Apps That Let You Gamble With Real Money

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  1. If you were to search for a mobile online casino in an app store, you’d find a whole lot of play money-only options for just about every type of game or way to gamble that you can think of. However, there are some real disadvantages to downloading these gambling apps.
  2. Most notably, the legal climate surrounding real money online gambling. This has complicated the existence of both online gambling sites and real money gambling apps. If you look at the difference between the UK and U.S. Markets, you will see two very different sides of the mobile gambling.

If there is a particular type of game that you enjoy playing, such as a trivia or game-show format, there are certainly options available that are free and can win you real money. If you find yourself spending hours on your phone surfing the web mindlessly or scrolling through social media, try one of these apps instead.

An ancient gambling tradition has found its way into the app store. Known colloquially as a 'gentleman's bet,' this wager is made for pride, not money, and is sealed with a handshake. Available to gentlemen and ladies alike on both Android and iOS devices, SideBets gives sports enthusiasts a platform to make bets among friends — for fake money.

After signing up with either an email address or Facebook login, SideBets starts you off with $100 in fake cash. A user can then place bets against friends or the house. The app is free to download, as is registering for an account.

Jon Goldstein, managing partner of Blue Ox Entertainment, helped develop SideBets, which he sums up as a community “of fun, engaged degenerate gamblers” who like “being able to gamble in a way that isn’t detrimental to your pocket and detrimental to your legal standing in the community.”

Basically, it a lighthearted way to compete against friends without the intense time commitment involved with joining a fantasy sports league.

“SideBets really kind of cuts to the essence of what I want to do, which is to interact with my friends and have competition surrounding football and other sports,” Goldstein tells Mashable. “If I win, I have props against those friends. I beat them. I got it right.”

Available in beta version since September 2011, Blue Ox Entertainment recently ramped up the social aspect by adding the ability to sign in and find friends via Facebook. After winning a bet, the app allows users to brag about it over Twitter and Facebook. Goldstein says he believes this 'social betworking' integration is what sets SideBets apart.

“There’s no other app out there that allows friends to track their betting,” he says.

For those sports-betting savants who manage to turn their fake funds into a farcical fortune, the app contains a leader board where all users are ranked against one another. Having been downloaded more than 15,000 times, there is plenty of competition for that top spot on SideBets. If things go south, however, you can purchase more play money, for example, $100 fake dollars for $0.99 in real money.

The app allows for betting options, such as using a point spread or betting on an over/under. For large events like the Super Bowl, SideBets offers a number of propositional bets. So in the unlikely event that the Jets make the Super Bowl, you may in fact be able to bet on how many times Tim Tebow says the word 'excited' during his press conference.

With the social feature of the app in place, Goldstein and company are constantly planning future updates to the app. With a careful eye on gambling laws, Blue Ox is hoping to incentivize SideBets with various sweepstakes and prize opportunities.

While fancy prizes sound enticing, anyone who has placed a gentleman's bet knows that the satisfaction and smug smile of victory is often reward enough.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pearleye

BONUS: 7 Fantasy Football Apps to Up Your Game

Mobile casino gaming is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of online gambling. It wasn’t too long ago that you could only play casino games — such as slots, roulette and blackjack — on your desktop or laptop. If you go even further back, you’d have to visit a live casino to play them at all. However, advances in technology have made real money gambling apps accessible to all.

The ability to enjoy real money casino games on the go is perfect for the busy lives people have today. The opportunity to play while commuting is ideal. What better way to spend a journey than by landing a jackpot on a slot? Especially if you can earn member loyalty rewards.

List of the Top Mobile Casinos for US players

This guide to online casino apps is split into several sections, including details of how you’ll get started with mobile gaming, the range of devices you’ll be able to use and a rundown of all of the mobile casino games you can enjoy on the go:

  • How to access a mobile casino: The first steps to getting started with casino gaming on the go.
  • Casino apps and devices: Which mobile devices can you use for casino gambling, including Apple, Android and other devices.
  • Apps versus desktop: What are the advantages of using a mobile app for your casino gaming.
  • Mobile casinos security: Is playing at a mobile casino safe?
  • Bonuses and promotions: Can I claim a bonus at a mobile casino?
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How to access a US mobile casino

To get started with mobile casino gaming, you’ll need to register with your site of choice. With legal options in many states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and virtual currency casinos elsewhere, finding a safe, regulated casino is your first step.

