Unveiling UMA Poker SCAM: rogue Indian poker room

In this article, we share a severe warning about the small Indian online poker room UMA Poker. Worldpokerdeals has built a bullet-proof reputation thanks to having handled every single complaint of our players and paying out of our pocket when necessary. Unfortunately, the case of UMA Poker is more complex than this.

Why was UMA Poker added to our menu?

We studied UMA Poker (parent company: Icarus Entertainment Limited) for over three months before adding to our website; we personally scouted the games, processed some deposits and withdrawals, made strong connections with the room owners, and verified its reputation by reading endless Facebook topics. They looked legit in all cases. After that, we decided to add it to our menu, with the note "no money guarantees." Why? Because even though they seemed legit, no Euro-affiliate was working with them, so sharing the risks of joining the room was the best decision.

Why are we adding UMA Poker to our blacklist?

UMA Poker unilaterally blocked all our players' accounts and our affiliate panel alleging fraud without presenting a piece of single evidence, seizing over $50kUSD.

One of our players had an amazing session against "rayray54"; there are good reasons to believe he is one of the owners of the poker room and made a profit of about $35kUSD. His account was immediately locked, and then the problems began.

According to UMA Poker representatives, an investigation was ongoing. Our player was open to fulfill any documentation or proof requested by the poker room. For a few weeks, some payments were even processed.

Today, after a month, and again without showing any evidence, UMA Poker told us that our affiliate panel was closed and that no further communication will be made. No proof or cheating provided. 

As usual, the poker room claims fraud without evidence, simply by saying that players broke the rules by using scripts, bots, proxies, etc. Of course, all of this only happens when they have to process large payments and not before.

We also have zero information on what UMA Poker is doing with the seized funds, and we can only assume that they were stolen. To make the complaint transparent, we acknowledge that UMA Poker granted WPD a credit of $2,500.

Who are the scammers behind UMA Poker?

Prashray Rai and Mrinal Dev Bajaj founded UMA Poker, and their support person is known as Shikhar Sharma or Chethan S.

Prashray Rai (Icarus Entertainment Private Limited Director) was paying players profits via BTC, which he did in a few cases. After a few withdrawals (about 12kUSD), he went offline and never answered back, and his support team claimed he was on a trip. One of our high-profile players had a massive winning from the account "rayray54," which we assume was Prashray Rai himself playing beyond his limits.

Shikhar Sharma / Chethan S was in charge of providing support. His answers were on time in the beginning. Right after blocking one of our players, he allegedly had a family emergency and answered every 4/5 days. Shikhar offered us a deal and confirmed all conditions for our players.

Mrinal Dev Bajaj (Icarus Entertainment Private Limited Director, Imperium Management And Consultancy LLP Designated Partner, SPRM Energy Infrastructure Limited Director) joined the conversation in recent days. Although in the beginning, he told us that an investigation was ongoing, today, he just said that "our affiliate account was banned permanently."

What is most disgusting is that Mrinal tried to bribe us by offering a better rakeback deal by literally not getting into the case of a blocked account, something very naive.

This offer was made during the mentioned "investigation". They also promised to process our affiliate commission and "not worry about this". 

Facts:

• The poker room (not a third-party) offered a deal for our players;
• The poker room failed to provide any evidence of any player breaking the rules;
• Our players are willing to prove their identity and their gameplay; 
• A player who won 35k$ is a high profile poker player known in the community and has a perfect reputation of a strong reg;
• The poker room stated that even if all proof was sent, the final decision will be binding and solely taken by them;
• Mrinal Dev Bajaj and Prashrai Ray blocked us from all social media.

Summary

We consider that India is the next booming poker market. Sadly, the industry's growth also came with scams that will not stop with UMA Poker and its owners. The UMA Poker scam to Worldpokerdeals and its players sets a terrible precedent for online poker in India.

We warn all players, agents and affiliates to avoid any business with UMA Poker and Prashray Rai and Mrinal Dev Bajaj. We are going to inform all major Indian agents and poker sites about the scam and if needed - provide any required evidence to a reputable party.