In 2005, Jupiter Research forecast that global mobile gambling services would generate revenues of more than $19.3 billion US dollars by 2009. There were analyst projections in 2006 that the mobile gambling market in the Asia-Pacific region would generate revenue of $3 billion in 2010.
Only in the Philippines and Macau was casino-style mobile gambling allowed. In 2006, Europe was the largest market for mobile gambling, but 'telecommunications analysts predict that Asia will catch up soon.' At the time, a limitation of suitable phones in Asia and unclear legal situations in certain locales was limiting growth, with legal mobile gambling in Asia restricted to Hong Kong and China for sports and lotteries. After wireless gambling on casino grounds was legalized in June 2005, in March 2006, the Nevada Gaming Control Board 'cleared the way for businesses to propose ways in which establishments can offer wireless gambling.' In 2003, The Mobile Lottery launched in the United Kingdom as the first mobile gambling venture in the country. Over a hundred mobile casinos were operating as of December 2013, with most of the big casino operators in gambling now providing a mobile platform for their player base. Mobile gambling refers to playing games of chance or skill for money by using a remote device such as a tablet computer, smartphone or a mobile phone with a wireless internet connection.
