With the growth of the smart phone market and the development of basic WAP-friendly phones into more advanced Smart Java-friendly phones, the mobile gambling market has boomed in the last few years.
The first mobile casinos were launched in the late 1990s and very extremely basic to say the least. I’m talking the most basic arcade-like games such as roulette and blackjack. Depositing was an issue and there was a very limited selection of games available (remember this was only a few years after the first online casino were launched for internet browsers).
Since 2000, mobile casinos such as asikqq became slightly more popular on WAP mobile phones. The growth of the online gambling industry in general was massive, growing from a $1 billion up to a $30 billion industry in 2009. Hundreds of casino operators (in addition to high street bookmakers such as William Hill and Ladbrokes) began launching their own online casinos and games. Mobile casino games and arcade games were the icing on the cake from 2005 onwards.
In 2007, Crazy Mobile Casino began marketing their games more to the UK market. Crazy Casino executives announced that the mobile casino industry in terms of gross wins was expected to grow from $100 million up to $3+ billion in 2011 and onwards. The growth of mobile gambling has also been geometric rather than arithmetic which means that growth rates will also increase as more smart phones and mobile technology (including tablet computers) makes it way into the mainstream markets.
Interestingly, the UK market is by far the most developed in terms of mobile casino games. UK-based casino operators such as 32Red, Wild Jack and All Slots Casino have even launched their own iPhone and Android Casinos (check the latest Android Casinos at MobileCasinoBonus.org here). The iPhone casinos are for UK players only, unfortunately there are no iPhone Casino apps for US players. If you are a USA player than you’ll have to use your iPhone and play on the WAP or Java-friendly mobile casinos such as Bodog Mobile or Slotland Mobile.
One of the reasons why the US mobile gambling market lags behind the UK market is because since the UIGEA 2006 it has been very difficult for online casinos to process US player accounts and deposits. The UIGEA made it illegal for credit cards to process player’s transactions to online gambling sites (or poker) which has stunted the online gambling industry across the Pacific. Never the less, online gambling is still popular in the US but just isn’t developing as quickly.
If you are interested in playing at a mobile casino than I strongly recommend either Platinum Play Mobile or All Slots Mobile Casino. All Slots Online Casino is owned by the Jackpot Factory Group and provides more than 300+ online casino games, which includes 200+ slots games to UK players. Their mobile casino offers dozens of video slots and classic casino games, with a unique casino games also available for iPhone and Android users.