Mobile Casino & Poker - Smoking or A Dud?

The latest thing seems to be to do everything on your phone - or so we’re told. Download music, surf the web, email and now…poker and casino! To be honest, I used to own a PDA and found I never really used it except to - shock, horror - make phone calls! So I’m alitle sceptical. But then again, as a gambler, thought it would be interesting to check out this new one. This article sums up what I thought of it all. Is there a future? Is it the next best thing since sliced bread? Or a dud?

I downloaded one poker room and two mobile casinos: Aces Royal for the poker and for the casinos, Ladbrokes and Wild Jack (the only one of these that also accepts USA players by the way). As it turns out, the latter two are the same software so you get the same games. I’m not go into too much detail on games and stuff - only to say that graphically and operationally they are pretty impressive. If you want more on those - check out my Mobile Phones & Gambling satellite site.

Anyway - lets’ start with the Poker. 6 players to a table, various table limits, all Texas Hold’Em. You play against real people - it’s simply a multiplayer poker room on a mobile phone. Graphics? Not bad at all. Good in fact…better than expected. Signing up na dlogging in was a little fiddly being as it is on a small keypad (I’m using a Nokia N95 for this by the way), bu once your there, easy. You get 30 seconds to play your turn - inevitably it’s quite a bit slower playing on the phone, although that’s mainly down to connection. Not just mine, but all the people at the table. Some drop, others are quick, but it’s not a fast game, although for casual play more than acceptable.

Must say I was impressed with the speed of my cashout - had it in my bank in 2 nights so thumbs up to Aces Royal for that. They also have a few slots and blackjack. Overall, as far as poker goes - good, but connectivity can be an issue. More on this in the “Conclusion” below.

As far as the casino play went, yeah…not bad. The games were quick, the interface slick - if small - but there’s something about playing on a PC that is just, well, more exciting. You feel like a gambler on the phone…maybe an obsessive one. You know, I’m only half an hour away from home, do I really need to be doing this? As it turned out after about 2 months I was playing almost exclusively from my PC again. This however, is down to two things…

Conclusion

So what are the issues? Well essentially two-fold for me: firstly, the software is great, but unless you can get a permanent connection it’s frustrating. You can’t play reliably on the train or travelling ‘cos the connection dies every now anad again and it’s frustrating to the point where you can’t be bothered. Secondly, data tarifs: I’m reliably informed that a session at the casino or poker room will probably only cost a quid or two, however, most mobile providers don’t do decent data tarifs yet. I’m not going to pay £25 a month for a data tarif just to gamble, especially when most times I’d do it would be abroad when on business, and the tarifs don’t cover that.

Yes…I’d say it has a future, but not until connectivity is cheap and everywhere. But it’s still quite fun I guess and will suit some people right now. For me…I’m going to have to wait a couple of years.

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