Teen Patti is a family card game in most Indian homes. On a phone app with a wallet attached, it becomes something else: a game you can play alone, at 2 am, with money that moves in seconds. This page is about keeping it a game.
Who should not play at all
- Anyone under 18. Apps that involve money require players to be adults, and so do we.
- Anyone who lives in a state or country where online money games are banned. In India, central law now bans them outright (see our disclaimer page for details).
- Anyone who has had a problem with betting, lottery or gaming before.
- Anyone playing with borrowed money, EMI money, rent money or money set aside for family needs.
Limits that actually work
Good intentions do not survive a losing streak. Decide your limits before you open the app, and make them hard to change.
- Time limit. Use Android's Digital Wellbeing (Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Dashboard > app timer) to set a daily time limit on the app. When the timer ends, the app icon greys out.
- Money limit. Decide a monthly amount you are fully prepared to lose, as if you spent it on a film ticket. Never add more in the same month.
- No chasing. If you lose your limit, stop for the day. Trying to "win it back" is the single most common path into serious debt.
- Keep it separate. If you pay with UPI, use a separate bank account or wallet with a small balance, and do not link your main salary account.
Warning signs
Talk to someone you trust if any of these sound familiar:
- You play longer or with more money than you planned, more than once.
- You hide your playing or your losses from family.
- You feel restless or irritable when you try to stop.
- You borrow, sell things or skip bills to keep playing.
- You think about the game when you are at work, study or with family.
Blocking payments and apps
- Most Indian banks let you turn off online or international transactions on a card from the bank app. You can also lower your daily UPI limit from your UPI app settings.
- Uninstall the app and remove its shortcut. If you installed an APK, also delete the APK file from your Downloads folder so you cannot reinstall it in one tap.
- Ask a family member to hold the password for your wallet app for a few weeks.
Free help in India
- Tele-MANAS, the Government of India's free mental health helpline, is available 24 hours a day on 14416 or 1-800-891-4416. You can talk about gaming, stress or debt in several Indian languages.
- Your local government hospital's psychiatry department can refer you to a counsellor who works with gaming and gambling problems.
- In an emergency, call 112.
Asking for help early is much easier than repairing years of debt. You do not need to hit rock bottom first.