Mobile Gambling

Mobile gambling refers to gambling done on a remote wirelessly connected device. These devices can include wireless tablet PC's, mobile phones and other non traditional mid-level networked comuting devices. Some online casinos and online poker cardrooms offer mobile options.

Mobile gambling requires a data connection to operate and in most cases this data layer is provided by the telecom provider for the region or country. GPRS, GSM Data, UMTS, I-MODE are all data layer technologies upon which mobile gambling depends.

While still relatively underdeveloped, analysts place the value of the market space at US$20 billion by 2010. Jupiter, Gartner and Seymour Pierce all project rapid growth in the sector through to 2010.

The market is still at a nascent stage at the moment, as mobile operators and brands/ media owners are currently not in a position to create this market due to the potential reputational risk. This is mainly because of the uncertain nature of most countries' in-decision towards regulation of remote gambling online gambling.

Some companies however have begun developing and testing mobile platforms to position themselves early in the anticipated growth of the market.

Online Gambling

Online gambling is a general term for gambling using the Internet. This article provides a brief introduction to some of the forms of online gambling, as well as discussing general issues.

Online poker
Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud,razz and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures. Players play against each other rather than the "house", with the card room making its money through "rake" and through tournament fees.

Online casinos
There are a large number of online casinos, in which people can play casino games such as roulette, blackjack, pachinko, baccarat and many others. These games are played against the "house", which makes money due to the fact that the odds are in its favor.

Online sports betting
Bookmakers and betting exchanges offer fixed-odds gambling over the Internet on the results of sporting events.

Online bingo
There are a number of online bingo rooms offering games on the Internet.

Types Of Gambling

Casino games:
While almost any game can be played for money, and any game typically played for money can also be played just for fun, some games are generally offered in a casino setting.

"Beatable" casino games
A highly skilled player with a well-designed strategy can create a positive mathematical expectation on games such as:
* Blackjack—with card counting unless a continuous shuffler is used
* Pai Gow Poker and Tiles—player-dealt
* Parimutuel betting
* Poker (Also recognized as a game of skill)
* Slot machines—where progressive jackpots or bonuses reach a certain break-even point
* Sports betting
* Video poker—with proper pay table and/or progressive jackpot

"Unbeatable" casino games
These games have a negative expectation regardless of how few or many games someone plays. Nevertheless, this does not stop gamblers from having false beliefs (the "gambler's fallacy") that their actions or "way of playing" will influence the outcome.
* Baccarat (punto banco)
* Caribbean Stud Poker
* Casino war
* Craps (though some believe the use of dice control can beat the game)
* Fan-Tan
* Faro
* Keno
* Let it ride
* Pachinko
* Pyramid Poker
* 3-card poker
* 4-card poker
* Red Dog
* Roulette
* Sic Bo
* Spanish 21—without counting
* Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker

Non-casino gambling games
Gambling games that take place outside of casinos include Bingo (as played in the US and UK), dead pool, lotteries, pull-tab games and scratchcards, and Mahjong.

Other non-casino gambling games include:
* Card games, such as Liar's poker, Bridge, Basset, Lansquenet, Piquet, Put
* Coin-tossing games such as Head and Tail, Two-up
* Confidence tricks such as Three-card Monte or the Shell game
* Carnival Games such as The Razzle or Hanky Pank
* Dice-based games, such as Backgammon, Liar's dice, Passe-dix, Hazard, Threes, Pig, or Mexico

Fixed-odds gambling
Fixed-odds gambling and Parimutuel betting frequently occur at many types of sporting events. In addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports related outcomes, for example the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices, the winner of television competitions such as Big Brother, election results,[5]. Interactive prediction markets also offer trading on these outcomes, with "shares" of results trading on an open market.

Parimutuel betting
One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse or greyhound racing. Wagering may take place through parimutuel pools; or bookmakers may take bets personally. Parimutuel wagers pay off at prices determined by support in the wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet; or at the median odds offered by track bookmakers at the time the race started.

