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Satta Matka (सट्टा मटका or సత్కా మట్కా) has deep roots in the history of India and remains really popular, even if only played for fun.
Understand the reasons behind the banishment of Matka gambling, why it became famous in India, and how it can still be played.
There are several reasons to be interested to know more about Satta Matka in India. It may be ordinary curiosity, or you could be interested in knowing if you can still play it in a legal way. It was once available almost everywhere, especially in Mumbai, Maharashtra, back when it was still Bombay.
It is true that the ordinary gambling houses where you could play Satta Matka in India are extinguished, at least according to the law, but that did not eliminate all legal forms of playing Matka from India. Let’s start by learning more about Satta Matka and its history.
In pre-independence India, more specifically where the city of Mumbai is today, there was a game known as Ankada Jugar (आंकड़ा जुगाड़), which could be translated as “numbers betting”. It had nothing to do with randomly drawn numbers, but the results were nearly as unpredictable as the modern online lotteries in India.
Back then, during the ‘boom’ of textile mills in the 1850s, the workers would bet to entertain themselves, guessing the opening and closing prices of cotton according to the New York Cotton Exchange – the results were shown via a teleprinter.
After India’s independence in 1947, the game had taken unpredictable proportions. When the New York Cotton Exchange ended the practice in 1961, that was not enough to stop what is now known as Satta Matka in India. The players and gambling houses started to bet on opening and closing rates of imaginary products, a concept introduced by the Pakistani Ratan Khatri.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Matka reached impressive numbers when it came to the transaction of money. There were betting shops everywhere, over 2000 of them, and the number of players continued to grow. It might have been a real concern with the responsibility for the game or simply the fact that India was not benefiting from those transactions, but Matka became illegal under the already existing Public Gambling Act of 1867 as an illegal way of getting money.
The hidden shops that remained open are operating illegally, and there are consequences for those caught playing it. Not to mention all the problems in unregulated activities, such as rigged results, which are not found on the legit lottery sites these days. With the exception of a few states, like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it is still possible to play Satta Matka from India in its modern version called Jhatka Matka.
The game preserved its roots, using “day” and “night”, or “open” and “close” to define the two drawings that compose the game, replacing the cotton exchange rates of the past.
Players will always choose three digits from 0 to 9 to compose a sequence that ends with the sum of those three numbers – when a result is a two-digit number, only the last number counts. For example, 3, 5, and 7 results in the following sequence: 3 – 5 – 7 – 5. The “5” comes from “15”, the sum of 3 + 5 + 7.
However, the player can decide if he wants to bet on both daily sequences, on just one, or even on just part of a sequence. Each bet type has different prizes and odds.
For the drawing, three cards are pulled from a deck of 52 cards, just like the last alteration in the game before it was banned. In the online version that is legal to play from India, on the other hand, there is a specific software responsible for making random drawings.
At the moment, the only legal way of playing Satta Matka in India is through online lottery sites, more specifically the Jhatka Matka game. For informational reasons only, you might be interested in knowing the many variations that the offline game took. The list below has its main names, but keep in mind that it is not legal to play them:
Matka is among the gambling games banished from all of India, even in states with government lotteries, like Maharashtra. Fortunately, most of the states – with a few exceptions like Karnataka – have no ban on online lotteries. Therefore, that makes it legal to play online on websites that are headquartered outside of India and its jurisdictions.
If you want to know more about the legal situation of matka in India, I recommend reading our complete guide on how Satta Matka is legal on online lottery sites.
At the moment, Lottoland is the only legit lottery site offering a trustworthy chance of playing matka online. Aside from playing it with drawings every 15 minutes and tempting prizes, you can deposit and withdraw with fast payment methods. It is a licensed website tested by our team and a valid option in India.
Disclaimer: Participating in online gambling is strictly prohibited in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab.
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(Draw date: Wednesday 24th April 2024)