Crossword Rummy Challenge Play and Win your Favorite Book

Games24x7.com in association with Crossword Book Store today announced the launch of Crossword Rummy Challenge (CRC), an online rummy tournament where winners get free gift vouchers from Crossword Book Stores.

This is a great chance for all book and music lovers to show their skills in playing rummy online on Games24x7.com and get a chance to win free gift vouchers. These free gift vouchers worth thousands can be redeemed against your favorite books, music CDs, stationery and more.

What is Crossword Rummy Challenge Tournament?

"Just like in IPL T20 Cricket there are qualifier rounds, semifinals and finals. Teams getting higher points move to the semifinal and finals based on a knock-out competition and finally the winning team emerges.

Similarly the CRC Tournament follows the T20 cricket format. Players join qualifier rounds over the month and the Top players in each tournament qualify for the finals. In the finals, a single knockout tournament is played and there emerges a final winner." explained Mr. Sachin Uppal, Marketing Director, Games24x7.com.The Rummy Game and Tournament Schedule

Rummy is a traditional Indian skill game just like Cricket, Chess, Pool etc. Online Rummy Tournaments are a new concept in the Indian market and it's catching up fast. Players can setup a free account and play against their friends, families or thousands of players across India, sitting from the comforts of their homes or offices and win prizes!

• Free Qualifier Rounds - 7th May 2010 - 27th May 2010
• Daily Tournament timing - 1 PM and 6 PM
• Finals - Sunday, 30th May 2010, 3 PM

All willing participants can check their website by logging on to Games24x7.com/Crossword.

Games24x7 - Real Time Social Entertainment

This article tries to track the shifting paradigm of consumer consumption of skill based games and derived entertainment and engagement. Why is it happening and how? It will also try to answer the question: "What's the next step in social skill based games, entertainment and engagement?"

Skill Games, Entertainment and Engagement model in India?

India has showered love and affection for massively popular Game shows on Indian Television and recently audiences have also been hooked to the twisted humour, sensationalism and sometimes vulgarity in Reality TV in India.

Around the year 2000 games shows on TV started to pick up steam in India with the launch of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire?. And then it kept the momentum going with more game shows like 10 ka dum, Sawaal Dus Crore Ka, Jeeto Chapad Paad Ke etc. followed suit by exploiting one or the other human behavioral instinct. The undying hope of humans to succeed with their skills was well leveraged. From a legal perspective these games shows leveraged the fact that any game of skill played for money is deemed legal and if you can involve masses to participate across India with TV as the popular medium, you can make huge profits not just with advertisements but also with user engagement through SMS or online voting systems.

India saw a shift in Entertainment from such pre-recorded games shows to the reality TV. Reality television frequently portrays a modified and highly influenced form of reality, utilizing sensationalism to attract viewers to generate advertising profits. For the Reality TV game shows it is about social connection eg: Leveraging Dating in young men and women in MTV Splits Villa or Channel V's Dare to Date, or it can be about vengeance and physicality like MTV Roadies or channel V's V the Player etc. which taps in to human psychology and delivers a value which not fulfilled well earlier.

What has changed now?

While these reality TV shows continue to exist and flourish along with soaps and other genres there has been a substantial paradigm shift in consumer mindset. The shift is more apparent in US and UK and other countries where internet penetration is high, however, it's catching up in India pretty fast.

Let's take a look at how communication technology changed consumer behavior and media interaction over years. In early years of television, TV shows used to interact with audiences through posts. I remember an interesting TV show "Surabhi" aired on Doordarshan used to ask people to send Postcards to a Mumbai address. Obviously that was an era when Email didn't exist. We saw the emergence and rapid expansion of email technology in 1990s and how TV media started getting feedback or interaction from viewers through emails. The communication paradigm shifted a lot with the emergence and popularity of Internet and Mobiles. India became on of the fastest growing mobile consumer worldwide. TV content producers started to interact with audiences through mobile SMS voting etc and started to engage audiences in online voting systems.

