February 3th 2012 – PokerStars announced they are bringing out a beta version of Zoom Poker in the end of February of the beginning of March 2012. This long discussed Zoom Poker will be a first fast poker game coming from the market leader PokerStars.

After Full Tilt Poker had great success since beginning of 2010 with their fast play poker game Rush Poker many expected competitiors to jump on board quickly. However it has taken almost two years before a first real alternative will be given. Very little is known about the new Zoom Poker that PokerStars will launch shortly. It can be expected that it will be very similar to rush poker and most likely be also braught out as a mobile client. After PokerStars launched Mobile Poker in Italy all other counties are still left in the dark. The need for mobile poker is growing as the percentage of smart-phone users has been growing steadily for years. While the online poker industry is expecting a mobile poker boom since 2009 also this has been relatively slow. Most likely the unexpected problems of 2011 have delayed any possible developments on this level and mobile poker once again was postponed. We however definitely expect to see good things regarding mobile poker in 2012. Our guess is that PokerStars will definitely use the Zoom Poker version as a first step into mobile poker and that they will come with Android and iPhone supported software from the start. Next to PokerStars also other networks should be working on this issue. We expect Bwin/Party to come with mobile poker in the end of 2012 and maybe iPoker networks are in for a surprise as well. It seems to us that this is one of the few areas where poker sites can make a difference and true development and innovation can give them a real competitive advantage here. However few things are more uncertain than the online poker market. We’ll keep you posted on any new mobile poker clients that are out there!

This is also the reason BWIN is starting out only in the UK and Austria, plans are to expand this list of countries quickly.

Because BWIN is the owner of the Ongame poker network expecations are that other companies offering poker at this network will soon follow BWIN in offering this great iPhone App.

A full review off this BWIN iPhone App will follow next week, we just could not waiting breaking the news to you!

Visit the App Store and get it now.

See article: egrmagazine.com

1. Create a Full Tilt Poker Account (allready have one? go to step 2).

2. Go to: https://mobile.fulltiltpoker.com/mobile/ and login.

3. Play rush Poker on your mobile!

Is your mobile phone ready for Rush Poker?
The rush poker application is a flash based program that needs Flash v10.1 on Android 2.2, in case you are in doubt about your phone please check the list with phones at Full Tilt, like stated any phone with 2.2 Froyo build or higher should be fine.

How are the online poker rooms handling privacy issues?

It is concerning because this is an unregulated industry in the United States. While these poker rooms are legally operated, and oftentimes regulated by governing agencies in many other countries, the United States, who in most cases can’t keep it’s nose out of other countries squabbles, seems to have no interest in protecting her own citizens from Internet fraud in the casino and gambling industry.

Maybe that’s a good thing though? I know it sounds crazy, but had the United States came in and regulated, and therefore taxed Internet Poker before other countries beat them to it, maybe we would have learned to depend on that blanket of security? Our money could have been more safely insured, rather than stolen by the government, but we’d have had to pay for that too right?

Besides, this means that there is not a lot of time spent on these issues in the government. It seems to be a taboo subject that no one really wants to talk about anyway, sort of like legalized marijuana. Because of this lack of talk, a number of problems like privacy issues had to be dealt with early on.

Who Should I Sign Up With?

When most people begin there journey into online poker rooms, they wonder which rooms they should sign up for. Privacy issues are a prime concern for most people along with issues about if they will be able to withdraw their money once it is put into the site. Since this is such a gray area in the United States, it makes sense that people would be worried. Since it is so taboo, many people do not want it known that they play poker in these rooms. The best option is to choose a site that many people use and that is well advertised. Those are the big name sites that are frequented by so many people that there should be less worry about privacy.

There are only about 10 online poker rooms still accepting players from the United States, even less for Washington Residents.

If you’re NOT located in the United States the best plan for choosing an online poker site would be to:

1. Use a site like this one to gauge the reputation of the online poker sites you’re considering.
2. If you’re still not convinced, go with a site such as Party Poker that is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange.

Sites that are publicly traded are forced into complete transparency, they utilize the latest in privacy technology, and there are clear consequences for any non compliance.

