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Criminal Charges Filed Against Thrill Poker Promoter

A Noida based poker player, Yash Dugar, has filed a criminal complaint against Thrill Poker’s operating company and its promoter. Thrill Poker, an online poker website that was launched in 2013, was the first Indian website to go live on Microgaming’s new MPN India network in 2015.

Mirch Entertainment, a private limited company registered in New Delhi in 1997, is the company that operates Thrill Poker, and Aditya Oberois is listed as a director of that company. Dugar’s complaint has been filed against Mirch Entertainment and promoter Aditya Oberoi, for non-payment for his balance/winnings worth around Rs.8.90 lakhs.

Dugar has mentioned that he sent Mirch Entertainment and its directors a legal notice in October 2017, through his advocate Siddharth Acharya. On having received no response from them, he decided to file a complaint under Sections 417, 420 and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), for cheating and fraud.

Dugar has been a user on Thrill Poker for a few years, until 2017. He has mentioned that he had winnings of over 15 lakhs in his account which was not being cashed out by the company. After repeated requests and email threads, Dugar only received Rs.6.90 lakhs of his balance and that too, in several installments.

Even after countless email conversations where Thrill Poker has agreed to pay the arrears, they failed to do so and Dugar’s payments worth Rs.8.9 lakh have been pending since April 2019. In the complaint, Dugar further alleges that Oberoi has sold the company to a foreign entity but there is no proof to support these allegations yet.

Thrill made quite a splash when they launched few years back, signing some of the top pros from the Indian poker circuit. They then started another centure in the online space – fantasy sports, launching the website Oye Captain. Will users hesitate before playing on such websites now? Or will they continue to keep faith in them until another complaint like Dugar’s gets registered?

There has been no official reply from Mirch Entertainment or Oberoi, but we will be covering the entire story. Keep watching GutshotMagazine.com for complete updates on the story, as and when they come in!

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