PokerStars today announced its PokerStars Mobile applications are now available to all UK customers, excluding Northern Ireland. Players must hold UK accounts and connect from within Britain to play.
Mobile applications are available for both Apple and Android devices. The iOS app – with support for the iPhone 3GS and 4, the iPad 1 and 2, and the 4th generation iPod Touch – is available in the iTunes UK App Store.
The Android application supports all devices running Android 2.2 and with sufficient resolution. Tablet devices are supported, although the display is not yet optimized for such resolutions. Due to restrictions on real money gambling games in the official Google Android Marketplace, the app must be downloaded directly from pokerstarsmobile.com.
PokerStars Mobile for real money games has been trialed with Italian customers since January, following a 6 week play money testing period. The Android application launched just last week.
The slow roll-out shows PokerStars is cautious to only enter mobile markets where online gaming is legally well-defined and explicitly regulated. The Apple App Store is notoriously strict with its submission policy, and only began to accept a limited number of real money gambling games in the last 18 months.
PokerStars is not the first poker room to enter the mobile space, but its acceptance into the App Store is unique and the applications are notable for their extensive feature list: rather than simplifying the experience and offering a subset of games, PokerStars Mobile boasts much the same feature set as on the desktop: multi-tabling support, Hold’em and Omaha games, cash, SNGs and tournaments, table chat, lobby filtering and “find a player” all supported.
Notable exclusions include the signup process and the cashier, both of which require installation of the desktop client. Some of the less popular games that PokerStars spread – including Stud, Five Card Draw, Badugi and Mixed Rotation games – are also not yet on the feature list.
Following a successful UK roll-out, players can expect PokerStars to have their eyes set to other regulated markets. Topping that list would be France, followed by the smaller regulated markets of Belgium, Denmark and Estonia. Spain, who’s licensing process is expected to begin within the next three months, represents a market comparable to the UK, and potentially even a PokerStars.eu Mobile Client – targeted to Swedish and Finnish players – could be on the list.
Pokerfuse also exclusively confirmed the existence of Zoom Poker, PokerStars’ “fast-moving ring game product,” which is expected to go into public testing in the next month. Particularly apt to casual gaming, we can expect to see a PokerStars Mobile update once this new client addition goes live.