Sports betting
Betting on team sports has become an important service industry in many countries. For example, millions of Britons play the football pools every week.

Arbitrage betting
Arbitrage betting is a theoretically risk-free betting system in which every outcome of an event is bet upon so that a known profit will be made by the bettor upon completion of the event, regardless of the outcome. Arbitrage betting is a combination of the ancient art of arbitrage trading and gambling, which has been made possible the large numbers of bookmakers in the marketplace, creating occasional opportunities for arbitrage.

Other types of betting
One can also bet with another person that a statement is true or false, or that a specified event will happen (a "back bet") or will not happen (a "lay bet") within a specified time. This occurs in particular when two people have opposing but strongly-held views on truth or events. Not only do the parties hope to gain from the bet, they place the bet also to demonstrate their certainty about the issue. Some means of determining the issue at stake must exist. Sometimes the amount bet remains nominal, demonstrating the outcome as one of principle rather than of financial importance.

Betting exchanges allow consumers to both back and lay at odds of their choice. Similar in some ways to a stock exchange, a better may want to back a horse (hoping it to win) or lay a horse (hoping it to lose, effectively acting as bookmaker)

Gambling Variables

There are three variables common to all forms of gambling:
- How much is being wagered, the initial stake (in money or material goods).
- The predictability of the event.

* In mechanical or electronic gambling such as lotteries, slot machines and bingo, the results are random and unpredictable; no amount of skill or knowledge (assuming machinery is functioning as intended) can give an advantage in predictability to anyone.
* However, for sports events such as horse racing and soccer matches there is some predictability to the outcome; thus a person with greater knowledge and/or skill will have an advantage over others.
* The odds agreed between the two (or more) parties to the wager; where there is a house or a bookmaker, the odds are (quite legally) arranged in favour of the house.

The expected value, positive or negative, is a mathematical calculation using these three variables. The amount wagered determines the scale of an individual wager (bet); the odds and the amount wagered determine the payout if successful; the predictability determines the frequency of success. Finally the frequency of success times the payout minus the amount wagered equals the "expected value" The skill of a gambler lies in understanding and maneuvering the three variables so that the "actual value" is positive over a series of wagers.

Legal Aspects

Because many religious authorities generally disapprove of gambling to some extent, and because gambling can have adverse social consequences, most legal jurisdictions limit gambling to some extent. Some Islamic nations prohibit gambling; most other countries regulate it.

Under US federal law, gambling is legal in the United States, and states are free to regulate or prohibit the practice. Gambling has been legal in Nevada since 1931, forming the backbone of the state's economy, and the city of Las Vegas is perhaps the best known gambling destination in the world. In 1976, gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in 1990, it was legalized in Tunica, Mississippi; both of those cities have developed extensive casino and resort areas since then. Since a favorable US Supreme Court decision in 1987, many Native American tribes have built their own casinos on tribal lands as a way to provide revenue for the tribe. Because the tribes are considered sovereign nations, they are often exempt from state laws banning gambling, and are instead regulated under federal law.

Because contracts of insurance have many features in common with wagers, insurance contracts are often distinguished under law as agreements in which either party has an interest in the "bet-upon" outcome beyond the specific financial terms. E.g.: a “bet” with an insurer on whether one's house will burn down is not gambling, but rather insurance — as the homeowner has an obvious interest in the continued existence of his/her home independent of the purely financial aspects of the "bet" (i.e., the insurance policy).

Many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban or heavily control (by licensing) gambling. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism and illegal gambling. The involvement of governments, through regulation and taxation, has led to a close connection between many governments and gaming organizations, where legal gambling provides significant government revenue, such as in Monaco or Macau.

There is generally legislation requiring that the odds in gaming devices are statistically random, to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible. Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a house bias can quite easily be missed unless checking the odds carefully.