However, the instantaneous response still lacks in the reality TV and the content is well edited to ensure certifications and abiding by censorship rules. This is the limitation in the TV as a medium.

A paradigm shift!

The paradigm shift is REAL TIME information access, participation and sharing for enhancement of one's social status, social contact and instantaneous gratification.

Since early 2000, India saw growth in Internet penetration and a lot of dot com companies emerged. Majority of the companies had a revenue model based on advertisements. Some of the companies later in the decade started to offer e-commerce and allied services. Slowly with the increase of internet penetration the sources of finding entertainment also started to move online. In 2008 India's internet population was almost similar to internet population in US and China few years back. So India was on a brink of rapid internet growth and penetration across country. This is being leveraged by some skill game sites in India and some recent Online TV Shows like Jay Hind. May be real time SMS voting and Online voting to decide results may soon become the norm...or the REALTIME TV.

To answer the questions: "What's the next step in social skill based entertainment and engagement?"

An apt answer would be: Emergence of Real Time Social Entertainment - RTSE.

Rapid expansion of Facebook and Twitter are clear indicators of this paradigm shift and the emergence of Real Time Social Entertainment. Even online games industry leveraged this paradigm shift eg: companies like Zynga and Playfish etc. tapped well into the growing online population. However, when it comes to monetization and producing sticky content especially for Indians which stays for years and people continue to pay for it, we need to go back to basics.

Changyou.com and Shanda Games are extremely successful chinese online games companies and they have successfully demonstrated that, with local games like: Mahjong, Blade Online, MMOGs etc., content is the king and it stays with the people and clicks super fast with them.

Local content providers in India like Games24x7.com offering Online Rummy in India and more such real time turn by turn played games like: nomination, pool, carrom, chess etc. are all set to tap into this real time social entertainment paradigm shift.

The love affair between Indians and card games spans all demographics right from working men playing in subways and buses, housewives playing at social parties, middle aged and retired men playing in social clubs, to friends and families playing on weekends. With over 1 Lakh players registering on Games24x7.com in just 9 months primarily with word of mouth marketing, playing Rummy online is becoming the new face of entertainment in form of Real Time Social Indian Games.

New tools and technology helps people to answer simple questions like: Where are you now? What are you doing now? Where are your friends Now and What are they doing now? This gives that instantaneous gratification of social contact and if you can interact and enjoy with them while being miles away from them either through a mobile device or accessing internet on a laptop or PC, you get the social entertainment in Real Time. Eg: Foursquare.com engages friend circles in real time updates and engagement to explore cities etc through any mobile device like: iPhone, Google Android based phones, Blackberry etc. Similarly Gowalla.com also allows you to share real time experiences to discover new places anywhere and everywhere.

Most of the innovations in today's time are being built on these psychological paradigm shifts in consumer mindset. Skill games and real time social entertainment derived out of them thus is a huge opportunity out there.

Engage, Participate & Enjoy in Real Time, seems to be the new mantra for 2010.

Rummy Online - New Face of Social Indian Games!

Pioneers in offering Rummy online, Games24x7.com goes Social with new interaction features and the company promises a complete social roadmap ahead. With over 1 Lakh players, Rummy is becoming the New Face of Social Indian Games.

The love affair between Indians and card games spans all demographics right from working men playing in subways and buses, housewives playing at social parties, middle aged and retired men playing in social clubs, to friends and families playing on weekends.

The growth and popularity of social networking and interaction websites like Facebook and Orkut has altered significantly the shape of the worldwide online games industry. Connecting through games is the new paradigm in online entertainment.

Games24x7.com is undoubtedly beginning to transform the future of the Indian games industry with the introduction of its latest Social Interaction features. The latest features include Personalized Player Chat, Private Rummy Invitations and the ability to create your own Rummy Circle. With these new features and many more to come, Games24x7.com is revolutionizing the online skill games space with a new face.


