THE MYSTART11.COM SPORTS FANTASY GAME (MYSTART11 GAME) IS A GAME OF SKILL
Games of skill are excluded from the definition and purview of “gambling” under applicable Indian laws. The
Mystart11 game, therefore, does not constitute “gambling activity” under applicable Indian laws. There are two
versions of the Mystart11 Game – the ‘free to play’ version and the ‘pay to play’ version. The ‘free to play’ version
is open to all Indian citizens who are currently residing in India. The ‘pay to play’ version is open to all Indian
citizens who are residents of India, with the exception of residents of the states of Assam, Odisha and Telangana.
INDIAN LAW ON GAMBLING
The Central legislation governing gambling in India is the Public Gambling Act of 1867. This Act criminalises
(a) the act of gambling in a public forum,
(b) the keeping of a “common gaming house” which refers to a house, walled enclosure, room or place in which
instruments of gaming are kept or used for the profit or gain of the person owning, occupying, using or keeping
such place whether by way of charge for the use of the instruments of gaming, or of the house, or otherwise
howsoever.
The Constitution of India allows states to make laws on betting and gambling. In furtherance of these powers,
various Indian states have enacted anti-gambling legislations. These anti-gambling legislations are mostly in
consonance with the Public Gambling Act of 1867 (and include the exception in favour of “games of skill”
described below). Where a state legislation on gambling exists, it prevails over the Public Gambling Act of 1867.

EXCEPTION IN FAVOUR OF GAMES OF SKILL
Section 12 of the Public Gambling Act, 1867, states that games of mere skill are exempt from the application of
the Act. The Supreme Court of India, has interpreted the phrase “games of mere skill” to mean games where
there is a predominance of skill. In the case of State of Andhra Pradesh V. K. Satyanarayana, AIR 1968 SC 825, the
Supreme Court defined a ‘game of mere skill’ to mean a game “in which, although the element of chance
necessarily cannot be entirely eliminated, success depends principally upon the superior knowledge, training,
attention, experience and adroitness of the player.” By application of this definition, it held that the game of
“rummy” was a game of skill, and did not amount to gambling under the Public Gambling Act. The Court
reasoned: “Rummy….. requires certain amount of skill because the fall of the cards has to be memorised and the
building up of Rummy requires considerable skill in holding and discarding cards. We cannot, therefore, say that
the game of Rummy is a game of entire chance. It is mainly and preponderantly a game of skill.”
In this case, the Supreme Court also upheld the levy of a nominal service charge for provision of a physical space,
cards, etc., to play a game of rummy. In the case of K.R. Lakshmanan V. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 1996 SC 1153,
the Supreme Court held that the betting on horse races was a game of skill. It rationalised that in a horse race
the winner is not determined by chance alone,as the condition, speed and endurance of the horse and the skill

and management of the rider are factors affecting the result of the race. The better has the opportunity to
exercise his judgment and discretion in determining the horse on which to bet.
THE MYSTART11.COM FANTASY SORTS GAME IS A GAME OF SKILL
Like rummy and betting on horse races, the Mystart11.com Fantasy Sports Game is also a game of skill as success
at the game requires knowledge (often gathered through systematic research), attention, experience and
adroitness on the part of the users. Users are required to first assess the relative worth of each Player in light of
the scoring criteria used by Mystart11 and make theoretical evaluation of the Players’ prospective accumulated
statistics over the course of the round at the time of drafting a fantasy squad. Here, the squad owner must study
the Mystart11 rules and make evaluations of the player’s strengths and weaknesses based on these rules. The
user is in possession of a great deal of knowledge which he must apply to judge the likely performance of each
of his Players in upcoming matches, and further the user is required to invest time and effort in analysing and
tracking the performance of his Players and other eligible Players. For these reasons, the Mystart11.com Fantasy
Sports Game is a game of mere skill and does not amount to “gambling” under Indian laws.
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Telangana, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu
With regard to Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Telangana, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, the laws in these states
are unclear as to whether games of skill may be played for a fee. Therefore, currently, residents of Assam, Odisha,
Telangana, Sikkim & Nagaland are not permitted to play/participate in the paid formats of any game
on MYSTART11.