Mobile Casinos - The worldwide explosion in gambling
The worldwide explosion in gambling, both online and offline, is set to see a further surge as the number of people gambling via their mobile phones looks ready to increase dramatically over the next five years.
The popularity of internet sports betting has grown prolifically over the past five years and the recent boom in online casino gaming has added further fervour to the global gambling phenomenon.
As consumers grow accustomed to being able to gamble any time, any place, any where, the mobile casino is soon to be common place among those wishing to gamble.
At the moment lotteries are going to be the primary driver, as more users are turned on to low stakes gaming on their mobile phones. Juniper predicts mobile lotteries will account for 41 per cent of mobile gambling expenditure within five years.
The charity Gamcare, which works to help problem gamblers already believes gambling in the UK is already 24x7 with the internet. They stresses that mobile gambling needs to be as responsibly run by operators with measures that adhere to codes of practice, such as limits on deposits or time which players can play for, to reduce the threat of problem gambling.
However the take-up for text versions of the National Lottery has been slow at the moment the evidence points to a growth in 3G subscriptions as well as the introduction of increasingly sophisticated handsets will make casino and poker games a more attractive.
Lotteries are popular as users play low stakes gaming on their mobile phones. Juniper predicts mobile lotteries will account for 41 per cent of mobile gambling expenditure within five years. In total Juniper Research expects bets placed over mobile phone applications to rise from just under $2bn to in excess of $23bn by 2011.
The appeal of mobile gambling from a survey of mobile phone users in the UK has revealed that convenience as a benefit (70%). A factor of convenience for mobile lotteries is the regular draws which take place and that this can be done simply (sometimes by SMS) via a mobile without having to visit a retailer. In addition a smaller number of respondents stated that mobile gambling was less intimidating and allowed for more discretion.
Juniper Research expects bets placed over mobile phone applications to rise from just under $2bn currently to in excess of $23bn by 2011, according to a more recent forecast. Part of the predicated growth in mobile gambling is a large increase in mobile casinos.
The growth in 3G subscriptions as well as the introduction of increasingly sophisticated handsets with greater rich media capabilities will also make casino games a more attractive handheld offering.
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