To play on the go, you’ll have two different options: through an app or play directly through your phone’s web browser. Most regulated casinos will guide you through downloading their app. While these have the smoothest gaming experience, the largest selection of games is available via the casino websites. These work with HTML5 or Java to adapt the games to your screen size and input method.

The installation process can change from device to device. Here are details regarding the most popular mobile devices and the accessibility of the apps for each one.

Mobile casino apps for iPhone / iPad users

To download a casino app for your iPhone or iPad, you’ll need to head to the app store. You can download apps for Apple devices; usually, you’ll find they are available for all of the latest versions of the devices and many previous versions, too.

Individual casino sites usually will provide a direct link to the casino app in the app store; although, you can just as easily do a search and find the appropriate app, too. If you haven’t already registered for an account, you’ll have to do this on launching the app. You’ll then be ready to enjoy the casino gaming.

The popularity of Apple devices means that any time there is a casino app, it will undoubtedly be available. No app developer is going to design a casino app that isn’t available for Apple devices, but available elsewhere.

Mobile casino apps for Android users

The download process for an Android device is a little more complicated, due to Google Play having stricter rules and regulations surrounding their apps. At the moment, casino and other gambling apps are not allowed. However, the apps are 100% still available; you’ll have to download it direct from the casino site itself.

Here are the steps you’ll need to take:

  1. Head to the mobile casino using your smartphone and click on the app download link.
  2. At this point, you will usually receive a security warning (some casinos have managed to bypass this step through the downloaded software). To continue, you will need to allow apps to run from unknown sources.” The software will usually direct you directly to the appropriate page, so you won’t be trawling through menus to find the proper setting.
  3. At this point, the app will now download to your mobile device.
  4. When downloaded, you’ll launch the app in the usual way, with a direct link to the app added to your home screen.

Android apps are widely available.

Mobile casinos on Windows, Blackberry and other devices

The availability of real money casino apps outside of Apple and Android devices is minimal. If the casino can play browser-based games, the scope of mobile device availability is widened. Check with the individual casinos to see if play is available on devices such as a Windows phone and a Blackberry.

What real money games are available on the apps?

The best aspect of gambling apps is the sheer variety of games you can enjoy. Some will enjoy the timeless games such as craps or roulette; others will enjoy games where strategy takes center stage such as blackjack. Some will enjoy the entertainment and fast-paced action that online slot machines can bring, while varieties of video poker will offer some mouth-watering wins.

Here, you’ll find a game-by-game guide, detailing the mobile casino experience, including graphics, the speed of the game, how suited they are to mobile devices and every other aspect of enjoying each at a mobile casino.

Online slot apps

In online casinos today, there is little doubt that slots lead the way. In most cases, there are more slots than any other games in the casino, usually outnumbering all the other games added together.

While not all of the slots available on the desktop version will be available on the casino app, this number seems to be rising all the time, so it’s probable that your favorite casino slot will be available to play on the go.

On most established casino apps, it would be a surprise to find less than a couple hundred of mobile slots available. So even if not all of the games are available, you’ll still have a plethora of options.

Slots are perfect for mobile devices; these visually eye-catching games can fit the screen of a mobile device entirely. Place the phone or tablet in a landscape position, and the reels will fill the device display. Slots are optimized for mobile play, with easy controls usually overlaying the reels, while you’ll set the stakes or number of lines in play using a slider.

One of the beauties about slots is the sheer range of different game types.

Some play slots for the opportunity of winning an incredible jackpot prize. An excellent example of a jackpot slot available via mobile is Cleopatra, where you can win the mega-jackpots prize (which at time of writing has reached $630,000). Simply line up the five mega-jackpots symbols on the first line across the middle, and you’ll pick up the life-changing sum. You can also win the prize randomly, too, while other bonuses on this ancient Egyptian-themed slot include 15 free spins.