If you are in the United States:

1. Research United States Friendly Poker sites on a site such as this one.
2. Stick to well known and highly recommended online poker sites.

For those in the United States, the top 2 online poker sites are Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, PokerStars however does not accept players from Washington State, therefore those players are limited to PokerStars as far as the huge reputable sites go.

What Should I Do To Protect My Privacy?

There are things that Internet Poker players can do to protect their privacy at online poker sites. The first of which is to simply learn about phishing, and not fall victim to phishing scams via email.

Protect your own Internet passwords, that’s a big one, all to often people leave themselves logged in on public computers, or give out their passwords and later lose funds from accounts involved.

Some things that really go the extra mile toward privacy protection include the use of a disk encryption utility for the storage of information.

What Are The Sites Doing To Protect Privacy?

Because the poker room websites understand that this has become a bit of an issue, they are working on ways to help you feel more comfortable. After all, they want you to feel free to come and play poker at their site without feeling any threat to your privacy. The competition for players among these sites means that they have had to update to stay ahead. One thing that many of the sites have done is made it possible for you to hid information about yourself from other players. Whereas it used to be much easier for other players to see what your actual name was and what part of the world you are from, this is not as easy to do anymore on most sites. Often you do not have to give the website your credit card number directly anymore. You often use third party payment services to deposit and even withdraw your money from the poker websites.

What Updates Will We See In The Future?

Privacy updates that are coming in the future are a little harder to predict. We don’t know exactly what the sites are going to do, but we do know that things will only continue to get better. They are such tight competition with one another that they have no choice but to update.

The difference between the two countries is that the Italian Republic finally did something about it that would benefit the country and its citizens. Italy chose to sanction and regulate online poker. Granted, Italy first tried an ISP block to prevent online poker gambling within its borders, and it wasn’t until that failed that the republic went the other route to legalize online poker in Italy.

Whatever the case, the adult population of Italy is finally able to enjoy online poker without threat of legal recourse, and the government is generating massive revenue via taxation of online gambling.

Italy claims a healthy percentage of all revenue from online poker rooms, combined with considerable licensing fees to all internet poker rooms who want legal access to promote their products to Italian customers. PokerStars has been following the Italian online poker movement very closely, and their research discovered that the Italian online poker market would have an estimated net worth of €400 million annually. The taxation of €400 million would be astounding.

Italy’s government chose to allow offshore online poker operators, as well as its own local, live poker rooms, to provide services to Italians legally over the internet. On the bright side, casino poker rooms can now present their tournaments online; on the dark side, for operators at least, all tournaments are taxed at about 20% – live and online, prize pool and fees. It’s almost impossible for any operator to run a tournament at that rate of taxation and actually make a profit.

For the bigger companies, however, it’s well worth it. A large, live casino with 400 rowdy poker tournament players is going to get a lot of cash games action – that’s where the real profits are. An online poker room will get plenty of cash game response as well. The tournaments become little more than a lure, while all of the other offerings generate actual revenue.

PokerStars is expected to have the most success as an online poker room serving the Italian Republic. The poker site is so large to begin with, even if they lose money for the first year or two, their other worldly investments will easily keep them above water.

General Manager and Founder of European Poker Consulting, Thomas Lamatsch, estimates that Italy’s will smaller online poker operations will have minimal success in the beginning, but that only about ten major poker rooms will make be left standing at the end of the day. These bigger Italian poker rooms can afford to offer the biggest tournament prizes and draw enough traffic to promote higher stakes cash games.

Online Poker Rooms Licensed in Italy
It’s more difficult to get into the Italian online poker business because it costs about 30x more than entering any other standard jurisdiction, and requires an Italian-exclusive poker site.

There are currently less than two dozen online poker rooms taking advantage of Italy’s new legal poker markets. PokerStars.it and Party Poker Italy are two of the forerunners, along with Eurobet Italian Poker and SNAI Poker and Games.

PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker are clearly hesitant to jump on board with the change. However, countless app developers and other entrepreneurs are already opening the floodgates for mobile poker players regardless of whether the big poker sites are ready for them or not.

Full Tilt Poker:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

Unfortunately Full Tilt Poker is not designed for any mobile platforms at the moment, and the executable and program files should not run in this particular operating system as even though a Mobile device may run a slightly different version of OSX, it may be enough to cause substantial problems.

