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What Legal Gambling is available in Himachal Pradesh?
Some states in India allow for most types of gambling, while others ban every form of gambling. At the end of the day, every state can decide for themselves what forms of gambling they are willing to allow.
Legal gambling in Himachal Pradesh is quite restricted, at least in a brick-and-mortar setting.
There is no state lottery or legal casino buildings. Games of skill can be played, but for the most part, no money can be exchanged.
Unless you want to place your bets on horseracing, you are out of luck if you want to legally visit a sports bookie to place real money bets.
But if you want to bet in the state of Himachal Pradesh, I’ll give you a few guidelines on how you can legally place your wagers.
The Gambling Laws of Himachal Pradesh
Like most states in India, Himachal Pradesh falls under the greater law of the Public Gambling Act of 1867. Although this law is quite strict against gambling, each state has a fair amount of freedom to decide on how the law is enacted within the state.
Although Himachal Pradesh has decided to keep to the Public Gambling Act, they did amend the act locally according to the Public Gambling (Himachal Pradesh Amendment) Act of 1976.
According to this amendment, anyone who is found placing real money bets in a public street, place or thoroughfare will be deemed guilty of being in a gambling house. This law also applies to enclosed areas such as a tent, house or apartment.
The two main aspects of the 1976 (Himachal Pradesh Amendment) Act and the general federal Act are related to games of skill and the penalties for people who infringe on these laws.
For example, there are different fines and imprisonment times for offenders depending on if they are first, second or third-time offenders.
The gambling laws of Haryana are just as outdated as the ones in Himachal Pradesh.
Shimla Casinos
If you want to place your bets in a physical gambling house or legal casino in Shimla or Dharamshala you are out of luck. There is no legal Himachal Pradesh casino. At least not when you are thinking of a brick-and-mortar establishment.
That’s not to say you can’t find a spot to play illegally. The biggest cities in Himachal Pradesh are bound to have plenty of illegal casinos.
But play at your own risk. Playing in these establishments might lead to a fine or up to a month in prison.
Luckily, like most of the world, you can do anything on the Internet. Play your favourite casino games online and you are free and clear.
Local laws are massively outdated, written long before online casinos existed. So, if you wager online, there is no risk of landing in hot water.
Lottery in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh isn’t one of the 13 states to allow for a state lottery.
Strangely if you look up the state lottery on google, you will actually find a site that claims to allow you to buy Legal lottery tickets in Himachal Pradesh. They even post results to the Himachal Pradesh lottery. Don’t be fooled. This site is clearly fake.
If you do want to play the lottery, there are plenty of opportunities. Legally, you just need to buy your tickets from a site based outside of India.
Using a third party lottery distributor means you can buy tickets to several international lottos, like the US Powerball and the EuroJackpot. You could even win one of the biggest jackpots in the world, like the $1.6 billion won by one lucky Mega Millions player.
Sports Betting in Himachal Pradesh
Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh is home to the largest natural ice skating rink in South Asia, but that doesn’t mean you are free to bet on figure skating during the winter Olympics.
You also won’t be able to take your chance on Himachal Pradesh cricket betting. All sports betting in Shimla and the rest of the state is outlawed from physical outlets.
Not to worry, though, you can still freely place your sports bets online. There are several online sites that allow you to bet on all of your favourite sports. You’ll find local and international markets.
Bet on cricket or any other sport you can think of. The only catch is that the betting site must be based outside of India.
Games of Skill
Games of skill are a bit tricky in India. For one thing, horseracing is seen as a game of skill, but betting on something like cricket isn’t. In some states like Haryana, fantasy sports are considered a game of skill.
One of the most popular card games in Himachal Pradesh is rummy. Based on local laws you are free to play rummy with your friends. But the minute you play in person and place money on your games, you might be in trouble. The same applies to Teen Patti, Blackjack and Poker.
It’s all quite confusing, so if you don’t want to take the chance, you might be better off placing your bets online. The outdated laws of the state allow you to place bets on any game of skill, as long as it is made online at a gambling site based outside of India.