Poker Sports League (PSL) has found a brand ambassador in chess master Viswanathan Anand.

The premium poker league, which commenced operations last year, has roped in Anand in its bid to popularise the game.

“My association with PSL is an attempt to establish the fact that Poker, like the game of chess, is indeed a game of skill, which involves a lot of strategy and a defined skill set,” Anand said. “I have played chess all my life and when I was introduced to poker, I could instantly draw the parallels, which made me connect better with the game. Like many other international universities, poker is now being taught as a course in IIM (Kozhikode) to establish that it’s a game that’s played with skill.”

PSL had recently launched its second season.

“Chess and poker are frequently compared as both games are based on strategic thinking and decision-making. A chess game is broken up into an opening phase, the middle game and the endgame, often with blurred lines between each phase. Depending on your overall strength as a player, each part has varying levels of importance as to what is best to improve next. Similarly, the whole theory behind poker brings to light facts like, how to figure what the best plays would be in different sorts of situations,” says Dabur scion Amit Burman, co-founder, PSL.

Burman and Anuj Gupta, founder of poker portal Adda52.com, founded PSL last year to give the sport a dedicated platform.

The league has received a commitment of ₹150 crore spread over the next eight years and 12 franchises.

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