The real test is poker, a multiplayer game where speed and simultaneous delivery matters. Softer games like bingo, where users will play against each other, will be a bit more difficult to translate to wireless.

Lotteries, either government-run or private, are another early candidate for wireless, as are casino games like blackjack, slot machines, craps, and roulette, where the player competes against the house.Įnhanced graphics capabilities on today's higher-end phones will make video slot machines a reality soon: 'You'll see the cherries going,' promises Chan-Palmateer, whose company sells more than 60 casino, bingo and multi-player poker games to Internet casinos. Initially, the bets will be made using simple text-based programs or instant messaging, although a gambler's wish list would include streaming video of live games and races once 3G networks can handle the huge amount of data required. Software vendors expect wireless gambling to take off first in sports betting, including horse races and wagering on team matches. Carriers have spent heavily on upgrading their networks to allow high-speed data access over the last few years, and they desperately need consumers to use the data services to pay for the investments. Analysts expect prices for data calls to fall further in the next few years as the cellular carriers redesign their pricing plans to offer flat-fee data access, much as they did with voice calls. Mobile Internet usage is also about to get cheaper. , a gaming software company for online casinos based in Calgary, Canada. Developers would use an applet-easily downloadable software-to deal a card in blackjack, depositing the graphics on the user's cell phone and sending a request to the casino's server for a random card, says Don C.

Smart phones now accept a version of the Java programming language, as well as a competing language for so-called applets, BREW, which is licensed by Software within phones is also helping to further gambling. Pricey phones, PDAs and phone-PDA combos now offer an expensive but accessible way to get online. The newest cell phones are essentially mini-PCs, with full operating systems, heavy-duty processor power and high-resolution color screens.

Cell phones themselves are becoming better suited to gambling.

Gambling phone games