Teer – the Dream Gamble to go online

The “Thoh Kyntip”, popularly known as “Teer” is all about dreams. Dreams that usually have no meaning otherwise, but the connoisseurs of the game know how to interpret your dreams. There is a number associated with each dream and it is most likely be the lucky number to win in this gambling sport. You can bet in a number with as low as Re. 1.

Legalised by the state government only in 1982, gambling through archery has been in existence for more than a hundred years now.After the turn of the last century clubs of various localities and villages in and around Shillong started holding a weekly archery contest. The competition evolved and took its present form only in the late 1950s when a unique system of adapting the results with the requirements of gambling emerged. The last two digits of the number of arrows embedded in the target would be the ‘winning’ number. For instance, if 1,024 arrows hit the target, the winning number would be 24.

 Also Read: Teer : Interpretations of Dreams, Gambling and Archery

 The sport is now controlled by the Khasi Hills Archery Sports Institute (KHASI) that conducts and governs the daily competition. Twelve clubs affiliated to KHASI are allotted turns to shoot at the ground. Two clubs get their turn every day from Monday to Friday, and on Saturday archers of all the clubs get to shoot. A roster is issued to all the clubs as well as the bookies every fortnight. Two rounds of the competition are held every afternoon, the first at 3.30 pm and the second an hour later. The roster specifies the number of arrows allotted to the archers for the two rounds—1,800 and 1,200 respectively on weekdays and 1,980 and 1,320 respectively on Saturdays—as well as the size of the target.

Now the state government is looking to upgrade and modernize the Teer with the help of the company from Scotland. Meghalaya Information & Technology minister AL Hek said Friday, “We are planning to modernize the traditional archery game ‘teer’ in Meghalaya  which will include the state in the map of national and international games by tying up with reputed companies.”

A delegation representing the NEC Group of Companies and Micro Gaming from Scotland visited Polo along with Hek on Friday to study and understand the traditional archery game and how best it can be blended with modern technology. The visit was a preliminary visit and the company has to conduct a study to understand the nature of the game so that companies can design software for the game.

The teer gambling is a multi-crore industry and the Meghalaya govt. is looking at it as a potential revenue source from across the world. Sources said that the govt. expects that the initiative will help in employment generation and promote the traditional sport in international levels.

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