PokerBaazi: A Successful Modern Business Built On Traditional Values

*This is in partnership with BQ Prime BrandStudio

India’s online gaming industry has witnessed unprecedented growth in the aftermath of the pandemic. Baazi Games, one of the leaders in online real money gaming space, more than doubled its user base to over 11 million gamers, up from about 5.5 million before the pandemic. According to a report by BCG, the mobile gaming market in India stands at $1.5 billion today and is expected to reach $5 billion-plus by 2025.

Poker, one of the world’s most popular card games, is slowly topping the popularity charts in India as Indians increasingly see poker as a game of skill and strategy.

PokerBaazi is capturing the Indian poker scene with a unique approach to the game and is already a market leader in India. The platform has achieved success by focusing on customer-centricity built on modern business principles. Thanks to this, PokerBaazi is gaining a larger market share.

 The winning hand    

PokerBaazi, a flagship product of Baazi Games, was started back in 2014. It’s a popular saying that life is a game of poker and not chess. It’s an intriguing game that already enjoys massive popularity in the West and is on a sharp rise in our card loving nation. Based on new technology and including features based on research, which included suggestions from playing customers, the platform launched a new and revamped PokerBaazi app in May 2021 that made this gaming app the best-in-class in its category. PokerBaazi continues to be ranked as the Number 1 poker operator in India by PokerScout, an internationally renowned poker ranking website.

In this journey, the four pillars that have emerged as drivers for PokerBaazi’s extraordinary success are customer-centricity, technology-driven scale, data-oriented decision making and a ‘think-execute-fail’ fast approach to business. PokerBaazi prides its business philosophy on profitability and sustainability, as opposed to the zealous fund-chasing ethic that has become a common craze in the competitive start-up marketplace today. PokerBaazi is a unique amalgamation of the old and new schools of business.

Perfect blend of traditional & modern    

In keeping with a traditional approach that focuses on building value for consumers, PokerBaazi has displayed fast yet sustainable growth. Modern business principles that power the business and functioning ensure the set-up is rooted in ethics, effective policies and a sound business model. With this unique value system as the backbone, PokerBaazi has been able to excel in the fast-paced gaming business to emerge as one of the top names in the space.      

A sustainable business

The growth at PokerBaazi can be attributed to a unit metrics focused approach, which ensures that even when the business scales, it grows sustainably. It is worth noting that while the mobile gaming industry as a whole is growing at ~30 percent CAGR, PokerBaazi recorded a 64 percent growth in FY22 over the previous financial year.

At the core of the business is technology, which for PokerBaazi is developed completely in-house. Given that the business operates in the realm of real money gaming, aka RMG, these tech experts focus on creating a top-notch platform where along with a superior platform experience, security and user safety are given paramount importance, and this has led to PokerBaazi building a loyal user base over the years.

Besides strong in-house tech capabilities, PokerBaazi has partnered with global risk intelligence company, Shield, for real-time risk intelligence and fraud prevention. The platform can proactively detect any malicious behaviour and bars such users from participating in any online games. The platform has a zero-tolerance policy against anyone who attempts to tarnish the player experience in any way.

Technology-first gaming      

As a brand built around cutting-edge tech and the best-of-breed security, the PokerBaazi app in its refreshed avatar is fuelled by scalable infrastructure and a powerful tech stack. In addition, inbuilt tools have been integrated to improve the user interface and gaming experience.

 Poker is a game of skill and at the same time is also a lot of fun to play. The PokerBaazi platform ensures that all players get to taste both sides of the game pretty well. Players can access Advanced Opponent Stats and their own Game Stats to analyse past performance and use this data to improve their game. And then there are some good interactive features which are equally visually appealing and expressive and make the game fun. What’s a game without emotions!

Future roadmap

PokerBaazi’s vision is to popularise poker as a game of skill in Indian households and establish it as a recognised sport in the country. The company, which completes eight years in October, has built an ecosystem where anyone can get introduced to the game and evolve within that ecosystem. One can learn the skills, play the biggest competitive tournaments and enjoy a category-best gameplay experience.

Towards this goal, the company has launched its new poker school application, an interactive module where learning the game has been made fun. This is synergistic with its mission to educate, engage and encourage more players to join the game.

 Poker in India, as per global market experts, is entering its golden era and as the market leader, PokerBaazi is making all efforts to bring this to reality.