“We have managed to bring over 1 Lakh Indian Rummy players together in just 9 months of our BETA launch. This has helped Games24x7.com emerge as India’s favorite Online Rummy site. We aim to offer entertaining and engaging game play in local Indian games of skill where people can connect, play and win cash prizes too.” said Mr. Sachin Uppal, Games24x7.com’s, Marketing Director.

Furthermore, Mr. Trivikraman Thampy, CEO, Games24x7.com addressed the legality of the website by mentioning that “All games offered on Games24x7.com have been expressly approved as skill games by the Hon. Supreme Court of India. Rummy was deemed to be a game of skill in 1968. The card distribution methodology used by Games24x7.com has been certified by the prestigious ‘I Tech Labs’, Australia.”

Mr. Thampy continued, “Seeing the popularity of Games24x7.com’s Rummy on popular social networking sites like Facebook , Twitter and Orkut we will launch a Rummy Application on social networks soon.”

Games24x7.com offers unlimited free rummy games, 24x7. The biggest hit among the Indian audience is their premium version of rummy starting at just Rs. 25. To build your own Rummy Circle and be part of this new phase of Social Indian games, log on to www.games24x7.com.

games24x7 youtube video channel - How to Play Rummy and Win Cash Prizes

http://www.youtube.com/user/playgames24x7

Games24x7.com - 3 Lakh in Cash Prizes, 15K LIVE Tournaments, 1 Lakh Seats

Games24x7.com, India's 1st Online Tournaments Portal

has hosted over 15,000 LIVE Tournaments with over 1,00,000 Seats for players and given out over Rs. 3 Lakh in Cash prizes!

Online Games industry is so hot amidst recession and job lay-offs that daily over 1 Lakh online users visit Indian online games portals like Games24x7.com, Zapak.com, Games2win.com, Kreeda.com, Ace2three.com and more. On the online games front, recently India has seen various companies running championships and tournaments, however, only Games24x7.com hasIndia's 1st and the most unique knock out tournament format where they host LIVE tournaments everyday and give out daily cash prizes.

In the recent past thousands of players across India have joined Games24x7.com and players have started playing their favourite games of online chess and online rummy non-stop. It's so exciting to play on Games24x7.com because there are limited seats and real cash prizes as give aways. The best part is the knock out tournaments format which gives the feeling of playing next to each other, like people play social community games.

The uniqueness lies of Games24x7.com lies in the knockout tournament format which is identical to the skill-based competitions like Wimbledon, T-20 Cricket and French open tennis tournaments. Winners in one round move to the next round and so on till a final winner emerges. This allows players to match wits at multiple skill levels in fast paced competitions where winners earn actual cash prizes. Games focus less on manual dexterity and more on mental challenge, while at the same time requiring quick reaction and decision making.

I recently came across this article where Zapak Corporate Gaming Championship was held and over 4500 corporates and 50 organizations participated. The final participants included executives from Mindshare, Convergys, Hotel Le Meridian, Hotel Grand Hyatt, ICICI Prudential, NIIT, WNS Global Services, Group M, Aricent Technologies, Indigene Lifesystems, Cambridge Solutions, Mindtree, Hotel Royal Orchid Orchidaceae , Sparsh, Taj Wellingdon and Mindshare, across cities. It was full of fun and excitement and people took a deserving break from the mundance work routine and this also strengthened the social fiber of corporate bonding amongst employees.

The only dampner was was that people won some Holiday packages, Shirts, Flash Drives, Game CDs and Game Packs...un-fortunately no one still knows what to do with those packages and prizes. Also, why should you be given some gift and all if you can get real cash prizes and decide what you want to do with that cash. May be you want to Travel and you got a stupid flash drive, what on earth are you going to do with it? Another thing to look at is, you spent so much of your valuable time and what did it result in, some coupons and vouchers???

