetGo⁴. Free-to-play formats continue, but the paid contest industry that once sponsored the IPL itself has stopped. The full story, including what remains playable, is on our fantasy sports page.

Betting exchanges and cricket IDs

Alongside the formal market, an informal one grew up around cricket. A "cricket ID" is an account with an agent or betting exchange, often opened through a local contact or a messaging app, that lets you bet on cricket matches, frequently on credit. Betting exchanges let players bet against each other rather than against a bookmaker, which is attractive for cricket bettors who want to trade positions during a match.

The legal position is unforgiving. Gambling in India is strictly regulated except for a few specific activities like lotteries and horse racing, and betting exchanges and cricket IDs fall nowhere within those exceptions²¹. There is no licensed exchange in India, no regulator to complain to, and no legal recourse if an agent disappears with your balance. Our betting exchanges and cricket IDs page explains how the system works and why it sits outside the law, and our page on betting scams in India covers what goes wrong.

Offshore betting sites that accept Indian players

The ban has not stopped offshore operators from serving India. Foreign betting websites such as Bet365, Betway and 1xBet serve Indian users, though their operation is considered illegal in India and the government bans betting websites from time to time¹⁸. Sites built specifically for the Indian market are open about targeting it.

• Rajabets says it provides comprehensive sports betting options tailored specifically for Indian bettors. It is operated by 3-102-936502 SRL and licensed by the Government of the Autonomous Island of Anjouan, Union of Comoros, a small offshore license with no standing in India. It covers cricket, football and more, runs in English and Hindi, and works in mobile browsers without an app download³.
• 4raBet markets itself in Hindi as a top option for sports betting in India, covering cricket, football, tennis, basketball, baseball, boxing and UFC, with markets on the IPL, ICC Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup, Big Bash League, the Ashes, the EPL, Champions League and the tennis Grand Slams. It offers moneyline, over/under, handicap and prop bets, plus in-play odds and live streaming of select games. Its claim to operate legally in India is its own and does not match Indian law²².
• 10CRIC is operated by Pixel Haven Ltd. under Anjouan license ALSI-202509027-FI1, with sports coverage of cricket, football, tennis, kabaddi and more, plus slots, crash games, table games and live casino from providers including Spribe, Smartsoft, PGSoft, Evolution and Ezugi²³.

To see what a cricket bet looks like in rupees: 10CRIC gives the example of a hypothetical Rs. 1,000 cash bet at decimal odds of 2.10 returning Rs. 2,100 if it wins, including the Rs. 1,000 stake²³. Decimal odds of 2.10 means roughly even money plus a margin.

We review these operators individually, including Rajabets, 10CRIC, 4rabet, Dafabet, Bet365 and 1xBet.

Payments, KYC and withdrawals at offshore sites

The payment side is where offshore sites have adapted most to India. Rajabets takes deposits via UPI, net banking and various e-wallets, and after verifying your account with basic KYC documents you can receive winnings directly to your bank account or preferred payment method³. Its poker product page adds Paytm, PhonePe and crypto deposits, with all transactions in Indian rupees and withdrawals typically completed within hours³. Roobet documents INR deposits via UPI for players in India²⁴. 10CRIC accepts UPI, bank transfer, iCash.one, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Tether, with INR and crypto options subject to availability in your account²³.

Dafabet, which serves players across South Asia, illustrates the standard mechanics. Deposits go by local bank transfer or automated options depending on your currency and location, and your withdrawal method should be the same as your chosen deposit method²⁵. You can cancel a withdrawal request within 48 hours of submission, and you may add up to three bank accounts for withdrawal. No identification is normally needed to withdraw, but proof of ID and a recent utility bill may be requested for security purposes²⁵. Its India-facing payment page shows local bank transfer limits of 1,000 to 300,000 and e-wallet limits ranging from 500 to 3,075,250 depending on the method, with deposit and withdrawal status viewable in the cashier's transaction history²⁶.

Two things to hold onto here. First, KYC at an offshore site means sending an Indian ID document to a company licensed in Anjouan or similar, with no Indian regulator to turn to. Second, because these operations are not lawful in India, a payment blocked or an account closed leaves you with the operator's support channel and nothing else. Our gambling payments page covers the rails in more depth.

Age and staying in control

The age line is 18. Tamil Nadu's Online Gaming Authority regulations prohibit all minors under 18 from playing online real money games²⁷, and the offshore sites themselves set 18 as the minimum, including 10CRIC and Dafabet²³.

If betting stops being fun, the tools that exist are practical ones. A gambling helpline offers free, confidential support²⁸. Software such as Bet Blocker and GamBan can block gambling sites or set time limits²⁹, and Chrome and Firefox both offer browser extensions that can add gambling sites to a restricted list³⁰. 10CRIC lets you contact support to request self-exclusion and follow the instructions for your account²³. Our gambling help page lists the resources available.

Where to read more

This page is a summary of eight deeper guides. Here is what each one covers:

• Betting exchanges and cricket IDs in India: how the informal cricket betting market works, what a cricket ID actually is, and why it sits entirely outside the licensed system.
• Fantasy sports in India: the rise of Dream11 and the skill-versus-chance argument, the 2025 ban on paid contests, and what free formats remain.
• Esports betting in India: how esports gained recognition and registration under the new sports framework, and why prize money is allowed but spectator betting is not.
• Royal Western India Turf Club: Mumbai's Mahalaxmi and Pune race courses, the ten off-course betting centers, and how to bet there.
• Bangalore Turf Club: the Bangalore race course, its betting operation and its Rs. 1000 live-stream subscription.
• Hyderabad Race Club: Malakpet race days, tote and bookmaker rules, ID requirements for large bets and the claims process.
• Madras Race Club: racing in Chennai and Udhagamandalam, and the inter-venue pools such as the Jackpot and Treble.
• Mysore Race Club: the Mysore race days, the Rs. 1000 live stream, and how to reach the club office.

For the wider picture, start with gambling in India, and see our pages on casinos in India, the India lottery, gambling laws by state and gambling in India as a visitor.