The History of Mobile Gaming

Gambling is one of the oldest pastimes in human history. While no one’s entirely sure when the first forms of gambling were invented, nor even precisely what they were, it has been seen in nearly every society the world has ever known. One notable case is that of the ancient Greeks, who held gambling in extremely high regard – In Greek mythology, the gods Zeus, Hades and Poseidon were said to have gambled with dice to decide how the universe should be split into heaven, hell, and the seas. While, as with anything which has been with the human race for a long time, gambling hasn’t always followed the same conventions we see in the world today, a few things are as true now as they have been for hundreds of years!

The practice of carrying your games with you is far older than modern casino culture. In fact, the very first “casino” in Europe (at least by the modern definition of the word) wasn’t established until 1638 in Venice, Italy. Instead, many gambling games used to be played with dice or tiles which were easily carried by people as they went about their daily lives. The tradition of carrying such gaming implements is an old one in Italy, where games were a particular favourite pastime among Roman soldiers. Roman soldiers were known to go to great lengths to take their games with them wherever they went – even going so far as to carry bulky gaming tables to war with them, along with their other military equipment.

While many casino games we know of today still have their roots in these ancient traditions, carrying your games wherever you go is a lot easier for us now! With the advent of mobile technology, online gambling has really taken off. So big is the industry now, that by 2015, it’s been predicted that the total wager across all mobile casino games will be in excess of £30 billion worldwide. Smartphones have made access to these games easier than ever before. Studies in the US have found that 7.6% of smartphone owners play mobile casino games at least on occasion.

Another attraction of mobile gambling in modern culture is that of anonymity. In medieval times, gambling was popular with people who would not always have wanted their gaming hobbies to be widely known, even including bishops and other members of the clergy. In fact, in 1334 a law was passed to prevent people from wearing masks to go to other peoples homes on Christmas day for dice games. Needless to say, neither masks nor travel are necessary to play casino games in the digital age, though the new found anonymity of online poker games makes for an unusual twist. For example, how can players watch for tells in the behaviour of their opponents when they can’t even see their faces?

While mobile gambling is so new that the EU still doesn’t have full legislation to cover it, it’s safe to say that this newest form of gambling is probably here to stay. With ever increasing network coverage and new mobile technology being constantly developed, the ability to take your favourite game with you wherever you go has never been so easy!