India's 1st Online Tournaments Portal, Games24x7.com offers real cash prizes for daily online tournaments in fast paced games like Online Chess Tournaments and Online Rummy Tournaments with monthly Cash prizes over Rs. 1 Lakh! I was super impressed by the way they have been hosting daily tournaments and the tournaments are joined by people all across India. They have done a fantastic job in reviving the social fibre of community games in a multiplayer knock out tournament format.

ICA and Games24x7.com successfully host 4th Annual Chess Championship 2008 in Bangalore

Mr. Sushruta Reddy, National Arbiter and Secretary, Innovators Chess Academy in association with Games24x7.com hosted the 4th Annual ICA Rapid Chess Championship 2008 and the 3rd Innovators Chess Academy Inter-School Chess Championship on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti in Bangalore.

The ICA Championship 2008 saw a massive response with nearly 350 players participating from the south of India including Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore and neighbouring cities. There was enthusiastic participation from people of all age groups. The open chess tournament saw a very strong response with the veterans and cream of the top talent participating.

Mr. Sushruta Reddy who is the ex. Jt. Secretary of United Karnataka Chess Association and a chess coach and founder of the Innovators Chess Academy has been a very active arbiter and a strong proponent of promoting the skill based game of chess and taking it to the masses. In recent times, people have shown active interest in participating in a completely new online blitz chess tournament model where people can play online tournaments for cash prizes and the game of chess is now spreading to the masses.

www.games24x7.com was the official sponsor for the ICA Championship 2008 where Mr. Reddy himself is an active player. Mr. Bhavin Pandya, co-founder and managing director of Games24x7.com said, “We have an active association with Mr. Sushruta Reddy right from the starting days of Games24x7.com and he has been an active player and a strong contributor to the development of the chess game on our website. We offer online chess and rummy tournaments catering to the needs of the Indian gaming enthusiast. When Mr. Reddy approached us with the opportunity for being part of ICA Championship, we were very enthusiastic and immediately confirmed our support in his noble initiative to expand chess tournaments in the southern part of India. “

Rahul Shandilya won the ICA Open Chess Championship 2008 when he defeated R Nagesh in the final round. Although Rahul tied with K.V.Sripad for the first place with 5.5 points apiece, the former finished ahead due to a higher tie breaker score.

About Games24x7.com – Games24x7.com is an Indian online games start-up founded by a group of entrepreneurs from IIT and IIM who have seen both eastern and western cultures and wish to bring the spirit of local Indian games to the masses. Games24x7.com is India’s first and only online games company to run daily skill based competitive tournaments with real cash prizes in rummy and chess.

About Innovator’s Chess Academy – Innovator’s Chess Academy (ICA) is one of the premier and most Active Chess Organizations in Bangalore. The Academy has organized nearly 50 Chess Tournaments since early 2005 besides providing Coaching to children in various parts of the City. The Academy also enjoys strong support from the United Karnataka Chess Association (UKCA). ICA founded by Mr. Sushruta Reddy, and supported by Vice Presidents, Mr. Durgesh and Mr. Karthik Shetty has now branched to Muscat and Oman.

List of Winners for ICA Chess Championship 2008

ICA Open Chess Championship
1st Place Rahul Shandilya (5.5 pts)
2nd Place K.V.Sripad (5.5 pts)
3rd Place R.Nagesh (5 pts)
4th Place Prachura P.P (5 pts)
5th Place Vinod V (5.5 pts)

ICA Under 7 Chess Championship (Boys)
1st Place: Vasishta (7 pts)
2nd Place: Avinash Raj (6 pts)
3rd Place: J Ashwin (5.5 pts)
4th Place: Prajwal Shet (5 pts)

ICA Under 7 Chess Championship (Girls)
1st Place: Ojasi Gopikrishna (4 pts)
2nd Place: Sai Bhavana (3 pts)
3rd Place: Tanisha Dighe (2 pts)
4th Place: Smrithi Suresh (2 pts)
5th Place: Pritha Jaipal (2 pts)

