While some people may think about casinos that travel on the back of a van or truck when they think about mobile casinos, what they actually should be thinking about is a casino that travels with them in their pockets. This may seem almost ridiculous, but it really is true. Today, people are able to gamble and play casino games through mobile casinos that they can access through devices such as tablet computers, smartphones and even mobile phones. Given the level of technology available today in most handheld devices, this really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that casinos have found their way into mobile phones. Similar to when online casinos were first created and were able to expand thanks in part to increased connectivity to the worldwide web, mobile casinos are a reaction to how advanced mobile phones have become, as well as how many people have mobile phones, and how easy it is for these owners to access the web from their mobile devices.

While it is true that a wide variety of casino games have been available for various mobile devices for a while now, the important difference is that in an actual mobile casino, one is able to gamble with real money. Whereas previously, a blackjack game played on a mobile phone would be played for make-believe cash, through the games offered by mobile casinos, one can make money, or lose money on the turn of a virtual card on the screen of a smartphone. It is this important factor that makes mobile casinos distinctly different from just any downloadable game. Mobile casinos are just as convenient to set up as other downloadable games and applications, requiring only that the right version of the mobile casino software be downloaded. Some mobile casinos even allow certain phone models, such as iPhones, to play on a mobile-browser based version of the casino.

After downloading the software, and creating an account, all that needs to be done is to fund the account with a credit card or other acceptable method. At present, most mobile casinos offer only a limited number of games. Most mobile casinos offer games such as slots, bingo, keno and even scratch cards, but a good number also have casino classics like roulette, blackjack, baccarat and even poker or video poker. Additional games are in development, and as mobile technology advances, not only will there be more games to choose from in mobile casinos, but the mobile gaming experience will definitely improve over time, which will encourage even more people to access and play in mobile casinos.

There are currently only a relative few mobile casinos, specially when compared to the number and variety of online casinos available. However there is a lot of potential for growth in the mobile casino industry, whose revenues are already estimated to be in the billions. According to recent studies, more than eighty percent of the world's population have mobile phones, with an increasing percentage of them owning a smartphone. This means that there are a growing number of people that have mobile access to the web, which also means they have mobile access to mobile casinos.