While we can’t say for certain at this point if the client will or will not work on a Mobile device, I suggest against playing Full Tilt Poker on any unconventional device such as this for real money. The processing power of these devices is typically under specifications, and their wireless capabilities are significantly weaker in signal strength than industry standard wifi devices (802.11b, g, and n) found in laptops and desktops.

We are sorry we haven’t been able to provide you with a “Pocket Full Tilt Poker” version of the software at this time.

Best of luck on the tables, and if there’s anything else we can help you with, please feel free to ask. We’re always here to help.

Regards,

James
Technical Representative
Full Tilt Poker Support

The Major Poker Rooms: Use Your iPhone at Your Own Risk

If you contact PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker about how they are handling how this shift in how their players want to be able to play, you’ll get varying explanations that basically add up to “Um…We’ll get back to you on that.” PokerStars recognizes that devices like the iPhone and iPad could possibly be used to play cash games of poker but goes out of their to state that they are not equipped to handle the connectivity and security concerns that are associated with mobile gaming. Full Tilt claims that they cannot really say whether or not such devices may or may not be used to play poker in their rooms but cautions players against attempting to do so. To their credit, Full Tilt does apologize for not having any “Pocket Full Tilt Poker,” but it’s not entirely clear whether they were just being sarcastic. Absolute Poker writes back saying no hablas anglais and asks what an eye phone is for.

PokerStars -

Thank you for contacting PokerStars.

Although we are aware of an increasing demand for a mobile device version of our software, unfortunately it is not compatible with any mobile technology currently available. The security and connectivity required for our real money games are not possible with the operating systems used to run such devices.

It is theoretically possible to play using a device like the Apple iPad, as it has applications which can connect to your home computer via wireless internet, permitting remote control of the programs running on the home computer. However, we do not recommend such play due to the security and connectivity issues involved, and we cannot provide support for such play. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We may have support for these devices available in the future, if their security and connectivity can be improved.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Klemen
PokerStars Support Team

If PokerStars and Full Tilt Don’t Do It, Someone Else Will

It is easy to get a sense of deja vu by watching the major rooms like PokerStars and Full Tilt drag their feet on developing mobile platforms for cash games on mobile devices. When online poker and online casinos first started to catch on with public ten years ago, the major names in brick and mortar had an opportunity to use their brand name recognition to dominate the world of online gambling. Instead, they elected to completely stay out of the business and concentrate on the old way of doing business, even when the Texas hold’em boom should have served as their canary in the coal mine. Today, it is tough to imagine how PokerStars and Full Tilt could be in a better position to make the changes necessary to control the market in mobile poker. Instead, it currently appears that they are leaving the market open to developers like those at Switch Poker who know how to take advantage of a chance of a lifetime when they see it.

Dear Valued Player,

Thank you for contacting us.

We just want to let you know that we currently do not have an application for mobile devices, this includes Iphones and Ipads.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further concerns.

Best regards,

Fred Customer Support
AbsolutePoker.com

Of the rooms that we contacted during this study, these are the only one’s to reply at all. PKR, given their reputation for advanced technology was contacted, however at the time of the writing of this article they haven’t answered.

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At november 17 the Cavendish Corporate Finance company announced that they have succesfully sold their mobile software company Cecure Gaming to PokerStars.

The company Cecure Gaming has been working on mobile gaming solutions since the year 2000 and they partnered up with T-Mobile in 2007 to offer real money poker to T-mobile users. After partnering with different brands including World Poker Tour and Aces Royal now PokerStars is taking control of the company.

This indicates that PokerStars is looking towards a future in mobile poker.

Play poker for real money, read reviews of the best online pokerrooms and learn how to receive a maximum first deposit bonus by using our unique bonus codes. Go to the reviews of Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet poker and become a winning poker player by following our poker strategy articles.

Now also Redkings Poker is offering easy to install mobile poker for most cell phones. Do you have a Nokia or Sony Ericsson mobile phone, than the RedKings Poker software is definately suitable for you. Go ahead to RedKings Mobile or read our complete review of their software.