The functionality of mobile phones has expanded greatly since the dawn of the smartphone. Surveys suggest that 46% of American adults own smartphones with Europe following close behind on 28% with this fraction expected to grow to 50% in both markets very soon. During the last 2 years, Google’s mobile search volume has increased five-fold, and mobile search is headed for 20% of all searches made in the world, proving that people are getting ever more reliant on the web connectivity of their mobile phone.

Computing is truly going mobile, and nowadays it’s possible for online poker players to get their fix while out and about with only their smartphone for company. More and more gaming operators are realizing the potential market in the market and are coming on board by developing mobile offerings for their customers, allowing them to connect to multi user games with players around the world. With global smartphone uptake expected to reach over a billion people very soon, you can be assured that people at your  table online may be playing from a handset or tablet. The biggest and best player in the industry is  www.888Poker.com, which is compatible with all versions of Android and Apple products. For more detailed information on each specific device, follow the articles linked further down the page – otherwise look at the table below.

Best Real Money Mobile Poker Sites

Playing Texas Hold’em on a Mobile Phone

Almost all Smartphones have the ability to use applications these days whether they’re Apple, Android, or Windows Mobile based. Both real money and play money games are available for most devices. Usually the software is available either for direct download to your phone’s operating system or you will have the option to play directly in your phone’s browser using a Java based applet. The game data is transferred using either your phone’s 3G data facility or over a WiFi network if you have one within range.

How to Download Software on a Mobile Phone

How you download the poker software you want to play on depends on what type of device you have:

Apple Products – iPhone and iPad

For iPhone, you simply go to the App Store, pick the app you want and touch ‘install’ and the app will be ready to play in a couple of minutes. At the moment due to Apple’s gambling regulations, it is mostly play money apps that are available in the App Store, however Winamax have recently been successful in getting their real money poker app listed in the French App Store, which may pave the way for other sites to do so in the future. For more on this visit our pages about iPhone poker sites and iPad poker sites.

Android and Windows Products

For Android based devices you’ll need to go to the Android Market, browse the Android poker sites and apps and touch the app you want and touch ‘Free’ or ‘Buy’ depending on whether or not it is a paid app.

Windows Mobile operates a similar system where you navigate to the web marketplace and tap ‘Install’ to download the software to your device.

A lot of gambling operators offer a ‘no download’ option, where you can play poker right in your phone’s web browser whether it’s Apple, Android, or Windows Mobile based. This solution is used by many mobile phone poker operators to offer real money play to Apple device users, and to avoid having to develop different software versions for different operating systems.

Do all Sites Support Mobile Poker?

At the moment the market for mobile poker sites is small but growing rapidly. Large operators like Party Poker want to ensure they have developed a secure product with excellent playability before releasing it to their players. The main sites in the mobile poker market at the moment are bwin, Red Kings, Winamax, Bodog, and Switch Poker. Cake Poker mobile has recently been disabled for upgrade works and is expected to be back online soon.

The future for playing on a mobile phone looks bright and before long, we expect all of the major poker companies to offer a mobile version of their client as the mobile gaming market boom continues. Almost 50% of mobile searches dedicated to entertainment, meaning that people are looking for games or apps to amuse themselves when they’re out and about and it’s clear that no site can afford to ignore the mobile market.

What Happens if I Disconnect or Get a Phone Call?

Sometimes mobile data connections can be unreliable in areas where 3G coverage is bad. Most mobile poker sites put the onus on the player to ensure that their connection is up to scratch and won’t offer any protection if a disconnection happens at your end. Some sites will activate an extended time-bank if they sense that you’ve been disconnected, which gives you an extra few seconds to try to recover your connection.

If you receive a phone-call during a hand, your game generally won’t be affected as most Smartphones offer multi-tasking these days, meaning it’s easy for you to switch from the poker app to the phone call and back again in time for you to take your action in the hand. If you time out during a hand due to being on a call, the software will automatically sit you out of the game until you return.

Mobile Casino Games

Along with mobile poker there are a number of mobile casino games available on from leading online caisnos. These casinos have developed excellent applications that are compatible with the top mobile phone operating systems such as Android, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows phones and any new generation of SmartPhone. We have written special casino game specific guides which explains the idea of real money casino mobile apps and ranks the best to play at from across the internet.

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