Poker Sports League: Texas Hold’em Poker on Indian Television for the first time

Mumbai, 8th June 2018: The much awaited season 2 of the world’s first franchise based Poker League saw a breathtaking 5-day finale in Goa last month, with some of the smartest minds representing 11 teams, fighting for a handsome prize pool of 4.5 crores. In order to give every curious mind a glimpse of the excitement and action within this mind sport, the organizers decided to broadcast it exclusively on DSPORT, a premium sports TV channel by Discovery Communications, giving every Indian a chance to learn and explore the game.

Poker Sports League(PSL) will be first ever telecast initiative to bring Texas Hold Em poker experience of Indian origin to tap into the “next-gen” and millennial audience.

The league is at par with some of the best international leagues in terms of format, experience, and conduct. It is cultivating a promising environment for anyone who knows the 'P' of Poker.

DSPORT will showcase the highlights of the tournament finale from June 12th to June 17th, 8 PM Indian time to bring to its viewers, the essence of the league in the best possible way through an hourly telecast. In an unprecedented and viewer friendly format, PSL uses a “RFID chip” technology to give viewers a first-hand experience of the hands being played at the table as they will be able to see the cards and gauge the moves made by players, making it a very involving and interesting experience. Apart from the actual gameplay of poker, the show also focuses on entertaining viewers by delving into the backgrounds and life stories of poker players.

With this initiative, Poker will now follow the likes of mainstream sports such as Indian Premier League, Indian Super League, I-League, Pro Kabaddi League and many others set up an identity of its own.

Mr. Viswanathan Anand, Five-time world chess champion endorses the game of poker and in his very own words, “Poker, like chess, is a mind sport”.

Mr. Amit Burman, VC Dabur India and Co-founder Poker Sports League commenting on this exclusive partnership said, " The growing interest of people from across the world is a validation of this league - changing the landscape for Poker in India. Our country being the country of sports fanatics, Poker deserves an equal opportunity to openly build its fan base and have a dedicated property that every poker lover could look up to & dream of being a part of. We are glad to associate with DSPORT as our telecast partners to make this dream a reality where we will give anybody & everybody interested in Poker a chance to experience the game."

The second season witnessed 11 teams with a total of 110 players, which included an interesting mix of the best in the world, the best of the country and keen amateurs who fought in a rigorous qualification process to have the opportunity to experience Poker at it’s biggest stage. The 5 day telecast will showcase talented city teams which includes defending champions from season one Delhi Panthers and challenging the defending champions supremacy will be teams hailing from Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Bullets), Chennai (Chennai Thalaivas), Bengaluru (Bengaluru Warriors), Gujarat (Gujarat Falcons), Pune (Pune Sharks), Kolkata (Kolkata Kings), Mumbai (Mumbai Anchors), Punjab (Punjab Bluffers) and finally the home team from Goa (Goan Nuts).