ICA Under 9 Chess Championship (Boys)
1st Place: L.S.Prabhanjan (6 pts)
2nd Place: Dushyanth Raju (5 pts)
3rd Place: Sanjeev (5 pts)
4th Place: T.Vikas (5 pts)
5th Place: Sachin Jajoo (5 pts)

ICA Under 9 Chess Championship (Girls)
1st Place: Prannita (6 pts)
2nd Place: Sharanya (5 pts)
3rd Place: Hanan Rouf (5 pts)
4th Place: H.K.Aditi (4.5 pts)
5th Place: Srishti Moorthy (4 pts)

ICA Under 11 Chess Championship (Boys)
1st Place: Arjun Govind (6 pts)
2nd Place: L Manas (5.5 pts)
3rd Place: Vijeth T.A.(5 pts)
4th Place: Chirag Ramesh (5 pts)
5th Place: R Parthasarathy (5 pts)

ICA Under 11 Chess Championship (Girls)
1st Place: T C Meghana (4 pts)
2nd Place: V Srilakshmi (3 pts)
3rd Place: Priyanka Bharadwaj (3 pts)
4th Place: Namratha G.M. (3 pts)
5th Place: Amrita Narayan (2.5 pts)

ICA Under 13 Chess Championship
1st Place: Sudhanshu Nath Mishra (5.5 pts)
2nd Place: Goutham S (5 pts)
3rd Place: Srikanth S (5 pts)
4th Place: V Uttej (5 pts)
5th Place: Sindhu Shekar (4.5 pts), Girls 1st Place

ICA Under 15 Chess Championship
1st Place: Augustine (4 pts)
2nd Place: K.S.Harikrishna (3 pts)
3rd Place: B S Swarnesh Rao (3 pts)
4th Place: Pallavi Bharadwaj (3 pts), Girls 1st Place
5th Place: Amrita Suresh (2.5 pts), Girls 2nd Place

Trump Tournaments - Win Rs. 1 Lakh only at India's 1st Online Tournaments portal

The online games space is set to see more fun and excitement with www.Games24x7.com announcing the New Trump Tournaments in rummy and chess. These tournaments will have real cash prizes up to Rs. 1 Lakh. This is happening for the 1st time in India!

Expanding its tournament offerings, www.Games24x7.com today announced the all NEW Trump Tournaments series 24x7. Games24x7.com offers fast paced competitive games like Online Chess and 13 Card Online Rummy.

“Keeping in mind the company’s philosophy to offer online tournaments 24x7, we have launched the New Trump Tournaments. Now players can log on to Games24x7.com at any time and play their favourite game of Chess or Rummy in a fast paced tournament format. There is up to Rs.1,00,000 to be won in cash prizes every month at Games24x7.com. As an introductory time offer all players can Play Free Online Games and win cash prizes on Games24x7.com.” said Mr. Sachin Uppal, the Marketing Director of Games24x7.com.

“Looking at the success of our existing Jhatpat Tournaments, we will continue to run them and they will be our key customer building strategy. This success has also given us the confidence to expand our tournament offerings for existing players and to provide them a platform 24x7 where they can enjoy their games whenever they want.” continued Mr. Sachin Uppal.

“I am very excited with the expansion of our real-cash prize tournaments. The launch of New Trump Tournaments is going to help us provide our customers with their favourite online games of rummy and chess 24x7. This will help us enhance relations with our existing customers, while building new relations.” said Mr. Bhavin Pandya, MD, Games24x7.com.

“Games24x7.com looks forward to change the way Online Games are played in India and we are proud to be the 1st Indian Online tournaments portal.” concluded Mr. Bhavin Pandya.

- End -

Games24x7.com is India’s 1st online tournament company. Founded by a group of entrepreneurs from IIT and IIM backgrounds, Games24x7.com is set to bring the Indian competitive spirit in online games by offering real cash prize tournaments.