Some slots can offer an incredible number of ways to win at each spin.

Raging Rhino is a fine example. You’ll have 4,096 ways to win on every spin, with the game featuring six reels of action.

Other games offer the opportunity to win many times at just one spin due to the cascading reels feature. The fun and stylish Gonzo’s Quest features cascading reels, where each successive win will see the multiplier increase. If you win multiple times during one turn, you’ll have a 5x multiplier in place during the base game and a 15x multiplier in place during the feature.

Innovative games with weird and wonderful rules such as Steam Tower can also be enjoyed. Enter an industrial steampunk world and try and guide the hero inventor to the top of the tower. This is as involving a game as you’ll find.

If you like wacky fun, try Invaders from the Planet Moolah, where you’ll find yourself under attack from alien cows. Yes, that’s right, alien cows.

With the sheer range of real money slot apps available, there really is something for everyone when it comes to mobile slot play. Whether you like historical games, classic games with those traditional fruit symbols, slots based on films and TV, jackpot slots, Atlantic City slots or many more, you’ll find them on mobile slots.

The games can be fast-paced and visually stunning and are entirely geared to playing on your mobile device. Impressive sound effects enhance many of the games, so plug those headphones in, and you’ll become immersed in the reel action.

Mobile casino video poker apps

For a real change of pace, video poker might be the game for you. Once again, the setup is ideal for a mobile device, with the action fitting perfectly onto your mobile device in landscape mode. Graphically, these games aren’t quite as rich as slots; there is only so much you can do with a set of playing cards. However, these games do offer a nice level of strategy. Every time the cards are dealt, you’ll have to decide on which to hold to give you the best chance of landing that win.

The range of video poker games available on a mobile casino can be limited, although you will usually find at least a handful of mobile video poker games. The range will typically include classics such as jacks or better and deuces wild. As a handy hint, you can find strategy charts online (Google is your friend!), telling you exactly which cards to hold in any given situation, giving you the best chance of making a profit.

Mobile casino blackjack apps

Similar to video poker, blackjack is another slower paced game, and perhaps one of the most talked about strategy games of all. Blackjack strategy charts are widely available (even some live casinos will give these away), so you’ll have no real trouble playing perfect blackjack, which gives you every chance of beating the casino.

In terms of gameplay, this is another game ideally suited to a mobile device. There is not much screen real estate taken up by just a few playing cards so that you can see all of the action very clearly. Different versions of the game will be available if you shop around various online casino apps, including the classic game and Atlantic City rules with eight decks. While you won’t find a vast selection of online blackjack games at any one casino, this is blackjack, so you won’t need to.

Mobile casino roulette apps

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Roulette can be a challenging game to transfer to a mobile device, as there is a lot of action to fit onto a small screen. You have the extended betting layout and the wheel itself, each of which you want to be able to see clearly. Therefore, perhaps this is better played on an iPad or a tablet, as opposed to a phone.

You will find some versions of the game online but sticking to those versions where the wheel is as big as possible is a good way to go (IGT’s roulette is a good example, where the wheel to the left-hand side of the display is larger than the betting layout).

While being patriotic might be a good thing, in general, it doesn’t pay in roulette. Try to avoid American roulette and play European or French versions of the game instead. The American version features two zeros, which tilt the odds in favor of the casino.

Mobile casino craps apps

Whenever you see a casino on the TV, much of the action will be around a craps game, with the focus usually on the shooter, with a close up of the dice landing (often in slow motion). Due to the expanded betting layout and the small size of the dice in relation, this is another game not ideally suited to a mobile device. Therefore, stick to tablets, in general, if you are a real money craps fan.

It can be challenging to find a craps game online at all at some casinos, and mobile versions of the game are therefore that little bit tougher to come across. However, each year sees more and more games developed for mobile casinos, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a mobile-friendly range of craps games available in the near future.

