Mobile gambling refers to playing games of chance or skill for money by using a remote device such as a

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being com ...

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...

or a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

with a wireless internet connection. Over a hundred mobile casinos were operating as of December 2013, with most of the big casino operators in gambling now providing a mobile platform for their player base.

Market

In 2003, The Mobile Lottery launched in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

as the first mobile gambling venture in the country. After wireless gambling on casino grounds was legalized in June 2005, in March 2006, the

Nevada Gaming Control Board The Nevada Gaming Control Board, also known as the State Gaming Control Board, is a Nevada state governmental agency involved in the regulation of gaming and law enforcement of Nevada gaming laws throughout the state, along with the Nevada Gaming ...

"cleared the way for businesses to propose ways in which establishments can offer wireless gambling." In 2006,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

was the largest market for mobile gambling, but "telecommunications analysts predict that Asia will catch up soon." At the time, a limitation of suitable phones in Asia and unclear legal situations in certain locales was limiting growth, with legal mobile gambling in Asia restricted to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

for sports and lotteries. Only in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

was casino-style mobile gambling allowed. There were analyst projections in 2006 that the mobile gambling market in the Asia-Pacific region would generate revenue of $3 billion in 2010. In 2005, Jupiter Research forecast that global mobile gambling services would generate revenues of more than $19.3 billion US dollars by 2009. In 2010,

Gartner Gartner, Inc is a technological research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut that conducts research on technology and shares this research both through private consulting as well as executive programs and conferences. Its client ...

analysts showed the 2009 global mobile gambling revenues at $4.7 billion and forecast $5.6 billion for 2010. Such a large discrepancy between the 2005 forecast and the 2009 reality was attributed to the unexpected 2006 US prohibition of all internet based gambling. The mobile gambling market, as of 2011 is still in flux. The European Union still does not have a unified mobile gambling legislative framework in place. Each European country has their own set of widely different laws which regulate mobile gambling ranging from Finland where a government monopoly operates internet casinos to Norway which is in favor of complete prohibition of

online gambling Online gambling is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for the Liechtenstein International Lottery i ...

Market projections

According to a Juniper Research report released in September 2010 the total sum wagered on mobile casino games is expected to surpass US$48 billion by 2015. The report bases this prediction on (1) the high growth rates of mobile casinos, lotteries and sports betting providers in major emerging markets and China; (2) liberalization of mobile gambling legislation in Europe; (3) United States repealing the

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) is United States legislation regulating online gambling. It was added as Title VIII to the SAFE Port Act (found at ) which otherwise regulated port security. The UIGEA prohibits ga ...

, permitting people in the US to legally gamble online again. A 2010

forecast 2014 global mobile gambling revenues reaching $11.4 billion. Final revenues proved in excess of projects within the year. In early 2011,

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

had allowed real-money gambling apps for the first time into the

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...

, with mobile gambling revenue in the UK rising from £19 million in 2009 to £41 million in 2010. In June 2011, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' wrote a story about spiking mobile gambling figures released by gambling companies

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK Ireland (UKI) and International. UKI operations ...

, Corcoran, and

Betfair Betfair is a British gambling company which operates the world's largest online betting exchange. Its product offering also includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Founded in 2000, the business is split int ...

, with Paddy Power saying its mobile gambling revenues had increased by 300% during 2010. Likewise, Betfair's and Corcoran's mobile user increases were also attributed to the increased adoption of apps.

More recent legalization

Growth of mobile betting in the United States was slowed in 2011, when the DOJ ruled against it, although successful services had been launched in Nevada and New Jersey. In 2012, there was a push for south Jersey to allow gamblers to use mobile devices to gamble in casinos, pushed by Senator

Jim Whelan Jim Whelan (November 8, 1948 – August 22, 2017) was an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate where he represented the 2nd Legislative District, from January 8, 2008, until his death. Early life Whela ...

, to compete with Las Vegas. At the time, mobile gaming devices were already adopted in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

in casinos, allowing casinos to extend gaming floor to their outer premises. In 2012, the New Jersey Legislature approved "the use of hand-held gambling devices at

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

casinos," and was waiting on the Governor's signature to pass. In March 2019, the governor of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

signed a bill to allow mobile sports betting in the state, to begin on 1 July.

Gina Raimondo Gina Marie Raimondo (; born May 17, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and venture capitalist who has served as the 40th United States Secretary of Commerce since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 75th g ...

's proposed budget estimated $3 million from mobile gaming profits that year. With Rhode Island the only state to allow sports betting at that time, the bill was approved on 12 March 2019, and allowed for the creation of an app to allow remote placing of sports bets at

Twin River Casino Bally's Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort, previously Twin River Casino Hotel, is a casino, hotel, and former race track in Lincoln, Rhode Island, owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. The facility has of gaming space, with 4,108 slot machin ...

. The state had legalized sports betting the year before, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law forbidding most sports gambling in the country. On 19 February 2020, it was reported that New Jersey had collected $837 million from general sports gamblers who were coming from

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

, both mobile and in-person, and that as a result, New York politicians were pushing for a bill that would legalize mobile gambling in New York with a 12.5% tax for each bet placed. In September 2019, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that online gamblers accounted for "80% of all legal wagers on games in New Jersey, which surpassed Nevada for the first time in May in monthly sports bets." At the time, online or mobile gambling was in five states for sports gambling: New Jersey,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. It was reported that in its first year of legalization, "New Jersey sports bettors wagered a total of $3.2 billion in the first year," with $2.4 billion of that from online or mobile bets. In some states, like

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, gamblers could place bets on a phone while physically inside the associated casino.

Mobile sports betting

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

'' noted that as mobile gambling increased in popularity, there were increased corruption concerns about using phone hacking to game the system.

Sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...

is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track cycling, auto racing, mixed martial arts, and boxing at both the amateur and professional levels.

Mobile casino games

According to ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the pap ...

'', examples of common mobile gambling games include slot games, table games, new games, and classics like

roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fam ...

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

, and

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

. There are also live casino versions that are streamed from real casinos or studios. According to a February 2010 comScore MobiLens study of the U.S. mobile gaming market, smartphone subscribers are much more likely to play mobile casino games than subscribers of generic phones. The study revealed that 7.6% of smartphone subscribers and 1.2% of generic mobile subscribers played mobile casino games within a three-month time frame. Aside from availability online, United States of America-based mobile casino apps have appeared in several land-based locations that can be utilized to gamble only while physically present on the casino's property. This extends to outside areas that are still within the boundaries of the property, making them the first type of slot machine, sports-betting, and random number generated gambling to take place legally off the licensed gaming floor while still inside a U.S. casino. According to

VentureBeat ''VentureBeat'' is an American technology website headquartered in San Francisco, California. It publishes news, analysis, long-form features, interviews, and videos. History The ''VentureBeat'' company was founded in 2006 by Matt Marshall, ...

, Google does not allow any real-money gambling apps on its

Google Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating syst ...

References