Hold the Phone on Mobile Gambling

By Daniel Terdiman, www.wired.com

A Nevada company is hoping to win the business of gaming operators around the world with a new technology it says could port casino games onto mobile phones.

The so-called mCasino technology is intended to give casinos a way to keep customers happy -- read: playing and betting -- even when they're away from the tables.

It remains to be seen if casinos will truly get on board, as Peter French (communications director at Casino Phone Technologies /www.casinophone2004.com/, the company developing mCasino) notes that the company doesn't yet have any publicly named partners. But it's easy to imagine why operators would want such technology: It could effectively extend casinos' games from the floor to restaurants, hotels and possibly anywhere else a mobile phone can go.

French says mCasino games would work on more than 80 percent of Java-enabled mobile phones, smartphones, Pocket PCs and other devices. And the technology would allow players mobile access to a wide range of casino games, including card and dice games, roulette and multiplayer interactive games such as ice hockey, kick boxing, football and more.

But Casino Phone Technologies shouldn't expect to see its mCasino products operating in the USA any time soon, say those familiar with the technology and current federal legislation.

Nevada Gaming Control Board member Scott Scherer concurs. He says wireless gaming technologies such as that proposed by Casino Phone Technologies fall under the federal Wire Act. That means, according to the Department of Justice, that interstate gambling transactions conducted via telephone or the Internet are illegal.

And though Nevada might enjoy allowing its gaming constituents to utilize wireless technology, it would rather not see any of them get caught up in federal lawsuits. Thus, Scherer says the state has yet to sign off on anything like mCasino.

French believes that outside the casino walls is exactly where wireless gaming is going, though he admits that it may take awhile.

He says Casino Phone Technologies has already conducted a trial in Cambodia and hopes to eventually partner with operators in countries all across Europe and Asia, as well as with Nevada and Native American casinos.

Still, French admits it may take some time before any government gives the green light.

And French also thinks that other governments will soon find themselves unable to hold back the tide of innovation in mobile technology.

"Governments, even that of the U.S.," says French, "are all coming to realize that they can no longer pretend to be the little Dutch boy with their fingers in the dam, thinking they can stop the use of mobile technology for all types of social activities."