Mobile phones have become a staple of the 21st century. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone without a phone anymore, and with good reason – since the dawn of the smartphone, our mobile devices have evolved into an integral part of our daily lives. We’ve actually reached the point where a lot of people don’t even use their phones for talking anymore, opting instead to treat them as pocket computers. And when you think about it, their point of view is quite understandable, considering you can do pretty much anything on your phone – check your e-mail, watch movies, browse online shops, play casino games… Wait, what? You can gamble wherever you are, whenever you want? You better believe it! Stay with me, dear reader, and I’m going to tell you about what’s undoubtedly one of the best ways to indulge your inner gambler on the go!
A Satisfying Selection Of Mobile Games
The thing about casino games (and, well, computer games in general) is that most of them need to be developed independently for mobile and for PC. What this means is that while online casinos on desktop offer hundreds upon hundreds of games, only a portion of them will be available on mobile. In all honesty, though, when I say “portion”, I still mean “dozens of games”. How many exactly are available depends on the casino in question, but chances are you’ll be able to play at least fifty different games while on the go. The most prominent are, obviously, the slots. In the casinos I tested, slots absolutely dominated the selections, with over 90% of all available games being one-armed bandits. So if that’s your forte, then rest assured that you will be perfectly able to play your favorite slot machine wherever you are (as long as you’ve got a good Wi-Fi or 3G connection, of course).
Still, that doesn’t mean that you’re our of luck if you prefer to play table games – while there generally aren’t too many of those on mobile, as they tend to be harder to port than slots, there should still be more than enough to itch that scratch while you’re on the go. Roulette and blackjack are pretty much always a given, and depending on the casino you’ll also most likely get baccarat and casino poker. All the games work absolutely great, and playing blackjack on my iPad in bed was definitely one of the highlights of my online gambling life. Sure, you can’t expect the same kind of variety as you would from the casino’s desktop counterpart, but honestly, who cares? If you’re the type of person who’d honestly complain about there not being too many varieties of poker, then I’m afraid we just can’t be friends!
Live Casino, Also Known As The Best Part
What’s a good mobile casino without a live section? For those of you who don’t know, the live casino is a special section where you’re able to play table games such as blackjack or baccarat against real life dealers, video of which is streamed live directly to your device from the casino’s physical location. It’s one of the best features that any self-respecting online casino should have, as it places you right there in the middle of the action, just like if you were in a real casino! And, for the most part, it works great on mobile!
Keep in mind that not too many games are available on the live casino in general, especially on its mobile counterpart. This makes sense – I mean, it would be rather pointless to have something like live slots or live scratch cards, right? As such, the games you’ll have at your disposal are generally roulette, casino poker and blackjack, with some casinos also offering baccarat, but as far as I’ve noticed that’s relatively rare on mobile. Still, where the live casinos excel at when it comes to variety isn’t the number of games – it’s the number of tables. Most, if not all tables that would be usually available on desktop are also at your disposal when you play on mobile.
The Software Providers – The Unsung Heroes
It’s always important to give credit where credit is due, and in this case, I just won’t sleep right if the casinos hog all the recognition when they’re only responsible for hosting the games and not for creating them, or even porting them to mobile. No, that honor falls to the so-called software providers, the teams of very talented people who are in charge of creating your entertainment. Keep in mind that while the ones listed below are some of the most prominent software developers who bring us mobile casino games, the list is very far from being comprehensive. With that said, let’s learn a bit about them!
NetEntertainment
NetEnt have been around since 1996, but they only launched their mobile division, NetEnt Touch, at the end of 2011, catching the wave of the mobile revolution as it was happening. You may notice that they don’t really offer that many games, but the ones that are there are always of superb quality, with their slots often based on interesting properties such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and South Park.
PlayTech
If you’ve ever played an online casino, any online casino, then chances are you’ve experienced at least one of PlayTech’s games. Believe it or not, most mobile casinos actually feature a good chunk of PlayTech’s games, which are notable for being the only ones featuring Marvel characters such as Iron Man, Spider-Man or the Avengers. I’m still waiting for a “Guardians of the Galaxy” slot, PlayTech!
Spin3
If you’re looking for a recognized provider, it doesn’t really get any more prestigious than a winner of the EGR award for “Mobile supplier of the year”. Indeed, Spin3 have come a long way since the beginning of their partnership with Microgaming, which you may recognize as the leading developer of online gaming solutions. Their light platform is bound to run on most mobile devices, so rest assured!
Requirements
If you’ve made it this far, that probably means you’re rather interested in trying out some casino games on your mobile device. And let me guess – the only thing that’s worrying you is whether or not your own phone or tablet even supports casino games, right? Yes, I am a telepath. And yes, I know you just thought of that incident from middle school. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody. What I will tell you, though, is that if you’ve bought a device in the last 3-4 years, chances are that you’ll be able to play with absolutely no trouble whatsoever. Mobile games are really not taxing on the processor, so as long as your phone can realistically be classified as a “smartphone” you’re going to be good to go! All iPads, as well as tablets that run on Android, are also supported, but in case you’re not sure you can always check a few apps out for yourself for absolutely free.
Final Words
Online gambling is pretty much one of the greatest thing to ever happen to gambling in general, period. And while its mobile branch may not be as big of a step in the grand scheme of things, it’s certainly a rather welcome addition, giving you the opportunity to play the best casino games literally wherever you are (as long as you’re not in, say, the desert, North Korea or that one spot in my college dorm room that mysteriously cancels out all electronic signals). Really, the only reason why you wouldn’t want to play on your mobile device is if you don’t have one, but then again, in an era where phones have become pretty much an extension of ourselves, that’s not really much of an excuse. For seasoned gamblers, especially those with busy lifestyles, mobile gaming will open up a whole lot of opportunities. And even rookies can enjoy a few nice games of roulette before bed every now and again. No matter how you look at it, mobile casinos have something for everyone.