Mobile Gambling Bets to Reach Billions

Annual wagers on mobile gambling are predicted to exceed $48 billion by the year 2015, according to a new report published last week by Juniper Research.

The reported credited the launching of betting services in emerging countries such as China and the move toward regulation of remote gambling in the United States and Europe with the expected rise.

According to the report, the iPAT service run by the Japan Racing Association, along with UK betting services, have been responsible for most of the mobile gambling transactions in the last few years.

But all that is set to change as other countries catch on to the mobile casinos phenomenon.

The US market, which along with China still holds the greatest potential for mobile gaming expansion, is expected to soon see its first mobile lottery service.

"State lottery providers are anxious to explore new distribution channels, with US lottery sales from traditional outlets in decline," said the author of the Juniper report, Dr Windsor Holden. "The upshot is that several lotteries are in the latter stages of discussion with mobile technology providers with a view to launching mobile lottery services in 2011.

The report also found that although Apple has begun to allow the sale of gambling applications through its online store, most providers are sticking to offering services through browsers.