Unmasking the digital casino

Every age witnesses its own disguises of vice. Where once gambling announced itself with cards or dice, today it enters our homes through glowing screens, calling itself 'fantasy' or 'skill' and presenting the sheen of modern entertainment. For years this masquerade flourished in the shadows of legal ambiguity. It is for this reason that the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, marks such an important turning point, for Parliament has spoken with clarity that any online game played for monetary stakes is prohibited, and no operator may hide behind the fig leaf of 'skill.

- BANSURI SWARAJ

The importance of this clarity becomes obvious when we recall the stories that filled our newspapers. In Indore, a 16-year-old girl began with free online games that seemed innocent enough. Before long she shifted to paid contests and in-app purchases, and soon found herself caught in a cycle of losses and distress. Psychologists described this pattern as 'casino syndrome', where the rare thrill of a win hijacks the brain's reward system, compelling a player to keep returning despite repeated defeats. What her parents thought was leisure, was in fact gambling in digital costume.