Mobile casino keno apps

Keno is a fun game, which could be said to have parallels with bingo, roulette, and those large state lotteries. Pick a series of numbers between one and 80 and then match as many as you can, with the prize increasing the more you match. The good thing about keno is that it is ideally suited for mobile devices, as all that is displayed is the large grid of numbers. No, it’s not as visually striking as slots, but the excitement levels are there, especially when you match a series of numbers early on.

Keno isn’t the easiest game to find at a mobile casino; many don’t feature the game at all. However, shop around and you will find games, with notable fast-paced version at Virgin Casino NJ, where you’ll find standard keno alongside Fortune Teller Keno (where the action is presided over by the striking green-eyed fortune teller).

Apps That Let You Gamble With Real Money Cash

Mobile live dealer casinos

If you want the most authentic casino experience as you can on your mobile device, head to a live dealer casino. In a live dealer casino, you’ll be enjoying the action exactly as you would at the casino, yet it is streaming on your mobile device.

Upon entering a live dealer game, you’ll pick a table and be sat opposite one of the live dealers, precisely as you would be if entering a brick-and-mortar casino. You’ll place your bets in the same way as you would at a virtual casino, however, that is the only virtual action. You’ll now be betting on real playing cards or a real spin of a roulette wheel.

Live dealer casinos add a personal touch to the action. The games tend to be hosted by glamorous and engaging dealers, who are always happy to interact with players, giving the games a social aspect, too.

At live dealer casinos, you can usually enjoy a range of games.

Roulette is one of the most popular games, where unlike many of the virtual games, the action will usually zoom in on the wheel when in motion, so you’ll have a full-screen view of the action. Nothing beats the tension of seeing the wheel slow down, as you are hoping to land that big win.

You’ll also find a range of blackjack tables at the live dealer casino, usually catering for different stake levels. Place your bets and watch the real card action, as you are hoping to hit blackjack or go on that hot run, where you’ll enjoy win after win.

Other games available at the live dealer casino include baccarat and casino holdem. Look out for added promotions around these live dealer tables, which are quickly becoming one of the most popular and fun ways of enjoying a mobile casino.

Advantages of using a real money casino app

The most significant advantage of using a real money casino app over your desktop/laptop is the sheer accessibility of the gaming. You can play games anywhere.

You might want to add excitement to your daily commute by playing a jackpot slot or sit in the park and take on the challenge of beating the blackjack tables.

In today’s market, many of the games are designed with mobile gaming in mind—that was not the case a few years ago, and many of the casino games are ideally suited to the smaller screens of your phone or tablet.

You can find apps very straightforward to use, too. One click and you’re playing the games immediately. This easy-to-play accessibility is one of the best aspects of mobile casino gaming and could be the reason that many will use these mobile apps in the home, even when they can play on their laptop or desktop.

While not all casino games are available for casino apps right now, you’ll find that the best software developers certainly know the value of mobile gaming in today’s market. This leads to a situation where you might not have the same quantity of games on a mobile device, but the overall quality will be higher.

Are casino apps safe and legit?

There’s a simple answer to this question: yes. As long as you are playing at a regulated and legal casino, your casino gaming experience will be completely safe. To achieve regulated status, an online casino (and their associated app) have to show that they are entirely secure, both in terms of gameplay and banking. Stick to a state-sanctioned site, and you’ll have no worries at all about security.

Should you have any concerns, read the “Privacy” section of any casino for a full rundown of all the security measures that are in place.

Bonuses and promotions at mobile casinos

One of the most asked questions about online casino apps is the following:

Can I claim bonuses and promotions at a mobile casino?

Once again, the answer is yes.

Many bonuses and promotions are based on a set amount of gameplay at a particular casino, and this will apply whether you are playing the games at a desktop or on your phone or tablet. The new players usually get the biggest promotions, so if you’ve just signed up to a gambling site, ensure to take full advantage of opening offers.

Online casinos know that mobile gambling is the future, so they’ll ensure that all bonuses and promotions are open to mobile casino players. As a mobile player, you can occasionally have the best of both worlds, too, as casinos can offer bonuses for mobile players. Head to the promotions page of the casino to see the full range of offers available.