Gambling News - July 2005 Edition

"Gambling Could Be Coming to a Cell Phone Near You"

Feel like gambling? Just dial in from your cellphone.

Gambling is already headed towards the state of Minnesota while their lawmakers still debate whether or not to allow more cities within the state to legalize gambling, including Canterbury Park and the city of Bloomington. Residents of Minnesota, and any other state, for that matter, will be able to pick up a cell phone, download a casino-style game, and wager real money. Mobile gambling is arriving!

The major drawback is that the state from where the call is made and the wager placed will not collect any of the revenue generated from mobile gambling. Another major drawback of mobile gambling is the ease by which gamblers with gambling addictions, or with potential gambling addictions, can feed their habit. It’s literally just a matter of dialing in and gambling over the cellphone. Anyone can do it.

This new service is which allows players to play anywhere and at anytime is offered by PokerRoom.com and lets players into games just by picking up a cell phone. According to Ira Gladnikoff of PokerRoom.com, so far, PokerRoom.com only offers Texas Hold’em poker and slot machines, but this will most certainly change in the future.

Mobile gambling is only now starting to become popular in the U.S. although it has been available in Europe for some time now. Industry analysts predict that it will become increasingly popular. Mobile gambling will attract a new breed of gambler in addition to those who frequent casinos or gamble over the Internet. These are would-be gamblers who have never set foot inside a casino to gamble or gambled online, so their first experience gambling will be via a cell phone.

For those who have any doubt that the next big thing in America will be mobile gambling, experts estimate the total amount that Americans are going to spend on mobile gambling by 2009 as close to twenty billion dollars. It will be so available that people will be able to bet anywhere and bets will range from fifty cents to three hundred dollars a hand. In addition to these optimistic predictions, doubts arising because of the illegal status of online and mobile gambling are all falling away because legal authorities in the U.S. do not have the motivation or resources to go after individual gamblers.

Brian Cooley of CNET, says that mobile gambling satisfies the more personal aspect of gambling. “Cell phones are very personal, and this will make the gabling personal,” Cooley explained. “In the consumer’s mind the two items go together. I think it’s going to be big.” Cooley also called mobile gambling “a casino in your pocket”.

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