New Delhi: India is set to get its first poker league, thanks to Dabur India vice-chairman Amit Burman. The 47-year-old, who is also a prolific restaurateur, is betting on the popular card game for big returns.

Called the Poker Sports League, the tournament will consist of 12 teams in the first season. Burman has already managed to sell eight teams to well-known names from India Inc such as Kunal Shah, co-founder of Freecharge, Mehul Shah, the original promoter of Anchor Electrical, Rishi Kajaria, joint MD of Ajaria Ceramics and Karan Bhagwat, co-founder of IIFL Wealth.

“Each team owner would have to invest around Rs. 70-100 crore over the next 10 years”. Burman told TOI, who will invest Rs.10-12 crore initially to promote the league. The 12 teams will consist of a total of 108 players who will play for the prize money of Rs. 3.36 crore. These teams will be selected through 70 qualifying rounds held across various cities for a period of around three months, as well as through online tournaments that will begin early in 2017.

When asked about the legality of Poker in India, Burman said it’s a skill-based game and there is no gambling involved in the league. “Harvard and MIT have courses in poker,” he said. “If you apply to a top American university and say that you play poker, it is highly likely that they will take you seriously. Although the game is played with cards and there is an element of luck – the vast majority of the game depends on pure skill, mathematics, probability and decision-making strategy.

Roland Landers, CEO of AIGF (All India Gaming Federation) , said apart from Orissa and Assam, poker is allowed in all other states. “There are around 1.5 lakh active poker players in the country, who participate in online games and on-ground tournaments,” he said. “Rummy, poker and fantasy are popular games in India”.

Burman said finals of the poker league will be held over five-day period in Goa. “We will not be telecasting it on TV in the first season because we want to see how it picks up.” In International Poker championships, the payouts is huge, sometimes around $100 million.”