Discover Nepal: Poker Venues and Gambling Laws Explained
Nepal, a mountainous country in East Asia, is known to many for being the only country on earth with a flag that is not rectangle-shaped. However, what many may not know is that it actually has one of the major gambling centers in Asia. It’s Kathmandu, the capital city, with around 1 million residents.
Kathmandu has 9 casinos, according to Worldcasinodirectory.com. Out of the 9, Casino Pride Nepal is the largest one. However, the locals are forbidden to play any games of chance – only foreign tourists are allowed to do that. With this, Nepal follows the model set by some majority-Muslim North African nations, such as Egypt or Tunisia. Most of the Nepalese casinos’ traffic comes from neighboring India.
The government is serious about enforcing the gambling prohibition for its citizens. According to the country profile on Simonsblogpark.com, if a Nepalese citizen gets caught gambling it up in a land casino, repeat offenders will face jail time, while first time offenders can expect a hefty fine. Thankfully, the authorities are a lot less gung ho when it comes to online gambling.
As for poker, 4 of the 9 Kathmandu casinos have poker rooms, referring to the same website’s numbers. Out of those 4, the Casino Mahjong poker room is the most prominent one, having hosted the country’s first ever cash game festival in January 2020.
Famous Nepalese Poker Players
The Hendon Mob doesn’t have a Nepalese all time money list. In fact, they don’t even have a single Nepalese player listed on their website.
To be precise, Bibek Karki’s profile is available in their database – he’s listed as an Indian player with his residency listed as “Nepal, India”. Evidently, there is no such town in India. Karki is a Nepalese player, the website simply doesn’t have that category for country.
Karki has $16,134 in live tournament earnings. In November 2017, he came in 13th in the ₹55,000 WPTDeepStacks event at WPT India for ₹301,500 ($4,626). That is the biggest live tournament cash of his career to date.
As for online poker, a player who plays under the screen name “tooothy” on PokerStars with Nepal as his location has cashed for a little over $60,000 in online MTT’s.
Online Poker in Nepal
Nepal has not established specific regulations regarding online poker, and as such, the legality of playing poker online remains somewhat unclear. Although physical gambling is regulated in Nepal, and casinos operate legally for foreigners, the government has yet to focus on controlling online gaming activities.
For residents and visitors wishing to play online poker, there are no significant restrictions in place, meaning that many major online poker platforms, such as PokerStars, PartyPoker, and others, are accessible from within the country. Players should be cautious when engaging in online gambling, as the legal landscape may change in the future. It is also recommended to use secure payment methods such as e-wallets (Skrill, Neteller) or cryptocurrencies to ensure privacy and security.
In the absence of clear legislation, online poker continues to be an option for those in Nepal, but it is always advisable to stay updated on any changes to the country’s laws regarding online gambling.
Best Online Poker Sites in Nepal
Live Poker in Nepal
Live Poker Legislation in Nepal
As we wrote in our intro, gambling is prohibited for Nepalese nationals in the country. The piece of legislation declaring the prohibition is the 1963 Gambling Act.
This piece of legislation says nothing about the exemptions for tourists (only for people who report themselves to the police and are willing to be a witness against other people). The foreign visitor exemption came with the passing of the 2018 Tourism Act.
Live Poker Venues in Nepal
The largest casino in Nepal, Casino Pride Nepal in the capital city of Kathmandu, does have a running poker room. We know that from the Google Reviews posted about their venue. However, no information is available about their game selection on their website. They haven’t answered our inquiry via Facebook messages either.
Casino Mahjong, also in Kathmandu, hosted Nepal’s first ever cash game festival, organized by the Indian online poker room Poker Magnet. It took place in January 2020. The tables ran on NPR100/200 ($0.85/$1.70), NPR200/400 ($1.70/$3.40), and NPR500/500 ($4.25) stakes. Thanks to the success of the original installment, the cash fest returned in March 2020 with No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha games as well.
You can find a poker room at Casino Rad and The Millionaire’s Club & Casino, both in Kathmandu. As you can tell, all the gambling action is concentrated in the capital city. Outside the city, live poker action is virtually impossible to find.
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